Erwin Baur was a doctor and herbalist. He was born in Ichenheim (Baden-Württemberg) and studied medicine and natural sciences. In 1902, he became a doctor at the Kiel Sanatorium and Nursing Home. A year later, he submitted a second doctoral thesis in botany. In 1905, he became a member of the newly founded ‘Society for Racial Hygiene’. He became its chairman in 1917. He became a professor at the Berlin-Dahlem Agricultural College. In 1921, together with Eugen Fischer and Fritz Lenz, he published the textbook ‘Grundriß der menschlichen Erblichkeitslehre und Rassenhygiene’, which was considered the standard work on ‘racial hygiene’ at the time. This handbook was the first attempt to scientifically substantiate racial hygiene. Baur was a supporter of the National Socialists and supported the sterilisation law. Nevertheless, his career came to an end in 1933: he lost his management position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research in Müncheberg because he refused to leave his Jewish wife Margot. He died in the same year.
