Bernhard Christian Schleep

Bernhard Christian Schleep (born April 4, 1768 in Frielingen ; † May 27, 1838 in Schleswig-Friedrichsberg ) was a court director, chamber councilor, zoologist and ornithologist.

Live and act

Bernhard Christian Schleep was a son of the forester and administrator Johannes Schleep († August 8, 1819 in Breitenbach am Herzberg ) and his wife Maria Christina, née Stritter (* 1747; † December 2, 1811 in Frielingen). Already during his youth in Hessen he went hiking through nature with his father. Later he worked as a chamber councilor and court manager for the governor Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel at Gottorf Castle .

Like Johann Casimir Benicken , with whom he was friends, Schleep collected natural produce. In 1827 he had around 280 species of European birds. There were also around 50 different mammals. Greenland whalers had also given him a polar bear and a narwhal, which were attractions in Schleswig-Holstein.

Schleep finally collected a total of more than 600 birds. In his will of December 22, 1828, he bequeathed it to Landgrave Karl, who bought it in 1833. Friedrich VI. donated the collection, which no longer exists today, to Kiel University in 1837 . Only a few books on ornithology that were part of Schleep's library can be found in the Kiel University Library.

With Schleep's collections, deeper observations of the bird and fish fauna in the region around Schleswig were made for the first time. The findings found their way into the zoological literature of the 20th century. He exchanged bird hides with well-known ornithologists such as Johann Friedrich Naumann , Christian Ludwig Brehm , Bernhard Meyer and Johann Philipp Achilles Leisler . He also worked for Brehm on the ornithological newspaper "Ornis". On September 21, 1830 he took over the leadership of the zoological meeting of the meeting of naturalists and doctors. At this event in Hamburg , he gave a lecture on his experiences with the abnormalities of cod and turbot.

Schleep, who had a daughter, died unmarried.

literature

• Hans-Peter Müller: Schleep, Bernhard Christian . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 3. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1974, p. 237