The "Swiss Federal Research Institute for Fruit Crops, Viticulture and Horticulture" in the city of the same name on Lake Zurich in the Swiss canton of Zurich was founded in 1890. The main reason for this was the enormous damage to viticulture caused by phylloxera and mildew in the second half of the 19th century. Today it is mainly responsible for the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The Institute also cultivates some vineyards on Lake Zurich. The first director of the institute was Professor DDr. Hermann Müller-Thurgau (1850-1927), who completed the work begun in Geisenheim (Rheingau) on the new Müller-Thurgau variety named after him. The main tasks are consulting, training, research and development. The well-known biologist Dr. Otto Schneider-Orelli (1880-1965) worked at this institute at the beginning of the 20th century in the research of plant-physiological, entomological (insects) and mycological (fungi) problems.
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