Manfred Gustav Raupp, born on November 13, 1941, in Staffort, a suburb of Stutensee, is a distinguished German agricultural scientist and economist. He serves as an honorary professor at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, where he is actively involved in the Department of Agricultural Research and International Management. Additionally, Raupp is a key member of the management team for the EU research project Biofector, specializing in agricultural and biological informatics. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing training and dissemination of information. [1] [2] [3]
After completing his studies in agricultural technology, agricultural science, sociology, economics, and marketing at the Engineering College in Nuertingen, the University of Hohenheim and at INSEAD, Manfred Raupp specialized in Market Theory at Hohenheim and Bad Duerkheim. He earned engineering (FH) and agriculture diplomas, and obtained his doctorate (Dr. oec) in 1973 at Hohenheim.
From 1974 to 1999, Raupp held a senior management position at the Swiss conglomerate Ciba-Geigy, where he was responsible for seed products. Following the merger that formed Novartis, he oversaw the agrochemical business in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia. Since 1999, he has operated an independent business focusing on agricultural research and consulting.
Manfred Raupp serves as a registered EU advisor to the European Commission on agro-research issues, particularly concerning Bio-Effectors. He also teaches at the Universities of Prague-Suchdol, Chester, Erdine, and Timişoara, conducting research and lecturing on plant vitalization, resource management, Bio-Effectors, the natural product industry, plant disease resistance, and international management.
In the 1970s, he co-founded the Renewable Raw Materials group under Manfred Dambroth, contributing significantly to the establishment of the German Gene Bank for Crop Plants. Alongside Ludwig Reiner, he played a pivotal role in the founding of agricultural informatics in Germany.
In 1987, Raupp was instrumental in providing support to Polish small farmers by supplying blizzard-resistant maize seeds. By 1989, he was invited to the University of Prague-Suchdol to lecture on Agricultural Research and International Management in both German and English. In 2000, he joined the editorial board of the scientific journal, Scientia Agriculturae Bohemica, based in Prague.
Since the inception of the Erasmus program, Raupp has been actively involved in international student exchanges, contributing to both the Rotarian youth exchange and serving on the Regional Committee Germany-Turkey of Rotary International.
He serves as a Guest Lecturer within the Erasmus partnerships between Trakya University, the University of Chester, and DHBW Loerrach. In collaboration with Mukadder Seyhan Yuecel, he organized the Loerrach Symposium at Trakya University. He also advocated for the inclusion of the Selimiye Mosque on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
Manfred Raupp was the founding chairman of Loerrach International since its inception in 2004. Under his leadership, the organization aimed to nurture city partnerships and friendships. During his tenure, Manfred Raupp was recognized for his significant contributions to making the city partnerships "extraordinarily lively." He was honored as the driving force behind the organization, often referred to as the "engine" of Loerrach International. In 2015, Raupp was named an honorary citizen of Edirne, Turkey, one of Lörrach’s partner cities, acknowledging his efforts and contributions towards international friendship and cooperation. [4]
Raupp was also a founding member of the German BioValley, and the trinational School Research Centre phaenovum.
Lörrach is a city in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the district seat of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including the Milka chocolate factory owned by Mondelez International. The city population has grown over the last century, with only 10,794 in 1905, it has now increased its population over 50,000.
Stutensee is a town in northern Karlsruhe district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Jiří Petr, Prof., DrSc. Dr.h.c. was a Czech agroscientist, university professor and Emeritus Chancellor of the Czech University of Agriculture Prague.
Staffort is an old German village between Karlsruhe and Bruchsal - since 1975 the village is part of the town Stutensee which was created by joining together with Blankenloch, Friedrichstal and Spöck. Stutensee-Staffort has roughly 2000 inhabitants (2011).
Trakya University is a public university in Edirne, Turkey. It was established on July 20, 1982. The university is located in Edirne, in Eastern Thrace. Trakya University is a regional university with branches and campuses spread over the Thrace region. Trakya University runs scientific activities related to regional development and has international relationships especially within the Balkan Universities Network including more than 40 Universities from Balkan countries and the University Loerrach in Germany. Erhan Tabakoglu was elected and confirmed as new Rector of the university in July 2016.
The University of Hohenheim is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally been agricultural and natural sciences. Today, however, the majority of its students are enrolled in one of the many study programs offered by the faculty of business, economics and social sciences. The faculty has regularly been ranked among the best in the country, making the University of Hohenheim one of Germany's top-tier universities in these fields. The university maintains academic alliances with a number of partner universities and is involved in numerous joint research projects.
Enver Duran is a Turkish doctor specialising in thoracic-cardiovascular surgery; a professor and chancellor of Trakya University, Edirne (2004–2012); and since 2013, dean of the faculty of medicine of Istanbul Arel University.
The Balkan Universities Network or Balkan Universities Association (BAUNAS) is an association of universities in Southeast Europe. In its present form the body was created after the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia and the end of the Yugoslav Wars. Association facilitates the regional cooperation in the context of expansion of higher education sector caused by the establishment of new private and public universities.
The Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Loerrach (DHBW-Loerrach) was founded in 1981 as Berufsakademie Lörrach. It offers workplace-focused, cooperative degree courses. This means that students alternate between learning the theory at school and applying it on the job in a three-months rhythm. Besides Loerrach, seven other schools of cooperative education and three branch campuses were founded in Baden-Wuerttemberg since the beginning of 1974.
Yener Yörük is a Turkish physician and university professor. He specializes in thoracic surgery. In 2012–2016, he was Chancellor (Rector) of the Trakya University in Edirne.
A bioeffector is a viable microorganism or active natural compound which directly or indirectly affects plant performance (biofertilizer), and thus has the potential to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use in crop production.
Recep Gürkan is a Turkish politician and member of the CHP. He was previously a member of the Grand National Assembly and has been the mayor of Edirne between 30 March 2014 and March 2024.
Markus Weinmann is an agricultural scientist specialising in the area of Plant Physiology at the University of Hohenheim, and ranks as one of the pioneers of Bioeffector-Research aimed at improving plant growth, vitality and disease resistance. He is also coordinator of field experiments in the EU-Biofector-Project.
Loerrach International e.V. is an association of citizens, educational, sport and cultural institutions, service clubs, municipal administration and local council in Lörrach in southwestern Germany. It has the goal of fostering relations with the town's partner towns. Its structure has long been a model for similar town partnership organisations in other European cities.
Gudrun Heute-Bluhm is a German municipal politician of the CDU. She is a member of the executive committee of the city council of Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg and a member of the federal executive committee of the CDU Germany.
Marjan Dema is a professor of mathematics. He was involved for many years in the Balkan Universities Network and from March 2016 until September 2020 he was Rector of the University of Pristina
Alessandro Piccolo is an Italian chemist and agricultural scientist, with particular expertise in soil science. He is a professor at the University of Naples Federico II and has been honoured by the prize for chemistry in 1999 by the Humboldt Foundation. He received the Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Life Sciences of Prague, Czech Republic in 2009. He is chief editor of the Springer journal Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture. He has been coordinator of two research EU projects and a member of numerous other EU research projects such as the project Biofector with the University of Hohenheim. He has published more than 300 peer reviewed scientific papers and he is ranked among the top Italian scientists.
The Staffort Book is a religious-historical work that was printed in 1599 in the Staffort Castle printing house and is regarded as an attempt by Margrave Ernst Friedrich von Baden-Durlach to reconcile Lutheran and Calvinist doctrine. A translation into modern English is available.
The Staffort Castle was the building in Staffort, a district of the town of Stutensee, where the Staffort Book was printed in 1599. Schmalkalder's plan from 1689, which shows the dimensions of the foundation walls, is the only surviving document relating to the castle plan. The depiction by Leon & Manfred Raupp is based on this plan and other contemporary documents.
Friedrichstal is a part of Stutensee in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany.