Hundertwasser

 Seidel (1907 – 1990) was an unusual woman. As head of the Limnological Working Group at the Max Planck Institute for Cultivation Research in Krefeld, Germany, she gained wide renown and was nicknamed “Binsen-Käthe” (Reed Cathy). The aim of her research was water purification and processing by plants, for which reeds and bulrushes proved particularly effective. Käthe Seidel made some crucial breakthroughs in the new field of biotechnology. In the early 1970s Käthe Seidel was retired and the institute terminated this branch of its activities. So Käthe Seidel founded the Dr. Seidel Limnological Working Group as a registered association with her own money in a bid to continue research work, albeit on a more modest scale. Hundertwasser supported Käthe Seidel’s organisation with generous financial assistance from its foundation onward.