90 years
Corn anniversary in Bernburg
A small group gathered in September to mark a very special anniversary: 90 years of corn breeding in Bernburg. The two corn breeders Matthias Landbeck and Giso Zieger and the retired employees Professor Wilhelm Kappel, his assistant of many years, Gudrun Freund, and Dieter Alber recalled the eventful history of corn breeding.
Getting together to mark the anniversary of corn breeding (from left to right): Dieter Alber, Gudrun Freund and Wilhelm Kappel
Professor Wilhelm Kappel in 2006 at the demo cultivation plot next to an exotic corn variety from Peru
Professor Wilhelm Kappel at the traditional corn breeding meeting in 2001
Professor Wilhelm Kappel in discussion with the two last directors of the Bernburg Institute for Cereals Research, Professor Hansgeorg Steikhardt (second from the left) and Professor Georg Kratzsch (right), and Giso Zieger (left)
In 1930 the company Saatzuchtwirtschaft C. Braune GmbH Bernburg-Anhalt, which had been founded in 1868, began developing its own early-maturing corn varieties, which can be traced back to landraces from Carinthia in Austria. That led to creation of the corn variety Braune’s Schindelmeiser in 1939.
This first phase ended in 1947, when Braune was expropriated in the Soviet Occupation Zone. The task of breeding was assumed by the state-owned Institute for Plant Breeding in Bernburg until 1969 and then, up to 1990, by its successor, the Institute for Cereals Research in Bernburg-Hadmersleben.
From the end of the 1960s on, corn breeding under the leadership of Wilhelm Kappel was placed in the hands of a joint international venture, which produced 36 hybrids. Its breeding approach, known as the Bernburg Method, was expanded to all Eastern European countries that multiplied seed for the GDR. In 1985, a similar cooperation – headed by the corn breeders Professor Wilhelm Kappel and Dieter Alber – was launched with KWS. That resulted in the joint variety BERKA in 1990.
Historical logos and advertisements
Logo of the company Saatgutwirtschaft C. Braune GmbH at the start of the 20th century
Advertisement for Braun’s Schindelmeiser (1940)
Logos from the 1960s to 1980s
In a move spearheaded by Professor Wilhelm Kappel and Dieter Alber, the breeding activities were transferred after German reunification to APZ – Anhaltische Pflanzenzucht GmbH Bernburg, a KWS subsidiary founded on September 28, 1990; they were privatized and integrated successfully in KWS. KWS’ clear commitment to continuing its Northern European corn breeding at this location in Eastern Germany helped keep a historical tradition alive there. From 2007 on, the corn breeding activities were integrated in KWS’ breeding station at Klein Wanzleben and so directly in KWS SAAT AG Einbeck.
After several years of breeding trials with farmers at locations in Eastern Germany (sowing, control, harvesting of small plots), the service for the breeding program for Northwestern Europe (the Benelux countries, Denmark and the UK) was launched in 1996 under the leadership of Matthias Landbeck. That was followed in 2011 by the service for the program for Northeastern Europe (Poland and Russia), which has been headed by the longstanding station manager Giso Zieger since 2017. This support includes performance tests at a raft of farmers in the Benelux countries, Denmark and Poland, as well as cultivation of the breeding nursery in Bernburg in isolated plots for producing seed for the trials. Seed preparation and dispatch of it to the winter breeding nurseries in South America are also organized for these two breeding programs.
This positive development over the past 90 years is attributable to the outstanding expertise and achievements of the corn breeding employees in Bernburg and has been documented by Giso Zieger in a chronicle. |
Contact:
Giso Zieger
giso.zieger@kws.com
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
