Reinhold Tüxen

However, in 1942 he was removed as chairman of the German working group for plant sociology due to a lack of Nazi Party membership and alleged political unreliability.

Tüxen studied from 1919 to 1925, initially also art, but then focused on chemistry, botany and geology in Heidelberg, then plant sociology with Josias Braun-Blanquet at the ETH Zurich and in Montpellier.

Fritz Todt, the inspector general for German roads who was responsible for motorway construction under Adolf Hitler, relied on Tüxen.

In 1936/1937, Tüxen made suggestions for the selection of the lawn mixture, which had to be optimally adapted to the loads of the marches carried out there, as well as for the planting of the area.

In addition, Tüxen recommended planting gorse, aspen, and birch to give the newly created SA camp a forest-like character.

Tüxen initially remained chairman of the working group, but was replaced by Erwin Aichinger in 1941 due to a lack of NSDAP membership and alleged political unreliability.

[11] The basis was presumably a decision that Hermann Göring had already made in June 1939 in his role as Reichsforstmeister: jobs for vegetation mapping were to be integrated into the forest management offices.

The most important one should be set up in Hannover at the Central Office for Vegetation Mapping of the Reich, i.e. near Tüxen, if it should also remain subordinate to the Kassel Forestry Agency.

[12] In August he then apparently handed this staff over directly to Tüxen, with the task of carrying out a vegetation mapping of the entire German Reich.

[13] After the major territorial gains of the Axis Powers in Eastern Europe, Tüxen's position was given even more tasks, including mapping the vegetation around the Auschwitz concentration camp.

He noted himself: In the vicinity of Auschwitz (East Upper Silesia) a vegetation mapping was made of a larger area as the basis for the reorganization of all economic conditions.

Albert Speer as the successor of Todt in his offices and Göring as Reichsforstmeister were arguing at this time about the utilization of the Tüxen staff for their respective areas.

In 1942, Göring demanded that a separate sub-department be set up for the interests of the General Inspector for Water and Energy and German Roads, which he should finance himself.

[15] However, actually prevented until 1943, the Finance Minister Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk the implementation of this project, since he could recognize in no meaning for the war success.

For this purpose, the entire staff of the department for theoretical and applied plant sociology of the veterinary university and the central office should be fully deployed.

[21] Tüxen's work in connection with the research squadron, e.g. V.This particular unit had the task of exploring hard-to-reach regions for troops in order to provide the military command with terrain information.

He applied the methods of mapping potential natural vegetation and found relicts of ancient forests still present in the vicinity of temples and shrines.