Gustav von Burg (zoologist)

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Gustav von Burg (ca.1821)

Gustav von Burg (born May 14, 1871 in Olten ; † April 16, 1927 there ) was a Swiss teacher , ornithologist and publicist . His research was groundbreaking for ornithology as well as small mammals and hunting .

life and work

family

Von Burg was the son of the teacher and naturalist Jean von Burg (1840–1898) from Bettlach and Walburga Husi from Wangen bei Olten . Von Burg married the teacher Ida Meier from Olten in 1900. Together with their daughters Ruth († 1998) and Jenny († 2005) they lived in Burgs 'parents' house on Ziegelfeldstrasse in Olten.

Youth and activity as a teacher

As a hunter, his father collected specimens from birds and mammals in the area. Knowledge of the birds and their calls from the Aare plain up to the Jura heights was a tradition in the family. In his youth, von Burg also collected small mammals, raised young mammals and young birds, kept and tended to old animals in captivity for study purposes and kept a nature diary.

In 1890 von Burg obtained the teaching license for the Canton of Solothurn and then taught in Boningen . He then studied Italian at the University of Naples and French at the University of Geneva, and in 1895 acquired the district school teacher license for humanistic subjects in the canton of Solothurn. Since this was also valid in the canton of Aargau , he first taught for two years at the district school in Zofingen before he was elected district school teacher for French and Italian at the district school in Olten in 1897.

Due to his in-depth knowledge and thanks to the good name his father had acquired as a naturalist, von Burg was soon allowed, with the approval of the government, to teach natural history and geography . He went on excursions in the great outdoors with his students and based his lessons on the students' observations. He also taught them to recognize birds by their song and flight, and made them aware of the morphological and biological peculiarities of the flora.

Ornithologist and hunter

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His house was the forerunner of today's ornithological station . Over the years he built an ornithological center with a library and ornithological collection there. This became the first large ornithological reporting center in Switzerland with an inquiry point for bird protection issues, a reception point for foreign ornithologists and over 1,400 employees. As an ornithologist, von Burg was also well known abroad.

Soon after his resignation as founding president of the Swiss Society for Ornithology and Bird Conservation in 1913, an opposition arose from the board of this society, which increasingly questioned his scientific reliability and competence and the further publication of the directories in 1916 and the catalog itself would have liked to take over.

Von Burg also conducted game research in his hunting grounds . Together with his friend Richard Biedermann-Imhoof , he leased the adjacent hunting grounds of Eptingen and Langenbruck in 1911 and 1912 and created an eight-square-kilometer zoological reserve, the "Reservation Bölchen-Lauch", on a private basis, which is unique for Swiss standards and wanted to study botanical. From 1911 to 1914 his house was also known as the «Wildlife Research Institute».

publicist

In 1902 von Burg took over the editing of the large avifaunistic work "Catalog of Swiss Birds" on behalf of the federal government, which he continued until his death in 1927. The archive of the national park contains a collection of 19 letters from Burgs to the zoological sub-commission, which give a comprehensive account of his work from 1916 to 1925. His final report on the mammals in the area of ​​the national park, which he ascertained between 1917 and 1925, is also kept there.

For the Naturforschende Gesellschaft Graubünden (NGG) in 1924, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, von Burg published an article in the anniversary volume entitled “About the dependence of birds on the climate, with special consideration of the higher region of Graubünden”. Von Burg also wrote numerous publications in various hunting magazines.

Due to his committed political appearance as a well-known publicist - he took a negative position on German war policy, in particular he was against the attack on Belgium by the German Wehrmacht in World War I - von Burg was exposed accordingly. He was involved in several press trials and conducted them himself. In 1924 there was also a lawsuit against his scientific honesty. Despite acquittal, von Burg decided to break off his research and retire from science.

Offices

After the death of his father, von Burg followed in his footsteps. In 1898 he became an actuary of the “Ornithological Association Olten” founded by his father and a member of the extended museum commission. In addition, he was elected as the successor to his father as president of the health insurance company of Olten and the surrounding area, until in 1914, again as president, he took over the new health insurance company of the city of Olten, which he had promoted. Von Burg advocated federal old-age and disability insurance as a sponsor and pioneer .

In 1900 von Burg became president of the district school commission in Olten and soon afterwards he was also president of the teachers 'association in Olten and Olten-Gösgen and treasurer of the teachers' association in Solothurn, which his father co-founded.

In 1909 he was elected President of the newly established Swiss Society for Ornithology and Bird Protection , and in 1910 by the Federal Council as a member of the Federal Ornithological Commission. From 1921 to 1927 von Burg was a member of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden (NGG).

Honors

Richard Biedermann-Imhoof, living in Eutin as a Swiss abroad, tried to get von Burg to receive an honorary doctorate there. Since Biedermann was "Pan-German" and von Burg publicly opposed German war policy, this was no longer possible for political reasons. All the more so did his reputation among the French ornithologists, who made him an honorary member of the “Société ornithologique de France”. In Belgium he was awarded the honorary title of Chevalier du Roi ( Chevalier de l'Ordre de Léopold II ).

Lost works

Much of Burgs' works can still not be found today. So his reports from 1885 to 1925 to the federal ornithological commission, as well as the collected files of the work of the commission. At least a few letters are stored in the Federal Archives, especially from the time of Burgs, which provide some information. Furthermore, von Burg's diaries, his small mammal and ornithological collection and the files including registration cards, which he kept in his house, have been lost.

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Von Burg as a teacher, pp. 73–74
  2. ↑ The "Haus von Burg" as a natural research facility, editorial office and contact and reporting point. P. 72
  3. ↑ Von Burg as a hunter and researcher, “Reservation Bölchen-Lauch”, pp. 147–149
  4. ↑ Von Burg as an author and publicist p. 96
  5. ↑ Von Burg as an author and publicist, p. 74
  6. ↑ Von Burg and Richard Biedermann-Imhoof, pp. 141–142
  7. ↑ Von Burgs lost collections and records, p. 85 and p. 93–94

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Burg, Gustav von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss teacher, ornithologist and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Olten
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1927
Place of death Olten