Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald

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GHR von Koenigswald around 1938 while examining skull finds from Java

Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald (born November 13, 1902 in Berlin ; † July 10, 1982 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe ) was a German-Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist who researched human ancestors in his field.

life and work

As the son of the ethnologist Gustav A. von Koenigswald, he grew up in Berlin and studied geology and palaeontology at the University of Berlin , the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen , the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich and the University of Cologne . His teachers included Ferdinand Broili , K. Martin and LMR Rutten . He received decisive support from the Swiss anthropologist Rudolf Martin (born July 1, 1864 in Zurich - July 11, 1926 in Munich ).

In 1928 von Koenigswald received his doctorate from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU) with the dissertation “The red lying in the Weiden Bay ” . This was followed by an assistantship at the Bavarian State Geological Collection in Munich until 1930 .

In 1931 von Koenigswald joined the Dutch Geological Service in Bandung / Java (Dienst van Mijnbouw van Nederlands Indië) as a paleontologist , for which he worked until 1946. During this time he carried out excavations on the Solo River , Sangiran and Modjokerto .

Skull roof " Sangiran II " ( Homo erectus , original, 1.5 mya ), Koenigswald collection in the Senckenberg Nature Museum . Note the bulge above the left eye.
Molar ( type specimen ) of Giganthopithecus blacki in the hand of Friedemann Schrenk (2005)

In 1934 he began his investigations in Indonesia on central Java in Sangiran, around 15 km north of Surakarta ( declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996). During excavations, some of the oldest fossils of the genus Homo outside of Africa were discovered here, for example the find of a skull roof (today assigned to Homo erectus ), a fossil with the archive name " Sangiran II ", which he related to the Java man ( Pithecanthropus erectus ) . A total of about 60 other fossils were unearthed at this site, including the remains of Meganthropus .

In 1935 he discovered three fossil teeth in a Hong Kong pharmacy, which he recognized as a previously unknown species and named them as Gigantopithecus blacki (Greek píthekos "monkey"). The discovery of the largest jaw of human origin followed in 1941, leading him to suspect that there were prehistoric giants. In 1941 he discovered the remains of Meganthropus palaeojavanicus ; He also introduced the genus Graecopithecus and its type Graecopithecus freybergi (fossil primates).

During the Second World War, von Koenigswald was taken prisoner by Japan as a Dutch soldier.

From 1946 to 1948 he worked at the American Museum of Natural History New York. In 1948 he returned to Europe and took up a position as professor of anthropology and paleontology at the University of Utrecht , where he taught until 1968. That year, Koenigswald moved to Frankfurt am Main to found the paleoanthropology section at the Senckenberg Research Institute , which he headed until his death in 1982. Jens Lorenz Franzen , who had been his assistant since 1969, succeeded him in this post . Von Koenigswald's scientific estate was acquired in 1968 by the Werner Reimers Foundation , established by the entrepreneur Werner Reimers , and is on permanent loan from the Foundation at the Senckenberg Research Institute; Parts of his paleontological and cultural collection of fossils and stone tools are exhibited in the Senckenberg Natural History Museum.

Von Koenigswald was of the Lutheran creed and since 1935 with Luitgarde, nee. Beyer, married. The couple had a child.

honors and awards

Every November since 2002 - close to his birthday - the Senckenberg Research Institute has organized the Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald Lecture , to which a well-known researcher from the field of paleoanthropology gives a popular scientific public lecture in the Senckenberg Natural History Museum and a specialist colloquium is invited to Frankfurt am Main.

Fonts (selection)

Fossilized pig teeth from the same layer as the finds from Homo erectus . Koenigswald collection in the Senckenberg Nature Museum
Hominin molars. Koenigswald collection in the Senckenberg Nature Museum

Around 200 publications in specialist journals, including Geologisches Zentralblatt, Nature , Natural Sciences, Proceedings of the Kon. Ned. Akad. Amsterdam, Quaternary .

  • 1928 The Red Lies in the Weiden Bay - A contribution to the geology of the northern Upper Palatinate . In: New Yearbook for Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology. Department B. Supplement, Vol. 61. Stuttgart 1928, pp. 185–242. (Phil. Diss. Munich, February 15, 1928)
  • 1932 Metaschizotherium Fraasi NGN Sp., A new Chalicotheriide from the Obermiöcän of Steinheim am Albuch . Palaeontographica, Supplement Vol. 8, 8. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1932.
  • 1935 Preliminary report on the occurrence of Tectites on Java . NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam 1935, 68–70.
  • 1935 A fossil mammal fauna with Simia from southern China . NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam 1935, full text (PDF)
  • 1935 The fossil mammal faunas of Java . NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam 1935.
  • 1936 First information about a fossil hominid from the Altpleistocan East Java . NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam 1936.
  • 1937 A lower jaw fragment of Pithecanthropus from the trinile layers of Central Java . NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam.
  • 1939 with Franz Weidenreich : The Relationship between Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus. In: Nature. Volume 144, 1939, pp. 926-929, doi: 10.1038 / 144926a0
  • 1940 New Pithecanthropus finds 1936–1938 . A contribution to the knowledge of the prehominids.
  • 1955 encounters with the pre-human . Düsseldorf / Cologne 1955.
  • 1958 (Ed.) 100 Years of Neanderthals .
  • 1960 The history of man. Understandable science. Vol. 74. 1. Auf. Springer, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1960.
  • 1964 with Phillip Tobias : A Comparison Between the Olduvai Hominines and those of Java and some Implications for Hominid Phylogeny. In: Nature. Volume 204, pp. 515-518, doi: 10.1038 / 204515a0
  • 1965 encounters with the pre-humans. dtv paperbacks. Vol. 269. Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, Munich 1965.
  • 1968 The history of man. Heidelberg 1968.
  • 1982 Early humans appear . In: Herbert Wendt (Hrsg.): Kindler's Enzyklopädie Der Mensch. Vol. 2. The development of humanity. Kindler, Zurich 1982, pp. 17–52. ISBN 3-463-26102-2
  • The tapir remains from the Aquitaine of Ulm and Mainz . In: Palaeontographica. Volume 73, volume 12.

literature

  • Pieter Marks: Honderd jaar geologically onderwijs aan de Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht. Utrecht University, Utrecht 1979.
  • Pieter Marks, Cornelis Willem Drooger: Levens report van Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald. In: Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen , 1983.
  • Jens Lorenz Franzen : In memoriam Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald 1902–1982. In: Senckenbergiana lethaea. Volume 64, No. 5/6, 1983, pp. 381-402.
  • Phillip Tobias : Tribute to the late Professor Dr. GHR von Koenigswald (1902-1982). In: Paleontological Journal. Volume 57, No. 3/4, 1983, pp. 171-173.
  • Phillip Tobias: The Life and Work of Prof. Dr. GHR from Koenigswald. In: W. Ziegler (Ed.): In the footsteps of Pithecanthropus. Life and work of Prof. Dr. Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald (1902–1982). In: Essays and speeches by the Senckenberg Natural Research Society. Volume 34, 1984, pp. 1-102.
  • Harenberg's personal dictionary 20th century - data and services. Harenberg Lexikon-Verlag, Dortmund 1992, pp. 688-689. ISBN 3-611-00228-3
  • Koenigswald, (Gustav Heinrich) Ralph von. In: German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE). Edited by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus . Vol. 5. Hesselbach - Kofler. Saur, Munich 1997, p. 666. ISBN 3-598-23165-2
  • Koenigswald, (Gustav Heinrich) Ralph von. In: Brockhaus Encyclopedia in 30 volumes . 21st ed. Vol. 15. Child - Krus. FA Brockhaus, Leipzig / Mannheim 2006, p. 241. ISBN 3-7653-4115-0
  • Koenigswald, von, GH Ralph. In: Who is who? The German who's who Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Edited by Walter Habel. XXI. Edition of Degener's Who is it ?. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 1981, p. 636. ISBN 3-7950-2002-6
  • from Koenigswald, GH Ralph. In: Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 1983. Ed. By Werner Schuder . 14th edition Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1983, ISSN  0341-8049 , ISBN 3-11-008558-5 , p. 2178.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ GHR von Koenigswald: A lower jaw of a fossil hominoid from the Lower Pliocene of Greece. In: Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Series B, Vol. 75, 1972, pp. 385-394
personal data
SURNAME Koenigswald, Gustav Heinrich Ralph von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1982
Place of death Bad Homburg vor der Höhe