REFLECTIONS ON ORNITHOLOGISTS WHOM I USED TO KNOW

Written version of a presentation which was held during the Annual Gen eral Meeting of the German Ornithologists Society in 1997 in Neubrande nburg, and which received much acclaim. The author relates the persona l histories of some 15 outstanding ornithologists (most from Eastern a nd Western Europe) now deceased who lived around the middle of the twe ntieth century. The scientific achievements of the people involved are barely touched upon; rather the tenoraccent of the presentation is ti n investigation of the impact of socio-political relationships on thei r scientific activities and the involvement of some of the scientists in politics. The author presents the facts not as accusations or indic tments, but rather as a stimulus to the younger generation of scientis ts to consider the issues, in particular to think ''What would I have done if I had lived there or at that time?''