Hellmut Ludwig Späth

Hellmut Ludwig Späth (4 December 1885 – 15 February 1945) was a German botanist and plant nursery owner, murdered by the Nazi party.

His dissertation was titled, The Locust Drive - a contribution to the knowledge of periodicity and annual ring formation in deciduous woody plants, and was published by Paul Parey.

Hellmut revived the nursery's fortunes during the Depression by joining the Nazi Party and obtaining lucrative landscaping contracts for the new autobahns and other public works.

However, his outspoken criticism of the Nazi regime saw him incarcerated in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was executed by firing squad in 1945.

[1] In 2009, a Stolperstein (small, cobble stone-sized memorial plaque) was installed at his old school, Landesschule Pforta, to commemorate Späth as a victim of the Nazi regime.