Bernhard Hagen (ethnologist)

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Bernhard Hagen (born November 23, 1853 in Germersheim ; † May 3, 1919 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German doctor, explorer, anthropologist and ethnologist . He was married to Anna Hagen, born in 1886. Treichel.

Life

Illustration of the butterfly Vanessa samani by Bernhard Hagen: German Entomological Journal , year 1896

Bernhard Hagen's interest in nature supposedly began when he was given a prepared butterfly at a young age. Immediately after graduating from high school in 1878, he attended the University of Munich and began studying medicine there. There he also attended university events of the anthropological society and natural science subjects. This brought him into contact with the prehistory of his homeland, which he researched in his first work. As early as 1879, after a short assistantship at the anatomical institute of the university, he went to Deli on Sumatra to work as a plantation doctor . He used this activity to carry out anthropological measurements on the natives. He also carried out two expeditions to the island's plateaus, which took place in 1881 and 1883 and were financed by the Dutch government. Through his contacts with the government he was able to take the Dutch - Indian state examination and in 1887 was entrusted with the maintenance of the medical service on the entire east coast of Sumatra. In this position he continued his investigations, but illnesses ( dysentery and malaria ) forced him to interrupt his stay and to recover in Europe. After his recovery he took up a position as a doctor with the Astrolabe company in 1893. He spent two years there on the coast of New Guinea , but then had to retire due to an illness.

After his return, Frankfurt became his permanent home. Here he processed his research results that he had collected over the years in the South Seas and summarized them in his work "Under the Papuas ". For a time, this book was considered a standard work on New Guinea, as Hagen describes the island in it geographically, geologically, zoologically, botanically, anthropologically and ethnologically.

In 1900 he founded the Frankfurt Anthropological Society . With the support of Lord Mayor Adickes , the community emerged into the Municipal Ethnological Museum , the founder of which Hagen can be considered. He took over the management of the museum on a voluntary basis and expanded its fundus with pieces from his private collection and new exhibits from research trips. As part of his activities, he gave lectures on popular education, took on a lectureship in entomology at the Senckenberg Institute , and received lectureships for ethnology at the University of Heidelberg and at the Academy for Social and Commercial Sciences in Frankfurt . In 1900 he also became a member of the Leopoldina . From 1909 Hagen was chairman of the Geography and Statistics Association , which awarded him the Silver Rüppell Medal . He received another award in 1914 when he was made honorary professor of anthropology at the University of Frankfurt . On May 3, 1919, Bernhard Hagen died of pneumonia as a result of flu .

memory

The Anthropological Society gives its sponsors a Bernhard H. Medal as a gift of honor.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member entry by Bernhard Hagen at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on September 1, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Hagen, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor, explorer, anthropologist and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Germersheim
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1919
Place of death Frankfurt am Main