Georg Scholl (gardener)

Georg Scholl (born October 24, 1751 in Weilbach , Kurmainz ; † May 17, 1831 in Vienna ), was born in 1785 k. k. Journeyman court gardener . In the same year, Emperor Joseph II sent him to the Dutch Cape Colony to accompany Franz Boos to procure plants, animals and minerals , from where he did not return until 1799. In 1802 he became court gardener at the Belvedere .

Twelve years in Africa

Scholl was the son of small farmers. When he began to work in the botanical garden and in the menagerie of Schönbrunn in 1785 , he learned first hand that Joseph II was a man of quick decisions. After the journeyman court gardener Franz Boos (1753–1832) returned to Vienna on September 8th with plants, animals and minerals from America, he had to leave again at the beginning of October to obtain such material from the Cape of Good Hope and the Mascarene Mountains - with Scholl as a companion, whose life took such a completely unexpected turn. The two first drove to Amsterdam via Brussels and then set sail from the island of Texel in February 1786 . On the way, an epidemic broke out on the overcrowded ship of the Dutch East India Company , killing dozens. Before the emissaries of the emperor could go ashore in Cape Town , it was June.

As Johann Wilhelm Ridler - well, according to the son of Boos - writes revolted in the Cape Colony particularly Scholl about the cruel treatment of the Bushmen : The Bure had robbed them of their cattle, their kraals burnt down when he wanted to expand his farm, and punished by the slightest resistance with death. He had imagined “this country was created because of him; because he has a white skin and - a rifle to assert his claims ”. The explorer Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795) was grateful to the researchers . He installed them in a garden at the foot of Table Mountain and accompanied them on their first excursions together with the Scottish botanist Francis Masson (1741–1805) . In autumn 1786 he traveled with them to the semi-desert Karoo .

When Boos set out for Île-de-France ( Mauritius ) and Île Bourbon ( La Réunion ) in February 1787 and also when he returned to Europe via Cape Town in early 1788, Scholl stayed there as instructed. In 1791 the gardener Franz Bredemeyer (1758–1839) and the botanist Joseph van der Schot (1763–1819) were supposed to bring it back, but they only got as far as Malaga. Because of the First Coalition War (1792–1797), Scholl's stay was extended until 1798. He used it to penetrate far inland and collect a correspondingly rich harvest. During these years he repeatedly succeeded in sending groupage to Vienna. He also compiled an extensive herbarium , 859 of which are still in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. He did not get back there until 1799 via London and Hamburg. In 1802 Franz II made him court gardener at the Belvedere.

literature

Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin : Plantarum rariorum horti cæsarei Schœnbrunnensis descriptiones et icones (descriptions and illustrations of rarer plants in the Schönbrunn Imperial Garden), 4 volumes, C. F. Wappler, Vienna 1797–1804 ( digitized version ), volume 1, pp. V f.
Contributions to learned Austria. (Continuation.) In: Archive for Geography, History, State and War Art (Vienna), Volume 6, No. 156, December 29, 1815, pp. 756–758 ( digitized version ).
(Johann Wilhelm Ridler :) Franz Boos, Director of the k. k. Court gardens. In: Austrian Archive for History, Geography, State Studies, Art and Literature, 1832, March 29, pp. 150 f., March 31, pp. 153–155, April 7, p. 166 f., No more published , here: p. 166 f. ( Digitized version ).
Joseph Boos: Biographical sketch of Franz Boos, plant collector in the Antilles and at Cap b (onae) Sp (ei) , later director of the Hofgarten in Schoenbrunn (manuscript from 1864). University of Vienna , Historical Collection of the Faculty Center for Biodiversity, Botany Library, J.-Nr. 6439, sign. C38 / 29 ( digitized ).
Ernst Moriz Kronfeld: Park and Garden of Schönbrunn ( Amalthea library, 35th volume). Amalthea-Verlag, Zurich 1923, pp. 84 ff., 100-102, 141-144.
Madeleine Ly-Tio-Fane: Le Géographe et le Naturaliste à l ' Île-de-France (…), Port-Louis 2003, ISBN 99903-31-12-X , pp. 36–39.

Web link

Scholl (Schull), (Johann) Georg (1751–1831), gardener and explorer. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon ( digitized version ).

References and comments

↑ Data from contributions to the learned Austria. (Continuation.) In: Archive for Geography, History, State and War Art (Vienna), 6th year, No. 156, December 29, 1815, pp. 756–758, here: p. 756 ( digitized version ). For Boos' missions, cf. the Wikipedia article Märter Expedition . The goals of the 1785 mission had not previously been accessible due to political conflict.
↑ Joseph Boos: Biographical sketch about Franz Boos, plant collector in the Antilles and at Cap b (onae) Sp (ei) , later director of the Hofgarten in Schoenbrunn (manuscript from 1864). University of Vienna , Historical Collection of the Faculty Center for Biodiversity, Botany Library, J.-Nr. 6439, sign. C38 / 29 ( digitized ).
↑ (Johann Wilhelm Ridler :) Franz Boos, Director of the k. k. Court gardens. In: Austrian Archive for History, Geography, State Studies, Art and Literature, 1832, March 29, pp. 150 f., March 31, pp. 153–155, April 7, p. 166 f., No more published , here: p. 166 f. ( Digitized version ).
↑ Joseph Boos: Biographical sketch about Franz Boos, plant collector in the Antilles and at Cap b (onae) Sp (ei) , later director of the Hofgarten in Schoenbrunn (manuscript from 1864). University of Vienna , Historical Collection of the Faculty Center for Biodiversity, Botany Library, J.-Nr. 6439, sign. C38 / 29 ( digitized ); Madeleine Ly-Tio-Fane: Le Géographe et le Naturaliste à l ' Île-de-France (…), Port-Louis 2003, ISBN 99903-31-12-X , pp. 36–39.
^ Scholl (Schull), (Johann) Georg (1751–1831), gardener and explorer. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon ( digitized version ).

personal data
SURNAME	Scholl, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Scholl, Johann Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian kk court gardener
DATE OF BIRTH	October 24, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH	Weilbach , Kurmainz
DATE OF DEATH	May 17, 1831
Place of death	Vienna

[1] Data from contributions to the learned Austria. (Continuation.) In: Archive for Geography, History, State and War Art (Vienna), 6th year, No. 156, December 29, 1815, pp. 756–758, here: p. 756 ( digitized version ). For Boos' missions, cf. the Wikipedia article Märter Expedition . The goals of the 1785 mission had not previously been accessible due to political conflict.

[2] Joseph Boos: Biographical sketch about Franz Boos, plant collector in the Antilles and at Cap b (onae) Sp (ei) , later director of the Hofgarten in Schoenbrunn (manuscript from 1864). University of Vienna , Historical Collection of the Faculty Center for Biodiversity, Botany Library, J.-Nr. 6439, sign. C38 / 29 ( digitized ).

[3] (Johann Wilhelm Ridler :) Franz Boos, Director of the k. k. Court gardens. In: Austrian Archive for History, Geography, State Studies, Art and Literature, 1832, March 29, pp. 150 f., March 31, pp. 153–155, April 7, p. 166 f., No more published , here: p. 166 f. ( Digitized version ).

[4] Joseph Boos: Biographical sketch about Franz Boos, plant collector in the Antilles and at Cap b (onae) Sp (ei) , later director of the Hofgarten in Schoenbrunn (manuscript from 1864). University of Vienna , Historical Collection of the Faculty Center for Biodiversity, Botany Library, J.-Nr. 6439, sign. C38 / 29 ( digitized ); Madeleine Ly-Tio-Fane: Le Géographe et le Naturaliste à l ' Île-de-France (…), Port-Louis 2003, ISBN 99903-31-12-X , pp. 36–39.

[5] Scholl (Schull), (Johann) Georg (1751–1831), gardener and explorer. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon ( digitized version ).