Arnold Foerster (botanist)

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Arnold Foerster

Arnold Foerster (spelling according to tombstone, in some sources also: Förster ; * January 20, 1810 in Aachen ; † August 13, 1884 ibid) was a German botanist and entomologist . Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Foerst. ".

Live and act

The son of the farmer Caspar Aegidius Arnold Foerster (1779–1821) and Katharina Angelika Duyckers (1786–1846) showed a keen interest in insects as a schoolboy and therefore regularly visited the entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen , who lived in the neighboring Stolberg and who looked at Foerster's development who lost his father at the age of eleven, gained great influence. Nonetheless, after graduating from high school, Foerster began studying medicine at the University of Bonn , but soon decided to study natural sciences with August Goldfuß . A friendly relationship quickly developed between these two and Goldfuß not only let the poor student Foerster live with him, but also made him a tutor for his children and as an assistant in his institute. Other university lecturers who were important for Foerster during this period were the botanists Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck and Ludolph Christian Treviranus as well as the mineralogist Johann Jacob Nöggerath .

After completing his studies, Foerster found a job from 1836 on in the "Higher Citizens' School" in Aachen, which was founded a year earlier, and later became the Couven Gymnasium , where he found a competent colleague in Johann Heinrich Kaltenbach, who was hired a year after him . Foerster served at this school until shortly before his death and was promoted to senior teacher here in 1850 and received the title of professor in 1855.

During this time he deepened his research in the field of entomology and botany and made three major trips to Switzerland for this purpose, where he found accommodation with the hymenopterist Emil Frey-Gessner (1826–1917), among others . Foerster summarized his studies on the different groups of insects in numerous monographs , whereby he mainly devoted himself to the hymenoptera. In particular Foerster contributed significantly to the fact that many new genera and species of the families of Gall and parasitic wasps and their relatives among the Chalcidoidean , Proctotrupidaen and Braconidaen described. His interest was mainly the domestic species, of which he in 2747 in 1847 he edited "Overview of the beetle fauna of the Rhine Province" auflistete alone for the Aachen Lousberg recorded Foerster 672 kinds of day and moths on.

In addition to his entomological research, Foerster was also active in the field of botany and published a work on the genus Rubus and worked for the botanist Philipp Wirtgen and his publication "Flora of the Prussian Rhineland" . In addition, he was one of the founders of the "Natural History Association for the Prussian Rhineland" in Aachen in 1843 , which merged in 1849 with the "Botanical Association on the Middle and Lower Rhine" to form the Natural History Association of the Rhineland and Westphalia and for which he formed the zoological section took over.

Despite his various obligations, Foerster still found time to be politically active and in 1845 he joined the "Constantia Society" , a Catholic electoral and civic association, which he headed from 1873 to 1876 as president. In addition, as a member of the Center Party , he was a member of the city council for several years.

For his services to entomology, Arnold Foerster was awarded a doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1853. phil. appointed hc. In addition, a street was named after him near Aachen's Lousberg.

After his death, Foerster's extensive collections were taken over by recognized private individuals and various scientific institutions, including the Natural History Museum Vienna and the Zoological State Collection in Munich .

Arnold Foerster was married to Maria Barbara, nee Zimmermann (1810-1889), with whom he had three sons and three daughters. He found his final resting place in the Aachen Ostfriedhof .

Memberships (selection)

Foerster quickly gained an international reputation, whereupon he was accepted into many entomological and scientific societies, including:

In addition, in 1863 the Free German Hochstift zu Frankfurt am Main appointed Foerster an honorary member and "Master of Entomology" .

Works (selection)

  • Contributions to the monograph of the Pteromalinen family. Nees , M. Urlichs 1840 ( digitized version )
  • Overview of the genera and species in the psyllode family , Harvard University 1848
  • Hymenopterological studies , Ter Meer 1850–1856 ( biodiversity heritage library )
    • Formicariae , In: Volume 1 of Hymenopterologische Studien , Ter Meer 1850
    • Chalcidiae and Proctotrupii , In: Volume 2 of Hymenopterologische Studien , Ter Meer 1856 ( digitized version )
  • Synoptic overview of the families and genera in the two groups of the Chalcidiae Spin. and Proctotrupii Latr. , Aachen 1856 ( digitized version )
  • A day in the high Alps , Aachen 1861 ( digitized )
  • Synopsis of the families and genera of the Ichneumons , Cornell University 1868
  • The Lousberg near Aachen, a natural history sketch , Aachen 1871 ( digitized version )
  • On the systematic value of wing veins in the Hymenoptera , Barth, Cornell University 1877
  • Flora excursoria of the administrative district of Aachen and the adjacent areas of the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg. Phanerogams and vascular cryptogams , Barth 1878
  • On the polymorphism of the genus Rubus , Barth 1880

Literature and Sources

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Directory of beetles in Germany - Rhine Province ( Memento from February 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )