Walther Schoenichen

Walther Schoenichen (July 18, 1876 – November 22, 1956) was a German biologist and a prominent proponent of nature conservation within Nazi Germany.

Schoenichen was born in Cologne and went to school at the Francke Foundations. He studied natural sciences in Halle and obtained his doctorate in 1898. From 1898 to 1913, he worked as a teacher at the Royal Academy in Posen.

In 1922 Schoenichen became manager of the (Prussian State Agency for Natural Heritage Preservation). In 1933, Schoenichen joined the Nazi Party and became head of the (Reich Agency for Nature Conservation) when it was founded in 1935. He retired from the position in 1938 when he was replaced by Hans Klose. In 1942, he published his magnum opus, (Nature Conservation as a Racial and International Cultural Task). Schoenichen was an antisemite for much of his career, writing in 1926 that "[the German] people face a decline in racial hygiene", and described advertising billboards as an "infection with Jewish toxin."

In 1948, three years after the Second World War, Schoenichen moved to Goslar. From 1949 until his death, he was a professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Schoenichen died in Göppingen.

Publications

, Sammlung naturwissenschaftlich-pädagogischer Abhandlungen (volume 1, issue 3), Leipzig and Berlin 1903 , Velhagen & Klasings Volksbücher Nr. 50, Bielefeld and Leipzig (1912?) , Velhagen & Klasings Volksbücher Nr. 87, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1913 In collaboration with Max Popp: , Leipzig 1917 , Jena 1918 (3rd, expanded edition 1930) , Leipzig 1918 , Leipzig 1919 , Leipzig 1920 , Leipzig 1922 In collaboration with other authors: , Jena 1922 , Freiburg im Breisgau 1923 , Biologische Studienbücher (volume 2), Freiburg im Breisgau 1924 , Wege zum Wissen 4, Berlin 1924 , Berlin 1925 , Naturschutz-Bücherei (volume 1), Berlin-Lichterfelde 1925 In collaboration with other authors: , München 1926 In collaboration with Philipp Depdolla: , Handbuch des naturwissenschaftlichen und mathematischen Unterrichts (volume 5), Leipzig 1926 [published 1925] , Naturschutz-Bücherei (volume 8), Berlin-Lichterfelde 1928 , Langensalza 1928 (2nd edition Berlin/Leipzig 1929) , Handbuch der Deutschkunde (volume 7), Frankfurt am Main 1928 , Naturschutz-Bücherei (volume 11), Berlin-Lichterfelde 1929 (3rd edition 1951) , Handweiser der Staatlichen Stelle für Naturdenkmalpflege in Preußen (volume 1), Neudamm 1931 In: (14th year, volume 11), Neudamm and Berlin 1933 , Jena 1933 , Neudamm 1934 , Naturschutz-Bücherei (volume 12), Berlin 1934 , Neudamm 1935 , 2 volumes, 1935 and 1937 In collaboration with Werner Weber: , Berlin 1936 , Neudamm and Berlin 1937 In collaboration with Erich Schröder (illustrations): , Berlin-Lichterfelde 1938 (2nd, expanded and improved edition 1941) In collaboration with Erich Schröder (illustrations) et al.: , Berlin-Lichterfelde 1938 , Landschaftsschutz und Landschaftspflege (issue 3), Neudamm and Berlin 1939 , Jena 1940 , Jena 1942 , Berlin-Halensee and Bielefeld 1947 , Berlin-Halensee 1947 , Berlin-Halensee 1949 , Berlin 1950 , Stuttgart/Ludwigsburg 1950 , Berlin 1951 , 2 volumes, Kiel 1951 and 1954 , Hannover 1952 , Große Naturforscher (volume 16), Stuttgart 1954