Erwin Baur

Born in 1875, Erwin Baur was a German botanist and geneticist whose work helped shape early twentieth-century plant genetics. He became known for experimental research on heredity in plants, especially studies that showed how traits could be passed on in predictable ways and how new plant forms could be developed through breeding.

Baur also played a major role in building research institutions for plant breeding. He was the founding director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research in Müncheberg, where he worked on connecting genetics with practical agriculture and the improvement of crop species.

He died in 1933. Parts of his historical legacy are scientifically important, but they are also tied to the troubling racial-hygiene ideas that circulated in Germany in his time, so modern biographies often treat his career with both recognition and caution.