History

The Association of Tropical Farmers was founded in 1906 as a "support fund" and as a comradeship association for graduates of the German Colonial School. The sponsor was the Deutsche Kolonialschule GmbH. In 1922, the association was reconstituted after the First World War and became co-publisher of Kulturpionier (from 1937 sole publisher), the forerunner of the trade journal "Der Tropenlandwirt". In 1923, the association also became a shareholder in the Deutsche Kolonialschule GmbH. Until 1927, the association was part of the Deutsche Kolonialschule GmbH and all activities were carried out under the umbrella of this institution. When the association was entered in the register of associations at the local court in Witzenhausen, it was transformed from a support association into an independent association that had its headquarters and its scope for action within the Deutsche Kolonialschule GmbH. The association was re-established in 1948 by a group of former association members under the leadership of Dr. Curt Winter. In 1949, the Cultural Pioneer was published again by the association as the "Journal of the Association of Old Men of the German Colonial School for Comrades and Friends". Name changes over time:

- 1906 to 1937: "Association of Old Gentlemen of the Comradeship of Wilhelmshof"

- 1937 to 1941: "Verband Deutscher Koloniallandwirte e. V." (Association of German Colonial Farmers)

- 1937 to 1945: "NS-Altherrenbund" This foundation led to a split in the predecessor association.

- 1948 to 1968: "Association of Old Men from Wilhelmshof in Witzenhausen e.V."

- 1968 to 1984: "Association of Tropical Farmers from Witzenhausen e.V."

- 1984 to 2006: "Association of Tropical Farmers, Witzenhausen e. V."

- 2006 to 2009: "University Association Witzenhausen (VTW) e.V."

The association members were always closely connected to the Deutsche Kolonialschule GmbH and the teaching staff. An active group of association members around Dr. Curt Winter worked on the reconstruction of the society and the teaching facilities as early as 1952. Thanks to these activities by association members and the former teaching staff, the school was reopened in 1957. From 1952, with the help of association members Dr. Konstantin Heinemann and Dr. Paul Tag, the monograph series "Tropische Kulturen" (Tropical Cultures) was published by Ruhrstickstoff AG. This series was a contribution to updating the state of knowledge about foreign crops. In 1962, Dr. Dr. Bieber, head of the Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture, published the first manuscript summarizing tropical and subtropical crops in cooperation with the course of studies at the time. The manuscript was reproduced and illustrated with drawings by the study program and the association.

It is mainly thanks to the association members Dr. Curt Winter, Gerhard Sontag, Erich Mylord and Kurt Stade that the library was preserved and rebuilt. Erich Mylord, who began systematically evaluating and mapping specialist articles from foreign journals in 1963, played an outstanding role in this. He recorded around 70,000 specialist articles from 140 journals in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German (1963 to 1985). This work was then continued by Kurt Stade, who also restored old holdings (1979 to 1990). Through contacts with the Volkswagen factory via the association members Prof. Dr. Peter Wolff and Klaus Hartmann, a professional processing of the library holdings and registration was achieved with the help of Prof. Dr. Nordhoff and the "Volkswagen Foundation" (1967 to 1973). The association contributed financially to the first extension and redesign of the library (DM 10,000). The library's holdings have been and continue to be expanded through donations from its members over the decades. To update the stock of books and journals, the association exchanged around 300 copies of the specialist journal "Der Tropenlandwirt" with other publications. In addition, around 130 copies were sent to subscribers. The databases for the exchange and subscription processing were continuously updated in the association's office.

After the end of the Second World War, seeds and plant material for the greenhouse were largely procured from association members.

The creation of the ethnological museum is largely due to members of the association. They have been helping to create this collection for around 100 years through their donations and loans of exhibits. Walter Breipohl and Hans Bagdahn should be mentioned in this context. Both worked tirelessly to prepare the exhibits for the reopening of the museum in 1977. Hans Bagdahn then managed the exhibition and conducted the guided tours on a voluntary basis for over 10 years.

The publication of the Kulturpionier was carried out exclusively by the association (Dr. Curt Winter, Dr. H. Golf, Prof. Dr. Peter Wolff, Hans Hemann) until 1961 and that of the Tropenlandwirt from 1962 until 1984. From 1979 to 1984, Hans Hemann was editor in an honorary capacity and then integrated into his former activities until 2009.

The strengthening of the Witzenhausen location (university, DITSL) with the aim of promoting foreign agriculture was realized with the founding of a specialist event "Witzenhäuser Hochschulwoche" in 1970.

Horst Zielenski organized a job service for association members for 20 years from 1979. This was discontinued in 2000 because demand had fallen sharply and job offers abroad had declined significantly.

The association has maintained its own association office since 1980. In 1986, Egon Schülke replaced the card index system with a database for the association's administration, which he promptly updated. Egon Schülke managed the bookkeeping on a voluntary basis from 1985 to 2009.

In 1968, when the school in Witzenhausen was still called the "Höhere Landbauschule", the non-profit Fördererkreis was founded.

With the transformation of the Höhere Landbauschule Witzenhausen into the Gesamthochschule Kassel (GHK), later the University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Feltz, former director of the Höhere Landbauschule, thought about how the traditionally good connection to agricultural practice could be maintained and expanded at the end of the 1960s. It was at this time that the Fördererkreis was founded at the GHK Witzenhausen with the aim of maintaining and strengthening old, good ties between agricultural practice, agricultural administration, the agricultural industry and the university. Special achievements in students' final theses have been honored with prizes. These funds came from the "Gustav Hacker Foundation", in which the Fördererkreis is involved.

The board was composed as follows:

First chairman was domain tenant Heinrich Schultheis, Frankenhausen domain,

Second Chairman Dr. Konrad Jacob, Körle, Raiffeisen Association lawyer Kassel, other board members Johann Heinrich von Henniges; Lucklum, Dr. Reuffurth, Chamber of Agriculture Kassel, First Managing Director G. Roth, Hofgeismar. Apart from Dr. Reuffurth, all board members were former graduates of the old Höhere Landbauschule and members of the Altherrenverband Agronomia Kassel Witzenhausen.

Mr. von Henniges and Managing Director Roth left the board for professional reasons. Wolfgang von Scharfenberg, former President of the Kurhessen and Waldeck Chamber of Agriculture, Kalkhof Estate near Eschwege, Sales Director Jaap H. Vogelsang, Sales Director of Massey Ferguson GmbH Eschwege and Jürgen Bringe, Technical Advisor of Kali u. Salz AG Niestetal, who also took over the management, joined the Board. At that time there were 30 members. In 1971, a contact study course was held for the first time together with the Fördererkreis and the GHK. 130 farmers and advisors from Hesse, Lower Saxony and Westphalia took part in this event. After this very successful start to further training, the contact study course became a permanent, annual event in Witzenhausen to bring together science and practice. Over the years, the number of participants leveled off at around 200 on average.

By 1978, Managing Director Bringe had succeeded in increasing the number of members to 135. In 1979, 1st Chairman H. Schultheis resigned from the Board at his own request. Ferdinand Schultheis, Domäne Frankenhausen, became the new 1st Chairman. Dr. Konrad Grass, Director of Agriculture, Hessian State Office for Food, Agriculture and Rural Development (HELELL), Kassel, became a new member of the Board. (HELELL), Kassel.

In 1985, Klaus Thilo Kroeschell, Homberg Mardorf, became 1st Chairman.

In 1988, the sponsors' association had been in existence for 20 years. Many GHK projects were also supported financially, and the Sponsors' Association now had over 500 members. Dr. Jacob resigned from the board, his successor was Helmuth Behler, Raiffeisen-Warenzentrale Kurhessen (RWZ) Kassel, who was a member of the board until 1994. His successor was Dir. Reinhard Stieglitz, RWZ Kassel, who was later replaced by Dr. Christian Karst from RWZ.

In 1998, there was a change in the Board of Directors and in the management. After 35 years as an agricultural consultant in Hesse and almost 30 years as managing director of the Fördererkreis, Jürgen Bringe left the board. The sponsors' association now had almost 700 members. Johannes Heinz Uloth now took over as managing director. Klaus Snethlage took over this task in 2004. Mrs. Hesse, Mrs. Zeuner and Mrs. Hilgendorf were very committed to supporting the sponsors' association. Ms. Beck then took over this support and in the same way carried out much of the necessary administrative work. The last board (Klaus Thilo Kroeschell, Klaus Snethlage, Dr. Christian Karst, Henry Thiele and Christian Hartje) now accompanied the merger with the Association of Tropical Farmers to form the Witzenhausen University Association after almost 40 years of association activity.