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Abstract

The agricultural chemist Margarete von Wrangell (1877–1932) became, in 1923, the first female full professor (ordentliche Professorin) in Germany, when she was finally—after overcoming resistance from various male-dominated institutions—offered a chair in plant nutrition at the Hohenheim Agricultural College (Landwirtschaftliche Hochschule Hohenheim) in Stuttgart. In this very short excerpt from a letter that Wrangell wrote to her mother on June 5, 1923, shortly after receiving the news, she wrote about both the struggles that she had already overcome and the struggles that she knew she would continue to face.

Margarete von Wrangell, First Female Professor in Germany (1923)

Source

I face many battles in my profession. I am the first female full professor in Germany. I have also gained public recognition from some renowned scholars. This has won me the enmity of many, but my institute is a creation that will remain of lasting value and utility, and despite great worries and overwork it brings me joy. In any case, I know what I am fighting for.

Source of original German text: Margarete von Wrangell, quoted in Ulrich Fellmeth, „Margarete von Wrangell—die erste Ordinaria in Deutschland“, in Fellmeth, ed., Margarete von Wrangell und andere Pionierinnen. Katharinen, 1998, p. 3. Available online: http://margarete-von-wrangell.de/?nav=4

Translation: Pam Selwyn