The Environment Chronicle

The first allotment club founded in Leipzig. The first major allotment parks are created in 1870.

The zoologist Ernst Haeckel coins the term ecology to describe "the body of knowledge concerning the economy of nature - the investigation of the total relation of the animal both to its inorganic and to its organic environment"

Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) formed the Ecology term in his book "General Morphology of Organisms". However, he can not be named as the inventor of this scientific branch, as ecological problems had already been covered since ancient times. As early as around 300 B.C. the works of Theophrast contained many corresponding examples.

George Perkin Marsh (1801 - 1882) publishes his exhaustive "Man and Nature", reissued as "The Earth as modified by Human Action" in 1874. This is the first comprehensive description of the impact of human economic activity on land and sea around the world.

The start of the potash industry in Staßfurt near Magdeburg contaminates rivers with spoil salts.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) finally publishes his landmark opus " On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection...". The mechanics of nature and thereby the environment become more consciously understood.

Discovery and use of aniline dye. The aniline dye industry leads to much pollution and damage to public health.

The first sewage system is put into operation in Hamburg.

The first central water supply is built in Hamburg. Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne follow suit. The water is not yet filtered.

J. von Liebig founds the science of agricultural chemistry and forms of artificial fertilisers multiply.

Johann Gottfried Tulla (1770 - 1828) starts work on expanding the Upper Rhine between the Black Forest and the Vosges. The Weser, Elbe and Danube are also excavated in the 19th century.

The first Leblanc soda factory in Germany brings much pollution.

The Leblanc soda process marks the start of the new chemicals industry. From the outset, there are problems with waste. Traditional, now scarce, resources, wood-ash and dried seaweed for soda production, are replaced by other raw materials.

Count Leopold III. Friedrich Franz (1740-1817) attempts to transform his small territory Anhalt-Dessau, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, into a realm of gardens and parks. Some of his project has survived, including the park at Wörlitz, a remarkable and beautiful example of large-scale landscape gardening.

The first decree on orderly waste disposal in Hamburg.

In Silesia, Bunzlau hosts the first public sewage treatment works.

Breslau is supplied with mains water from the Oder.

The Schultheisser ordinance is intended to stop the destruction of forests by charcoal burners.

Zittau receives its first water mains.

Munich decrees detailed regulations on hygiene.

The Amberg "Forest ban" is decreeed, to protect woodlands.

From the 13th century onwards, large areas of forest in Europe (Italy, France, England and Ireland) are lost due to the increased demand for fuel (e.g. for smelting iron). At a later date, Lüneburg Heath is deforested in Germany, to meet increased demand for charcoal.

The first regulations in Germany on health and the purity of ingredients are decreed.

At around this time, large areas of Ancient Greece become steppe, as a result of deforestation (e.g. for wood for Attic ceramics production, intensive agriculture) and the associated erosion.

Around this date there are reports of serious environmental damage in Mesopotamia due to inadequate irrigation and a lack of drainage systems.