75 years of nature conservation owl: New design for an important symbol!

75 years of nature conservation owl: New design for an important symbol!

The "Nature Conservation Eul" in Brandenburg celebrates its 75th anniversary. A new design for the popular symbol was developed on this occasion. Students from the University of Applied Science and Art Hildesheim, led by Professor Christian Mahler, implemented the modifications. The owl now has larger eyes and more dynamic lines.

The yellow sign on which the owl is depicted was designed by Erna and Kurt Kretschmann after the Second World War. Since 1954 in the former GDR it has been a sign of nature and landscape protection areas as well as protected parks and natural monuments. The owl stands on a yellow, five -way sign that ends upside down. Kurt Kretschmann was committed to ensuring that the symbol is valid across Germany. His wife was significantly involved in the development, which is recognized in a detailed article about Erna Kretschmann, where Frauenorte-brandenburg.de provides further information.

tradition and continued existence of the symbol

The House of Nature Care in Bad Freienwalde is recognized as Germany's oldest environmental education facility. After reunification, it was decided to continue the owl symbol in the former GDR. There are efforts to make the symbol of the forest ear owl known throughout Germany, while in West Germany the sea eagle has been used in a green triangle sign as a symbol for nature conservation since 1954.

The history of nature conservation owl goes back to September 1950 when Kurt and Erna Kretschmann developed the idea with friends to mark special trees, landscapes or biotopes uniformly. The goal was to make nature visible and upgrade worth protecting. The stylized shape of a forest ear owl was originally chosen, and 5,000 signs have already been distributed by 1954. On June 1, 1971, the "Kretschmann" owl was declared a nature conservation symbol by law in the GDR. After reunification, the owl was able to prevail in many regions and is now a recognized symbol for nature reserves in East German federal states.

Today, the black forest ear owl on a yellow reason is visible in many areas and has been considered a total German nature conservation symbol in various forms in most federal states since 1994, with exceptions in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.