Termer, Karl Ferdinand Franz b.July 5, 1894; Berlin, Prussia d.April 15, 1968; Hamburg
German geographer and ethnologist who explored Central America. Franz Termer studied from 1913 to 1920 at the universities of Berlin, Marburg, and Wurzburg, interrupted by World War I.
The founder of American Studies in Germany, Eduard Georg Seler (1849—1922), in Berlin and more especially the Central American specialist Karl Theodor Sapper were of considerable significance for his professional development. Termer completed his doctoral thesis on “Die Entwicklung der lander- und volkerkundlichen Kenntnisse uber Mittelamerika im 16. Jahrhundert” (The Development of Geographical and Ethnological Knowledge of Central America in the 16th Century) under Sapper in Wurzburg and became Sapper’s assistant in 1921. He qualified to assume a professorship (Habilitation) in geography and ethnology in 1923 (with the dissertation “Wetterschaden und Landwirtschaft in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika” [Weather Damage and Agriculture in the United States of America]), became an extraordinary professor in 1929, and finally succeeded Sapper to the chair of geography at the University of Wurzburg after the latter’s retirement in 1932. Termer had made his first great expedition to Guatemala with forays into the neighbouring countries and the United States from 1925 to 1929, commissioned by the Hamburg Geographical Society. His work was equally concerned with geography and ethnology. He reported on individual aspects of this expedition in almost 100 publications, ranging from geology and volcanism to settlement and economic geography, from archaeology and history to geopolitics. A two-volume regional geography of Guatemala (Zur Geographie der Republik Guatemala) brought all this knowledge together and appeared between 1936 and 1941. The second volume, dealing with human geography, included the results of a second expedition undertaken by Termer in 1938 and 1939, largely devoted to archaeological interests. During this trip Termer discovered various ruins (Ixpaco, Pueblo Nuevo, Palo Gordo). By that time (1935) Termer was professor of ethnology in Hamburg and director of the Museum of Ethnology there. These new positions took up much of his time and energy in the following years. He taught and researched in Hamburg until his retirement in 1962. More than 200 publications, dealing almost solely with Central America and Mexico, bear witness to his extraordinary productivity. Termer visited Central America for research purposes several more times, for example in 1949 and 1950, when he carried out an intensive study of the history and culture of the Maya in Mexico. This bore fruit in his book Die Mayaforschung (The Study of the Maya, 1952) and in a regional geography of the Yucatan peninsula (Die Ha.lbi.nsel Yucatdn, 1954). In 1953 and 1954 he led a field trip to El Salvador, where archaeology was his central interest, but geographical issues were also addressed and several volcanoes (Guazapa, San Vicente, San Miguel) were climbed. Afterward Termer also visited Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.After his retirement in 1962 Termer retreated into private life, but received many German and foreign honors, including the highest honor of the land in Guatemala, his second home, the Order of Quetzal in 1963. Franz Termer followed in the footsteps of Friedrich Ratzel and Karl Sapper and was probably the last representative of a broad concept of science where the boundaries between geography and ethnology were dissolved.
Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Ratzel, Friedrich; Sapper Family
References and Further Reading
Fischer, Hans. V∂lkerkunde im Nationalsozialismus. Aspekte der Anpassung, Affmitat und Behauptung einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin. Vol. 7. Hamburger Beitrage zur Wissenschafts- geschichte. Berlin, Hamburg: Reimer, 1990.
Haberland, Wolfgang. “Karl Ferdinand Franz Termer (1894-1968). Eine Wurdigung zum 100. Geburtstag.” Ametas. Mitteilungen und Berichte fur v∂lkerkundlich Interessierte (Sebnitz) no. 10 (1993): 1-17.