Illustration showing Liebig's teaching laboratory at Giessen Unversity, Hesse, West Germany, in 1840. Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) was a German chemist who began teaching at Giessen University in 1824. There he created a laboratory for general student use, an innovation which established his reputation as a great teacher. The small univers- ity became the centre of the world for chemistry for over quarter of a century. Liebig worked in the new field of organic chemistry, perfecting a method of quantitative organic analysis. In later life he became interested in biochemistry, studying the composition of body fluids and experimenting with chemical crop fertilizers.