Society of Friends of Natural Scientists in Berlin
The Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin (GNF) was founded in 1773, making it the oldest German private natural history society (and 15 years older than the Linnean Society of London , which is said to be the oldest natural history society ) alongside the Gdansk Natural History Society , after whose model it was founded Society of the world). It had numerous prominent and influential members in the natural sciences , especially biology , in their day . The society still exists today and is currently based at the Institute for Zoology at the Free University of Berlin .
history
The company was founded in 1773 on the initiative of the natural scientist Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Martini . Until 1785 the society was called Berlinische Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde . It consisted of a maximum of twelve ordinary members resident in Berlin as well as extraordinary and honorary members. The primary goal was the "promotion of natural history"; this included the publication of a magazine with original natural history articles and the development of a book and natural history collection. From 1788, the society had its own house for the storage of the collection, in which the regular meetings also took place. The house was sold in 1906; Scientific ventures were financed from the proceeds. Among the scientific expeditions sponsored by the Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, the best known is the Tendaguru expedition to German East Africa (in today's Tanzania ) in the years 1909 to 1913, during which large dinosaur skeletons were unearthed, which are now in the Museum of Natural History in Berlin are exhibited.
Publications
- regular publications
- 1775–1779, activities of the Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Sciences
- 1780–1785, writings of the Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Sciences
- 1795–1814, The Society of Friends of Natural Scientists in Berlin Magazine for the latest discoveries in all natural history
- 1819, negotiations of the Society of Friends of Natural Sciences in Berlin
- 1836–1838, communications from the negotiations of the Society of Friends of Natural Sciences in Berlin
- 1839–1922, meeting reports of the Society of Friends of Natural Sciences in Berlin
- irregular publications
- List of all ordinary local honorary and extraordinary members, as well as the external members of the Society of Friends of Natural Science in Berlin . Berlin 1806, ( digitized version ).
- For the fifty-year foundation celebration of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin on July 9th, 1823 , Berlin, ( digitized version ).
Former members (selection)
A list of members can be found in: K. Herter, R. Bickerich: The members of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin in the first 200 years of the Society's existence 1773–1972 , in: Reports of the meetings of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin , NF 13 (1973) , Pp. 59-157.
- Adelbert von Chamisso (1781–1838)
- Joseph Paul von Cobres (1737 / 1749–1823)
- Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714–1786)
- Ernst Ludwig Heim (1747–1834)
- Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
- Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten (1768–1810)
- Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817)
- Hinrich Lichtenstein (1780-1857)
- Eduard von Martens (1831–1904)
- Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Martini (1729–1778)
- Johann Christoph Meinecke (1722–1790)
- Johann Carl Friedrich Meyer (1739-1811)
- Franz Xaver Mezler (1756-1812)
- Johann Peter Joseph Monheim (1786–1855)
- Otto Friedrich Müller (1730–1784)
- Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler (1739–1809)
- Fritz Schmidt-Hoensdorf (1889–1967)
- Ulrich Jasper Seetzen (1767–1811)
- Hermann Steudner (1832–1863)
- Christian Samuel Weiss (1780-1856)
- Johann Christoph von Woellner (1732–1800)
Katharina Heinroth Prize
The society annually awards the " Katharina Heinroth Prize" to students at the three Berlin universities. The prize is awarded for excellent theses (diploma theses or experimental state examination theses) or for significant projects or annual academic work in the field of biologically oriented natural sciences that are carried out independently by students and documented in writing.
literature
- Handbook of Berlin Associations and Societies 1786 - 1815 , ed. by Uta Motschmann. De Gruyter Academy Research, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-05-006015-6 , here pp. 79–90.
- Katrin Böhme-Kaßler: Joint venture Nature research: Modification and tradition in the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin 1773-1906 , Stuttgart (2005) (Pallas-Athene; 15), Zugl .: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2004, ISBN 3-515-08722-2 ( content , review ).
- Katrin Böhme: In the temple of nature. Natural history, esotericism and traditions in the Society of Friends of Natural Scientists in Berlin. In: Zaunstöck, Meumann (ed.): Partnerships, networks, communication. Niemeyer, Tübingen 2003, ISBN 3-484-81021-1 , pp. 57-84.
- Streets and squares in Berlin named after members of the Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin . In: Meeting reports of the Society of Friends of Natural Sciences in Berlin. New series 13 (1973), p. 158 f.
- K. Becker: Outline of a history of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin , in: Reports of meetings of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin. Neue Episode 13 (1973), pp. 1-58.
- B. Zepernick: The members of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin 1773 to 1973 , in: Meeting reports of the Society of Friends of Nature Research in Berlin. New episode 48 (2009), pp. 1-405.
