Notes on the history of brackish water biology at the Universities of Rostock and Greifswald

On the occasion of the celebrations of the 50th year of existence of the biological station at Hiddensee (1982), the 150th jubilee year of the Zoological Institute of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University in Greifswald (1986), and the 25th year of existence of an independent marine biological research and training facility at the University of Rostock (1985), a short overview is given of the development of biological science in the Baltic Sea in the Hither Pomerania and Mecklenburg region. It will become clear that the initiative for brackish water research arose at the University of Greifswald, with algological studies concentrated at Hiddensee and zoological-ecological work in Greifswald itself. Effective and successful marine biological research and teaching at the University of Rostock started with the establishment of the Department of Marine Biology (1960), where university marine biological activities are now concentrated as a result of the university reform (1968)