Leppla, August

Geologist

born: 12.08.1859 in Matzenbach

died: 12.04.1924 in Wiesbaden

After attending secondary school in Kaiserslautern, he studied natural sciences at the technical universities in Aachen and Munich, then in Strasbourg, mainly geology including mining. In 1882, he completed his doctorate in Freiburg im Breisgau on the Remigiusberg near Cusel. From 1883 he was an assistant at the Munich Mining Office.

In 1888, he became a research assistant at the Prussian Geological Survey (PGLA) in Berlin, district geologist in 1894 and state geologist in 1900. In 1904 he was awarded the title of professor. In 1913 he was appointed Privy Bergrat and transferred to Wiesbaden.

During the First World War, he was awarded the Iron Cross II Class for his work in procuring drinking water for the troops. He had lived in Wiesbaden since 1911. His work focused on geological mapping and applied geology. He dealt with the Triassic of the Rhine Palatinate, the basement of the Northern Vosges, the revision of the Rotliegend in the Nahe region and the Devonian in the Hunsrück, on the Moselle and in the Eifel up to the High Fens, the Zechstein and Buntsandstein on the eastern edge of the Rhenish Slate Mountains, the tectonics of the Saarbrücken coalfield, mapping in the Soonwald and Taunus. His observations are recorded on 24 1:25000 scale geological maps printed during his lifetime and in numerous mapping reports in the PGLA yearbook. A further five maps, some or all of which he recorded, were published posthumously. Several general maps are in his hand. He carried out investigations in the Pleistocene of the Moselle, Rhine and Nahe valleys.

In applied geology, he dealt with building blocks, deep boreholes, groundwater conditions in the districts of Malmedy and Montjoie as well as in the area around Saarbrücken, the floodplain of the Glatzer Neisse, dams in the Silesian Oder region, questions of water supply, artificial spring feeding, hydropower, healing springs, balneology and dams. The PGLA archives contain more than 100 of his expert opinions on dams throughout Germany. The list of his scientific writings includes 87 titles.

He had been a member of the Nassauischer Verein für Naturkunde since 1901. He was elected to the board in 1914 and in 1915 took over the management of the mineralogical and geological collections of the Wiesbaden Museum, whose move to the new building he accompanied. His aim was to create a "geological Nassau museum of local history" based on the samples he had collected in the field over decades. His collection of Taunus rocks was left to the museum by the PGLA after his death.

In 1920, he was elected chairman of the association, for which he also gave numerous lectures and guided tours. His grave is in the south cemetery.