Professor Emeritus Dr Dr h. c. Wolfgang Haber, one of the most prominent and highly decorated pioneers of landscape ecology and nature conservation in Germany, passed away on 13 August 2026 at the age of 100. The bdla mourns the loss of its honorary member.
Although it is virtually impossible to do full justice to his life’s work, we would like to take this opportunity to give our younger colleagues, in particular, a brief insight into his wide-ranging body of work, which in many areas continues to shape the fundamental principles of our actions today and can serve as a guide for our decision-making processes.
Wolfgang Haber, often referred to as the ‘father of landscape ecology in Germany’, studied botany, zoology, chemistry and geography at the universities of Münster, Munich, Basel, Stuttgart and Hohenheim. In 1957, he was awarded a doctorate for his thesis on soil respiration at the University of Münster. In the same year, he became a research assistant at the University of Münster, and from 1962 he served as curator at the Westphalian Museum of Natural History in Münster.
In 1966, he became a professor and holder of the Chair of Landscape Ecology at the Technical University of Munich in Freising-Weihenstephan, where he expanded the then-existing landscape management degree programme to include scientific and ecological content that had previously been neglected.
During this period, he played a key role, amongst other things, in the establishment of the Bavarian Forest and Berchtesgaden National Parks, as well as in the introduction of biotope mapping, the first round of which took place in 1976 in the Free State of Bavaria – a project that was unique in Germany at the time. In the same year, the first Federal Nature Conservation Act was also passed, in which both landscape planning and regulations on human intervention were, for the first time on a national scale, standardised as comprehensive approaches to nature conservation, in contrast to the previous focus on protected areas.
Through his teaching and research, he carried out essential pioneering work on the ecological foundations of nature conservation, land and landscape management, and landscape planning.
His exceptional professional expertise enabled him to exert a major influence on politics and society far beyond the realm of pure science. His personal character certainly played a part in this, which he himself described as follows upon his appointment as an honorary member of the bdla in 2008: “I am not someone who advocates polarisation or creates enemies, even when I express clear opinions; rather, I strive to build bridges and foster partnerships.”
Wolfgang Haber built many bridges during his lifetime: for example, between nature conservation and agriculture, or between landscape architecture and landscape ecology – a division he always opposed.
In keeping with his outstanding abilities and his pioneering approaches, his expertise was repeatedly sought after and valued by politicians. For instance, from 1981 onwards, Wolfgang Haber was a member of the Federal Government’s Council of Experts on Environmental Issues, serving as its spokesperson from 1985 to 1990. During his time on this body, a number of hugely important reports were published, the impact of which is still being felt today. From 1990 to 1996, he was also President of the International Association of Ecology (Intecol), the umbrella organisation for national professional associations in the field of ecological science.
Alongside numerous other high-profile honours, perhaps the two most significant may be mentioned here by way of example: in 1993, the German Federal Environmental Foundation named him the first recipient of the German Environmental Prize. He received this award – which is not without reason also referred to as the German Environmental Nobel Prize – for his life’s work. The honour of being awarded the Order of Maximilian was certainly also very special. This award, also known as the Bavarian Nobel Prize, has been conferred on fewer than 200 scientists and artists since its establishment in 1863; the list of previous recipients includes such illustrious names as Alexander von Humboldt, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Hermann Helmholtz and Theodor Mommsen.
Finally, it should not go unmentioned that Wolfgang Haber not only established the study of landscape ecology at the Technical University of Munich as part of what was then the new degree programme in Landscape Management (now: Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning), but also shaped entire generations of landscape planners, landscape architects and conservationists through his pioneering research and his inspiring teaching style.
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