TheMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology is a German institute forevolutionary biology. It is located inPlön,Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
The institute was founded by German zoologistOtto Zacharias asHydrobiologische Station zu Plön. Working in Italy in the 1880s, Zacharias was inspired by the highly recognisedStazione Zoologica inNaples, founded in 1870 byAnton Dohrn, to set up the firstbiological station for freshwater research in Germany. He secured financial support from thePrussian government and several private individuals to establish it onGroßer Plöner See in 1891, as a private research institute.[1]
As the director, Zacharias published research reports from 1893 on the Station's activities, which were recorded from 1905 in the Archives of Hydrobiology.[2] In so-called "summer schools" Zacharias trained teachers and laity interested in working with themicroscope.[3]
It became part of theMax Planck Society in 1948, and was renamed in 1966 as theMax Planck Institute of Limnology.[4]
It was renamed again as Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in 2007, marking a change of the research focus towardsevolutionary biology.
54°9′36″N10°26′2″E / 54.16000°N 10.43389°E /54.16000; 10.43389
