On September 8, 2025, biologist Irmtraut Hempel passed away in Molfsee near Kiel, just a few weeks before her 101st birthday. She was married for 73 years to Prof. Dr. Gotthilf Hempel, the founding director of the IOW, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), and therefore felt a close connection to these institutes ever since their foundation. As a woman in marine research, she was a pioneer of her generation, participating in sea-going research expeditions and becoming a role model for many young researchers, whom she also supported directly.

Until well into the 20th century, research cruises were a male domain. In the early days of the Federal Republic of Germany, sayings such as “a woman on board brings bad luck” were still common. At that time, the roles were clearly divided between the sexes. It was a time when it was not easy for women to break free from these norms to pursue their own ambitions. To do so required pioneers with courage, tenacity, and passion. Strong and assertive women. One of them who led the way was Irmtraut Hempel.

Born in 1924, Hempel, who had graduated with a doctorate in biology in 1952, was researching krill larvae. The samples she examined were only ever sent to her lab; male colleagues brought them back from their expeditions. This limited the young researcher's opportunities for gaining new insights, and so she increasingly wanted to be in the field herself, to see the sampling sites and habitats with her own eyes and to examine the larvae directly on the ship.

In the 1970s, the time had come: Women began to secure positions on research vessels and went to sea just like men. Irmtraut Hempel was one of them, undertaking her first expeditions alongside her husband Gotthilf Hempel. He supported her in pursuing her dream of conducting scientific work at sea. Even though at first she didn’t know exactly what everyday life would be like in this male-dominated world, she soon realized how respectful everyone was to each other on the long voyages – and, above all, how rewarding it was to do research during the cruises to countless destinations between the Arctic and Antarctic.

Irmtraut Hempel also contributed to the scientific editorial teams of many scientific publications. Among other things, she was co-editor of the journals Biologie der Polarmeere (Biology of the Polar Seas) and Polar Biology as well as the reports of the German Scientific Commission for Marine Research. In addition, she was involved for many years in supporting international students and their families at the University of Kiel. For this voluntary work, she was awarded the university's Silver Pin of Honour in 1999.

Irmtraut Hempel was a pioneer in many fields. With her death, polar and marine research has lost a woman who made her mark with courage – as a biologist and colleague who brought people from all over the world together.

Text (adapted and translated): Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)

Reading recommendation:
Last year, the AWI honoured Irmtraut Hempel on the occasion of her 100th birthday with a very personal in-depth portrait (in German):
https://www.awi.de/im-fokus/eine-ehe-fuer-die-wissenschaft.html