Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim

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Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim
Signature Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim.PNG

Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim (born April 2, 1764 in Allmenhausen , † March 28, 1832 in Gotha ) was a German geologist and paleontologist , ducal Saxon-Coburg-Gotha high court marshal and a member of the Order of Illuminati . Schlotheim became known far beyond Germany as an important paleontologist and founder of scientific palaeobotany . Its official botanical author's abbreviation is “ Schloth. "

Live and act

Ernst Friedrich Freiherr von Schlotheim was born in 1764 as the son of Ernst Ludwig von Schlotheim (1736–1797) and Friederike Eberhardine von Stangen. In 1772 Galetti , who was only 22 years old, was employed by the von Schlotheim family as a private tutor. In 1776 the family moved to Tonna (today Gräfentonna ) because Schlotheim's father became the governor of the Tonna estate . After Galetti's appointment to the Illustre grammar school in Gotha, lessons were held from 1778 to 1779 by Johann Christian Credner (* May 4, 1752; † Jan. 22, 1817), former pastor and adjunct as well as teacher of religion in Molschleben . From 1779 von Schlotheim received training at the Ernestinum grammar school in Gotha.

On October 23, 1782 von Schlotheim enrolled at the University of Göttingen . He studied law and camera science as well as natural sciences (including with Johann Friedrich Blumenbach , who himself came from Gotha), with whom he befriended. Here he was accepted into the Augusta Masonic Lodge to the Three Flames , where he became a journeyman in 1783. In 1784 he returned to Gräfentonna , where he studied mineralogy privately . From 1791 to 1792 he studied oryctognosy and metallurgy with Abraham Gottlob Werner and from 1792 mining engineering at the Bergakademie Freiberg , together with Alexander von Humboldt , Johann Carl Freiesleben and Leopold von Buch .

After practicing practical activities in mining and metallurgy in the Harz Mountains , he joined the Chamber of Commerce in Gotha in 1793 as an assessor. He became chamber councilor in 1805 , president of the chamber in 1817, supervisor of the newly formed museum in 1822 and finally in 1828 chief court marshal of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

In 1804 his work Description of Strange Herbal Impressions and Plant Petrifications was published in Gotha . With this he achieved a turning point with regard to the natural history of life. In this work, Schlotheim compares the morphological similarity of fossil plant prints with recent forms. Later he undertook a geognostic analysis with regard to the occurrence of fossil plants, which he reported in his paper Contributions to the natural history of fossils in geognostic terms .

Schlotheim became known far beyond Germany as an important paleontologist and founder of scientific palaeobotany . Von Schlotheim created the foundations of key fossil science in Germany and his publications were fundamental to the emerging paleontology. Schlotheim's greatest achievement is the application of actualism in paleontology. He compared the fossils with living beings today and incorporated them into Linnaeus' binary system. From the comparisons he was able to draw conclusions about the environment at that time.

In 1808 he became a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , on August 15, 1811 he became a member of the Academy of Nonprofit Sciences in Erfurt . In 1823 he was made a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences . The Leopoldina accepted him on November 28, 1823. Since 1828 he was an honorary member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences .

Goethe wrote in his diary on April 28, 1817: "(Jena) Mr. Chamber President von Schlotheim, especially talked about fossils".

His private collection of fossils, minerals and meteorites grew year after year to become one of the most important of its time. After his death in 1832 the paleontological collection was sold to the Prussian state and is still in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin .

Schlotheim sold his small but important collection of meteorites to the Ducal Collection in Gotha , where it still holds a special place.

family

In 1798 he married Christiane von Helmolt (1766-1825), a daughter of Colonel Christian Georg von Helmolt . The couple had three children.

Honors

After him the moss genus is Schlotheimia Brid. and the fossil genera Ernestia Florin , Ernestiodendron Florin and Schlotheimia B AYLE are named.

Fonts

  • Description of strange herbal prints and fossilized plants (Gotha, 1804)
  • Contributions to the natural history of fossils from a geognostic point of view (Munich, 1817).
  • Petrefactenkunde from its present point of view through the description of his collection of petrified and fossil remains of the animal and plant kingdom of the prehistoric world. (Gotha, Becker'sche Buchhandlung, 1820)
  • Supplements to petrefacts. (Gotha, Becker'sche Buchhandlung, 1822)

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst Friedrich von Schlotheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schlotheim, Ernst Friedrich von. German biography, accessed on August 2, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Schlotheim, Ernst Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist and paleontologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1764
PLACE OF BIRTH Allmenhausen
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1832
Place of death Gotha