Paul Vageler (1882–1963) and His Pivotal Role in Germany's “Colonial Soil Science”

ABSTRACT This essay examines the role and activities of the German–Brazilian soil scientist Paul Vageler (1882–1963) in Germany's colonial policies and ambitions between 1909 and 1945. It highlights his scholarly achievements during the German Empire (with colonial possessions), the Weimar Republic (colonial revisionist thinking following the loss of those possessions), and the “Third Reich” (large‐scale colonial planning). Vageler's biography and scholarly work are placed within the broader political and socioeconomic context. Vageler pursued his “colonial soil science” amid changing political conditions. While working in what was then German East Africa (now Tanzania) before the First World War, he developed an approach that combined agrogeology with the precursor to the catena concept. He assessed pristine natural soils in terms of their potential for use in a colonial economy, particularly for cotton cultivation. Vageler used this method—supplemented in later years by aerial image analysis—until the end of his career. During the interwar period (1919–1939), he studied and mapped contrasting soils in (sub)tropical regions on four continents (excluding Australia), focusing particularly on southern Brazil. In São Paulo, Vageler was formative in soil‐related research and education. Drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience, he wrote the world's first textbook on tropical and subtropical soils in the 1930s, which was published in several languages. The Nazis’ (virtual) colonial policy required thinking in terms of self‐sufficient large regions, which Vageler translated into concrete plans for Africa as an economic “complementary zone.” He did so in his capacity as holder of the Chair of “Colonial Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering” at the University of Hamburg (newly established in 1941), and as the concurrent head of a Paris‐based office in occupied France. His involvement in the Nazi apparatus made it impossible for him to continue working in Germany after the Second World War. Vageler returned to Brazil, where he is still regarded today as one of the country's pioneers in soil science. Examining Germany's colonial history for the first time from a soil science perspective, using the example of Paul Vageler, reveals the crucial importance of soil for the exploitation of agricultural resources, as might be expected. However, the significance of this factor depends on its political interpretation: For the Nazi regime, the colonial territory was primarily a source of raw materials to meet the needs of a supposedly culturally superior people. Leading scholars such as Vageler, who came from the academic tradition of the German Empire, shared this view and advocated for it. His connection to the regime consisted essentially of producing advanced knowledge to serve its colonial ambitions and policy goals. Colonial legacies and decolonization processes present challenges today, including for soil science.