Gottfried Ludwig Theobald

Gottfried Ludwig Theobald

Gottfried Ludwig Theobald (born December 21, 1810 in Allendorf ; † September 15, 1869 in Chur ) was a German- Swiss teacher, naturalist and cartographer.

Gottfried Ludwig Theobald was the son of the predicant Adam Theobald and his wife Friederike Theobald born. Mannel. After high school in Hanau, Theobald first attended the University of Marburg in 1827 and two years later that in Halle and studied theology. During his studies he became a member of the old Marburg fraternity in 1827 and of the Arminia Halle fraternity in 1831 . After passing his exams, he took on the position of assistant preacher in Hanau in 1832 and studied natural sciences at the same time. Since theology did not fulfill him enough, he devoted himself to scientific studies.

In 1839 Theobald took a position as a private teacher in Montpellier . In 1843 he became a teacher at the high school teacher in his hometown of Hanau, where he continued his scientific research. He published the results in the publications "Geologische Karte der Section Hanau and Flora der Wetterau".

1848 Theobald was a liberal deputy in the Hessian state parliament . In 1852 he left Hanau and fled to Geneva before the conservative reaction . There he took a position as a teacher at a private institute until he was appointed to teach science at the canton school in Chur in 1854 ,

At the canton school, Theobald worked as a natural scientist in addition to teaching. He researched the geological conditions of the high mountains of Graubünden and mapped them. He published his research results in more than a hundred papers, most of them with detailed geological descriptions and maps and profiles, which appeared in various journals, namely in the annual reports of the Swiss Alpine Club 1866–1870 and in the negotiations of the Swiss Natural Research Society .

There were also several geological descriptions of Swiss medicinal springs, such as those of Tarasp , St. Moritz , Alvaneu , Rothenbrunnen and Passugg . In addition there were writings of general content, such as "On scientific instruction", "Some thoughts on the style and manner of describing nature", "Guide to natural history".

Theobald's natural history collection formed the basis of the Rhaetian Museum in Chur. The moss species Didymodon theobaldii , discovered by Theobald in 1855, was named after him. Gottfried Ludwig Theobald was married to Elisabeth Kohler (born February 15, 1838 in Sumiswald ; † August 21, 1891 in Chur ). He was naturalized in S-chanf in 1864 .

literature

• Wilhelm von Gümbel:  Theobald, Gottfried Ludwig . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 679 f.
• Heinrich Szadrowsky: Gottfried Ludwig Theobald. In: Annual report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden. Vol. 15 (1869/70), pp. 85–135 (with catalog raisonné).
• Important Grisons from five centuries. Calven, Chur 1970, Vol. 2, pp. 23-31.
• Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Volume 8: Supplement L – Z. Winter, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8253-6051-1 , pp. 335–336.

Web links

• Adolf Collenberg: Theobald, Gottfried Ludwig. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tropicos.org
2. ↑ Theobald. Retrieved February 26, 2020 .