Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach

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Ernst Stromer (around 1914)

Karl Heinrich Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach (born June 12, 1871 in Nuremberg , † December 18, 1952 in Erlangen ) was a German paleontologist and one of the most important dinosaur researchers.

origin

Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach belongs to a noble family that belonged to the most important patrician families in the imperial city of Nuremberg in the Middle Ages . Some members of the Stromer family (previously also Stromair and Stromeyer) acted as the foremost Losunger (administrators of the city taxes ) and mayors of Nuremberg. Since their immigration to Nuremberg, the family has been represented in the “Inner Council” of Nuremberg with interruptions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ulman Stromer (1329–1407) wrote the earliest work in Nuremberg history and founded and operated the first paper mill in Germany. His half-brother Peter Stromer invented coniferous forest seeds in 1368, through which it was possible for the first time in forestry to plant large-scale forest sowing according to plan. From 1754 the Stromer family owned the Grünsberg Castle in Middle Franconia.

Career

During his studies, Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach became a member of the AGV Munich . He did a great job researching fossil vertebrates . He worked in Leiden / Holland (1897 curator at the geological-mineralogical department of the Reichsmuseum für Naturkunde ( Rijksmuseum voor Natuurlijke Historie )) and in Munich (1901 habilitation , 1908 associate professor, 1928 chief curator and department head, and in 1930 department director at the “Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Historical Geology ”, 1921 honorary professor). In 1916 he was elected an extraordinary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , in 1921 he became a full member of the mathematical-physical class. Stromer had been married since 1920 and had three sons, two of whom died as soldiers in World War II, while the third son returned from Soviet captivity in 1950.

Scientific achievements

Reproduction of Stromer's Spinosaurus

Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach came to Egypt for the first time in the winter of 1901/1902 . Further expeditions to Egypt followed in the winters of 1903/1904 and 1910/1911. Between 1911 and 1914 Stromer's excavation team discovered the fossil remains of three carnivorous theropod dinosaurs in the Bahariyya oasis in Egypt in the Sahara : Bahariasaurus , Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus . In 1912, the Austrian fossil collector Richard Margrave , who worked for Stromer, found bones of the herbivorous "elephant foot dinosaur" ( sauropod ) Aegyptosaurus . Stromer described Spinosaurus (thorn lizard) in 1915, Carcharodontosaurus (because of the similarity of the teeth with those of the giant shark Carcharodon ) in 1931, Aegyptosaurus (Egyptian lizard) in 1932 and Bahariasaurus in 1934 (lizard from Bahariyya).

The original finds of the dinosaurs from Egypt scientifically described by Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach were destroyed during the Second World War in April 1944 in an Allied bombing raid on Munich. The director of the Alte Akademie museum , where these important fossils were kept, had ignored Stromer's request to keep these dinosaurs in a safe place.

Honors

The Paleontological Society made Reichenbach an honorary member in 1942.

In 2000, the American doctoral student Joshua Smith honored the German researcher by designating the world's second largest dinosaur - after Argentinosaurus - as Paralititan stromeri (Paralititan = "tidal giant"). Fossil remains of this almost 30 meter long and estimated up to 100 tons heavy species were discovered in Egypt near the site where Stromer had recovered Aegyptosaurus .

documentary

In a documentary broadcast by ZDF in 2014, Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach's major contribution to paleontological research was recognized.

Thanks to the exact records of Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach - which were also seen by the paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim in Grünsberg Castle - his findings were able to flow into a digital skeleton model of the Spinosaurus despite the destroyed original finds. They made a major contribution to clarifying the bizarre appearance and way of life of the Spinosaurus. With these new research results, Stromer's riddle could also be solved after a century , namely the question of how other large dinosaurs could exist in the same ecosystem as well as the Spinosaurus (see Spinosaurus, section History of discovery and finds ).

Fonts

  • Textbook of paleozoology. Part I: Invertebrates. 342 pages, 398 illustrations, printed and published by BG Teubner, Leipzig and Berlin 1909
  • Textbook of paleozoology. Part II: vertebrates. 325 pages, 234 illustrations, printed and published by BG Teubner, Leipzig and Berlin 1912
  • The topography and geology of the Gharaq-Baharije route along with explanations of the geological history of Egypt. Munich: Academy, 78 p. (Treatises of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences: Mathematical-physical class) 1914 [Results of Prof. E. Stromer's research trips to the deserts of Egypt]
  • Further remarks about the oldest known vertebrate remains, especially the Anaspida. Meeting reports of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Math.-Naturwiss. Department. Munich: Bayer publishing house. Academy of Sciences, pp. 83-104, 1926
  • Confirmed results of paleozoology. Presented on March 5, 1943. Munich: Verlag der Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 114 S. (Treatises of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences: Mathematical and natural science department) 1944

See also

literature

  • Ernst Probst : The enigmatic Spinosaurus. Life and work of the researcher Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach . GRIN-Verlag, Munich 2015
  • Ernst Frh. Stromer von Reichenbach: Our ancestors in the imperial city of Nuremberg from 1250 to 1806 . Nuremberg: Fromman, 1951, 44 pp.
  • Adalbert Scharr: The Nuremberg Reichsforstmeister family Waldstromer until 1400 and contributions to the older genealogy of the Forstmeister and Stromer von Reichenbach families . In: Communications from the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg (MVGN), Vol. 52, 1963/64, pp. 1-41
  • Raymund Windolf: Dinosaur Lexicon. The current knowledge about the dinosaurs, from their beginnings to extinction . Korb: Goldschneck-Verlag Weidert, 1989, 152 pages, ISBN 3-926129-03-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Glossary German-New High German ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , uni-hamburg.de. Retrieved December 30, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / webapp6.rrz.uni-hamburg.de
  2. ^ Association of Alter SVer (VASV): Address book. Membership directory of all old men. As of October 1, 1937. Hanover 1937, p. 191.
  3. ↑ http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/beitrag/video/2257788/Expedition-Supersaurier
personal data
SURNAME Stromer von Reichenbach, Ernst Freiherr
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stromer von Reichenbach, Karl Heinrich Ernst Freiherr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German paleontologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH 18th December 1952
Place of death gain