Käthe Seidel

Käthe Seidel (1907-1990) was a German botanist. Seidel was the first researcher to incorporate vegetation into wastewater treatment wetlands, beginning in the 1950s. She was nicknamed "Bulrush Kate" ("Die Binzen Kaethe") for her use of the common bulrush, Schoenoplectus lacustris. For many years, she led the Limnological Station of the Lower Rhine (Limnologische Station Niederrhein) based in the city of Krefeld. Focusing on studies of the Lower Rhine, the Limnological Station was associated with various institutions that became part of the Max Planck Society. Seidel was also the first to propose horizontal sub-surface flow systems, an area of research that was further explored by her student Reinhold Kickuth. She has been called the "Mother of constructed wetlands".

Career For many years, Seidel led the Limnological Station of the Lower Rhine (Limnologische Station Niederrhein), based in Krefeld. The Limnological Station was founded in 1928 to study the waters of the Lower Rhine. The Limnological Station became associated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Society as of 1937, earning the name of "Limnologische Station der Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft".

Following World War II, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society was replaced by the Max Planck Society. Max Planck Gesellschaft was founded in the British zone as of 11 September 1946, and again for the British and American occupation zones as of 26 February 1948.

In 1953 the Limnological Station in Krefeld became a field station of the Hydrobiological Institute of the Max Planck Society in Plön (Hydrobiologischen Anstalt der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft). Thienemann considered Seidel to have made significant contributions to the Hydrobiological Institute, through the vitality and energy she brought to her long-term position at the field station in Krefeld.

In 1957 August Thienemann was succeeded as director of the Hydrobiological Institute by .

In 2007, the Max Planck Institute for Limnology became the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.

Research Käthe Seidel was the first researcher to incorporate vegetation into wastewater treatment wetlands.

quote|"I came here with that intention -- to show that waters must first be reconstituted with plants. And if this were understood and acted on wherever dirty effluents are poured into bodies of water, we would not have such problems today. Unfortunately, biologists have never adequately concerned themselves with plants. Even at our Max Planck Institute, there were well-known chemists, zoologists, microbiologists, but no one concerned with plants. In fact, they laughed at me." – Käthe Seidel Over the course of her career, Seidel published many studies about the treatment of wastewater using wetland plants. In 1966, she examined ten plants for potential use in the passive water treatment of contaminated water in mines, and reported that Schoenoplectus lacustris, which supplied the water with oxygen, was the only effective candidate. This led to the construction of a treatment plant in Liebenburg–Othfresen, Germany in 1974, and the adoption of the approach in a number of other countries. She was successful in demonstrating the removal of phenols from wastewater, and the treatment of dairy wastewater using Scirpus lacustris. They are particularly effective where there is ample space, in areas of low population density, and in developing countries. If heavy metals are involved, it is possible to remove them from wastewater using plants, but the plants themselves then need to be treated as special waste, and cannot be used for food or forage. Although it took time for Seidel's work to be appreciated, she inspired many people in the field of ecological design, including biologist John Todd and artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Recognition In 1977 Käthe Seidel received the Environmental Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany, and in 1982 the Cross of Merit.

(1935) Gartenbau im Landjahr. (Appelhans) (1943) Binsenarbeiten: Die neuen Binsengegenstände, gemeinsam erarbeitet mit Gertrud Mosenthin. (Voggenreiter) (1955) Die Flechtbinse. Scirpus lacustris L. Ökologie, Morphologie und Entwicklung, ihre Stellung bei den Völkern und ihre wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. (E. Schweizerbartsche Verlagsbuchhandlung) (1959) Wird die Flechtbinse zum zweiten Male Kolonisationspflanze? Ihre Aufgabe im 19. und im 20. Jahrhundert (Schleswig-Holstein). (1963) Über Phenolspeicherung und Phenolabbau in Wasserpflanzen.- Naturwiss. 50: 452 f. (1964) Abbau von Bacterium coli durch höhere Wasserpflanzen.- Naturwiss. 51: 395 (1966) Reinigung von Gewässern durch höhere Pflanzen. (1969) Zur bakteriziden Wirkung höherer Pflanzen. (1970) Mixotrophie bei Scirpus lacustris L. (1971) Physiologische Leistung von Alisma plantago L. (Froschlöffel).- Naturwiss. 58: 151 (1971) Wirkung höherer Pflanzen auf pathogene Keime in Gewässern.- Naturwiss. 58: 150 f. (1973) System for Purification of Polluted Water.- United States Patent Office, Nr. 3770623 (1973) Reinigung von Industrie-Abwässern durch Juncus maritimus Lamarck.- Naturwiss. 60: 158 f. (1973) Zur Biologie und Wasser-Reinigungsvermögen von Iris pseudacorus L.- ibidem. (1974) Schoenoplectus lacustris (L.) Palla zur Reinigung von Gichtwässern.- Naturwiss. 61: 81 (1976) Über die Selbstreinigung natürlicher Gewässer.- Naturwiss. 63: 286-291 (1976) Macrophytes and water purification.- In: J. Tourbier and R.W. Pierson, Jr.(Eds.): Biological control of water pollution. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia (PA), p. 109-121. (1978) Beiträge zur Gewässergesundung. 2., erw. Aufl. (Krefeld-Hülseberg) (1978) Seidel, K., Happel, H. and Graue, G. Contributions to Revitalisation of Waters. Published by Stiftung Limnologische Arbeitsgruppe, translated by Lillian Meetz, Krefeld-Hülserberg. (1988) Käthe Seidel und Helga Happel: Limnologie in Stichworten: Beiträge aus den Wasser-Kalendern 1980–1988 (Jahrbuch für das gesamte Wasserfach).