Fritz von Wettstein


Friedrich Wettstein, Ritter von Westersheim was an Austrian botanist.

Academic career

Fritz Wettstein was the son of Richard Wettstein. From 1925 he was professor at Göttingen, in 1931 in Munich and in 1934 director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Berlin-Dahlem.
Wettstein made a major contribution to botanical and genetical science. He worked especially on cytoplasmic inheritance in mosses and fireweed. Following Erwin Baur at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut, Berlin-Dahlem, he investigated hybrids and polyploids of mosses, and advanced the understanding of the relationships and characteristics of polyploid forms.

Political implications

Wettstein has been criticised because at international scientific conferences before the war he defended National Socialist racial ideas.

Works