Soil of the Year 2026: Soils as archives of natural and cultural history

German Soil of the Year 2026 Presented in Berlin on World Soil Day

World Soil Day on 5 December annually draws attention to soil as an indispensable yet often underestimated resource. Around World Soil Day 2025, two events in Berlin addressed this theme by spanning a conceptual arc from soil as a living system to soil as an archive of natural and cultural history.

The Soil of the Year 2026 in Germany is dedicated to this archive function. In German, the featured soil is referred to as “Archivboden” (literally “Archive Soil”). Rather than denoting a specific soil type, the term refers to a diverse group of soils that share one key feature: they preserve traces of the past. These may include records of former climates and landscape development, as well as evidence of historical land use and human activity — in other words, soils functioning as archives of natural and cultural history. 

“There is history inside”: Ceremony for the Soil of the Year 2026 at the Representation of the State of Hesse in Berlin. In the foreground, lacquer profile monoliths of a charcoal pile soil (evidence of historical land use) and a Ferrallit (recording long-term tropical weathering processes). (Photos D. Schwindt) 

The programme began the day before World Soil Day with a conference of the Commission on Soil Protection at the German Environment Agency (KBU), held at the Federal Press Office. The focus was on the soil microbiome. Presentations highlighted the fundamental role of microorganisms for soil health, plant productivity, food systems, and human health, underlining that soil protection is integral to a One Health perspective linking environment, agriculture, and public health.

Ingmar Jung, Hessian Minister for Agriculture, Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Homeland Affairs, served as official patron of the Soil of the Year 2026 and delivered his welcome address (left). Prof. Thomas Schmid (Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology — HLNUG) gave the laudation highlighting soils as archives of natural and cultural history (right). (Photos: D. Schwindt)

On World Soil Day itself, the official ceremony took place at the Representation of the State of Hesse in Berlin. Under the motto “There is history inside,” the Soil of the Year 2026 focused on soils as archives of natural and cultural history. Ingmar Jung, Hessian Minister for Agriculture, Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Homeland Affairs, served as official patron and emphasised in his welcome address the importance of healthy soils as a vital resource, as regulators of climate through carbon storage and ecosystem processes, and as repositories of environmental knowledge.

Soils as archives of natural and cultural history: Prof. Dr Heinrich Thiemeyer, emeritus (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main), explaining the role of soils as archives of natural history (top). Prof. Dr Udo Recker, State Archaeologist of Hesse, presenting soils as archives of cultural history (bottom). (Photos: D. Schwindt) 

The scientific framing was provided by Prof. Dr Thomas Schmid (Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology — HLNUG). Contributions by Prof. Dr Heinrich Thiemeyer (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main), Prof. Dr Udo Recker (Hesse State Office for Monument Preservation, State Archaeology) and Dr Jutta Weber (Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald UNESCO Global Geopark) further illustrated that soils functioning as archives are of central importance for both natural and cultural history and warrant particular protection.

Dr Jutta Weber, Managing Director of the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald (UNESCO Global Geopark), during the panel discussion following her presentation on awareness-raising and appreciation of soils, moderated by Olaf Streubig (Hessian Ministry for Agriculture, Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Homeland Affairs). In the background: Ringo the Earthworm. (Photo: D. Schwindt) 

During the ceremony, a change in leadership was also announced within the Soil of the Year Board of Trustees, a joint body of the German Soil Science Society (DBG), the German Soil Association (BVB) and the German Engineer Association for Management of Contaminated Soils and Land Recycling (ITVA), which oversees and guides the national Soil of the Year initiative aimed at raising public awareness of soils and their functions. Sonja Medwedski succeeded Dr Gerhard Milbert as Chair, while Dr Milbert will continue to support the Board as Vice Chair.

Sonja Medwedski, newly appointed Chair, and Gerhard Milbert, long-standing Chair and newly appointed Vice-Chair of the Soil of the Year Board, with the soil profile monoliths illustrating the Soil of the Year 2026: a charcoal kiln soil as an archive of cultural history and a Ferrallit as an archive of natural history (left). Words of appreciation for Gerhard Milbert in recognition of his long-standing commitment and his honour as “Soil Scientist of the Year,” presented by Sonja Medwedski and the President of the German Soil Science Society, Prof. Dr Daniela Sauer (right). (Photos: D. Schwindt)

 

The World Soil Day 2025 events demonstrated the wide range of soil functions — from the soil microbiome to soils as archives of natural and cultural history — and highlighted why protecting this resource remains a long-term responsibility of science, policy and society.

The ceremony concluded with a terroir wine tasting moderated by Dr Peter Böhm and State Minister Ingmar Jung. (Photo: D. Schwindt)