Julius von Flotow

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Julius von Flotow

Julius Christian Gottlieb Ulrich Gustav Georg Adam Ernst Friedrich von Flotow (* 9. March 1788 in Pitzerwitz in Neumark , † 15. August 1856 in Breslau ) was a Prussian Major of cavalry and botanist. He was particularly interested in lichen science (lichenology) and the botany of mosses ( bryology ). Its official botanical author abbreviation is Flot.

origin

Julius von Flotow was the eldest son of the merchant and Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth Chamberlain Adam Ernst Friedrich von Flotow (born June 13, 1751 in Käselin; † September 25, 1823 in Sorau) and his wife Friedrike Wilhelmine, née von Dossow (* 2. April 1772; † December 12, 1842).

Flotow's father had worked as a merchant in Hamburg, but lost the fortune he had earned when two merchant ships sank. Thereupon he moved to Bayreuth in 1781 to live with his brother, the royal Prussian privy councilor Hans Georg Hartwig von Flotow, and was appointed Chamberlain of Bayreuth. He finally did business again in Hamburg and in 1785 bought the Pitzerwitz estate in Neumark from his siblings and other heirs, along with a few other lands, from the fortune he had earned .

Flotow's parents married in May 1787. Julius von Flotow had four sisters who were born between 1790 and 1795 and who later all lived as conventuals in various monasteries. His younger brother was the Prussian Second Lieutenant Caesar Drewes Ernst Ludwig Paschen Alexander Gottlieb Siegesmund (born August 11, 1791 at Gut Pitzerwitz). The parents separated in 1797, his mother married the district administrator von Sack in 1800. The father fell ill with a mental illness from which he recovered, but from which his business had suffered so much that he had to gradually sell his property. After all, he also had to sell Pitzerwitz and lived in Berlin and Sorau.

Flotow married Betty Louise Giesche on May 22, 1817 (* October 23, 1792 in Oppeln, † January 10, 1867 in Hirschberg). The couple had a son, Otto Ferdinand Friedrich Herrmann (1822-1900), who also embarked on a military career and became a Prussian major general , as well as two daughters, Elisabeth Jenny Julie (born September 26 in Preussisch-Minden) and Katharina Helene Wilhelmine (born 19 April 1861 in Herford).

Flotow died on August 15 of pleurisy , as a result of which he suffered a pulmonary embolism .

In the gender census of the noble family von Flotow he bears the number 158. He was the cousin of the pomologist Gustav von Flotow .

Military career

Flotow visited the cadet institute in Stolp to prepare for military service . He joined the Prussian Army in 1803 and served in the "von Katte" dragoon regiment in Landsberg an der Warthe . On July 27, 1805 he was made an ensign . On October 14, 1806 he took part in the Battle of Jena and on January 30, 1807 he joined the "von Wedell" Dragoon Brigade. There he was promoted to second lieutenant on March 4, 1807. In June 1807 he took part in the Battle of Friedland .

After the Peace of Tilsit , Flotow was paid half- pay in 1808 and lived on his father's estate until he attended the General War School in Berlin in 1811 and returned to his former position in his regiment in 1812. During the Wars of Liberation , he took part in the Battle of Großgörschen on May 2, 1813 , and was seriously wounded in the right shoulder. In this battle, his younger brother Caesar von Flotow, who served as a second lieutenant in the Guard Regiment , was injured and has been missing since then. He was taken to the Teplitz field hospital and then went to health resorts in Bad Warmbrunn and Bad Kudowa to recover . On November 2, 1813 he was promoted to lieutenant prime minister. After recovering, he returned to his regiment in 1814, which was stationed in France. The following year he took part in the summer campaign and received the Iron Cross 2nd class for his achievements .

In 1819 he was promoted to Rittmeister and appointed squadron chief. However, the old shoulder injury caused him increasing health problems. His right arm was partially paralyzed, which is why he retired from military service as an invalid in 1824. He settled in Hirschberg in the Giant Mountains , which he had got to know during his stay at the spa. On May 10, 1832, his retirement as a major was finally approved.

botany

The blood rain alga ( Haematococcus pluvialis ) discovered by Julius von Flotow

Flotow's interest was early on in botany, which he devoted himself intensively to after leaving the military. He was in close contact with numerous botanists with whom he maintained an intensive professional exchange. He collected lichen and moss on a very large scale, which he preserved in herbaria and also made available to other botanists.

He spent the time between leaving the military in 1808 and attending the war school in Berlin in 1812 at Gut Pitzerwitz, where he was first introduced to the botany of flowering plants by the botanist and entomologist Pastor Georg August Neuschild from Groß-Möllen near Pyritz and with this botanical studies operated. During this time he began to create a herbarium of flowering plants and cultivated several hundred different ornamental plants in the garden of his father's estate.

After being wounded in the Battle of Großgörschen , he met the surgeon Wilhelm Sprengel in the Teplitz military hospital , with whose father, the botanist Kurt Sprengel , was the director of the Botanical Garden in Halle, and he later had an intensive professional exchange.

During his spa stays because of war injuries, he met the Breslau doctor and botanist Karl Christian Günther (1769–1833), who worked with Schummel, Friedrich Wimmer and Heinrich Emanuel Grabowski on the publication of the botanical textbook Schlesische Flora and his interest in mosses and lichens woke up.

In 1814 and 1817 von Flotow was stationed in France for several months. From his location in St. Mihiel in the Maas department, he explored the flora there and made regular excursions to the Ardennes to collect plants, especially lichens and mosses. After his return he gave his written documentation to Kurt Sprengel, who published it in 1820.

After his discharge from military service, in 1824 he moved to Hirschberg in the Giant Mountains, which he had got to know through a spa stay, and bought his own house there. In his garden he again put on an extensive plant collection, whereby he received numerous plants from various botanical gardens through close contact with well-known botanists of the time.

Between 1829 and 1831 he published two deliveries of collections with 100 lichen each through the Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag in Leipzig. Of the ten copies made, only four were incomplete in the trade, while the others were donated to scientific societies and museums, including the Royal Botanical Society of Regensburg.

Flowtow was friends with the Wroclaw professor of botany Christian Nees von Esenbeck , who regularly spent the summer holidays at Flotow's property near Hirschberg, and supported him as one of the main collaborators in the preparation of his work on European liverworts.

Flotow was always concerned with the professional exchange, the passing on of his knowledge and the promotion of younger botanists. He introduced Gustav Wilhelm Körber (1817–1885), who was born in Hirschberg, to botany as a teenager. While walking together in Hirschberg on September 6, 1841, Flotow discovered a red substance in a puddle between Hirschberg and the neighboring town of Grunau, which he identified as algae through microscopic examinations and called blood rain algae ( Haematococcus pluvialis ). Körber later studied botany and natural philosophy with Nees von Esenbeck in Breslau and researched lichen throughout his life.

He made it possible for Moritz Elsner , the son of a Silesian mill owner, who was the only of four sons to have attended high school in Hirschberg, to prepare a doctorate on the flora of the Giant Mountains near Nees von Esenbeck. Elsner later became a parliamentarian in the revolution of 1848/49 .

Another of his students was the botanist and mycologist Carl Adolph Emmo Theodor Bail .

Flotow was a member of several scientific societies:

With his plant collections and their very precise documentation, Flotow made an important contribution to the development of the system, especially in the field of lichens and liverworts. He was known internationally as an excellent expert on lichens and mosses in particular, so that he was often sent plants from different countries with a request for identification.

He left behind very extensive collections of plants, especially those relating to cryptogams. He negotiated with the ministry to hand over his collection to Berlin while still alive in order to make it accessible for scientific research. Although Flotow offered to look after and expand the collection for a pension until his death and well-known scientists, including Alexander von Humboldt , campaigned for the collection to be taken over, the negotiations failed. After Flotow's death in 1857, the collection was finally acquired by Flotow's widow from the Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem for 6,000 marks, and was destroyed on March 1, 1943 by a fire in the museum after a bomb attack. Further collections of plants by Flotow can be found in the herbarium of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg as well as in the Herbarium Senckenbergianum in Görlitz and in the Museum of Natural History of the University of Breslau.

Honors

  • Shortly before his death, the University of Breslau awarded him the honorary title of Doctor Philosophiae on August 9, 1856 for his studies of botany, mosses, lichens and algae .
  • Due to his services in planting plantations on Hausberg and Cavaliersberg in Hirschberg, von Flotow was made an honorary member of the garden deputation of his place of residence.

Dedication names

  • Kurt Sprengel named the Brazilian plant genus Flotovia after Flotow (Systema vegetab. III. P. 506.).
  • Johann Friedrich Laurer named and described a Sticta floviana Lr. from New Holland.
  • Nees von Esenbeck named a liverwort discovered by Flotow first Jungermannia flotoviana , later Harpanthus flotovianus .

Publications

Flotow published numerous botanical papers:

  • with JF Laurer: Lichenological Notes. In: Botanische Zeitung. 1828. pp. 592f.
  • Lichen, especially collected in Silesia, the Mark and Pomerania. Barth, Leipzig, cent. I and II. 1829, 1831.
  • together with Nees v. Esenbeck: Description of some of the lichen species that Pöppig collected in chili. In: Linnaea. 1834. pp. 495f.
  • The strangest and rarer lichens of the Hirschberg-Warmbrunner Valley and the high mountains, recorded in 1839 by v. Fl. In: Wendt: The thermal baths at Warmbrunn in the Silesian Giant Mountains. The strangest and rarer lichens of the Hirschberg-Warmbrunner Valley and the high mountains. Breslau, pp. 92-109.
  • Lichenes of the Reiseverein and the Hochfletterchen Herbarii, examined and described by J. v. Flotow. In: Linnaea. 1843, pp. 15-30, 254-256.
  • with J. Meyen: Lichenes. Auctoribus.
  • together with H. Göppert and CG Nees v. Esenbeck: About the bark of Pao Pereira and several cryptogamic plants growing on it. In: Archives for Pharmacy. Publishers of the Hahn'schen Buchhandlung, Hanover 1842, p. 318ff
  • Observations on Haematococcus pluvalis (rain of blood) and its metamorphoses. In: Negotiations of the Imperial Leopoldinsich-Carolingian Academy of Natural Scientists. Volume 12, Eduard Webers's Buchhandlung, Breslau and Bonn 1843, p. 413ff.
  • Lichenes Florae Silesiae. In: Overview of the work and changes of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture. 1849, pp. 98-135; continued in: Annual Report of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture 28, pp. 115–143.

Translations from French

  • Mirbel: Anatomical and physiological studies on the Marchantia polymorpha.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Flotow, Julius (Christian Gottlieb Ulrich Gustav Georg Adam Ernst Friedrich) von (1788-1856). In: J.-P. Frahm, J. Eggers: Lexicon of German-speaking bryologists. Volume 1, BoD, Norderstedt 2001, p. 110.
  2. ^ G. von Flotow: Contributions to the history of the von Flotow family. Dresden 1844, p. 39.
  3. ^ G. von Flotow: Contributions to the history of the von Flotow family. Dresden 1844, p. 40.
  4. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses. 1st year, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1900, p. 311.
  5. ↑ C. Nees von Esenbeck: Announcements of the KLC Academy of Natural Scientists: Dr. Julius von Flotow. In: Bonplandia. Journal for the whole botany. Official organ of the KL-C. Academy of Naturalists. 4th year, published by Carl Rümpler. Hannover 1856, pp. 294-296.
  6. ^ G. von Flotow: Contributions to the history of the von Flotow family. Dresden 1844, p. 44.
  7. ↑ C. Nees von Esenbeck: Announcements of the KLC Academy of Natural Scientists: Dr. Julius von Flotow. In: Bonplandia. Journal for the whole botany. Official organ of the KL-C. Academy of Naturalists. 4th year, published by Carl Rümpler. Hannover 1856, pp. 294-296.
  8. ↑ E. von Hagen: History of the Neumark Dragoon Regiment. 3rd edition, ES Mittler, Berlin 1885, p. 485.
  9. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses. 1st year, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1900, p. 311.
  10. ↑ C. Nees von Esenbeck: Announcements of the KLC Academy of Natural Scientists: Dr. Julius von Flotow. In: Bonplandia. Journal for the whole botany. Official organ of the KL-C. Academy of Naturalists. 4th year, published by Carl Rümpler. Hannover 1856, pp. 294-296.
  11. ↑ C. Nees von Esenbeck: Announcements of the KLC Academy of Natural Scientists: Dr. Julius von Flotow. In: Bonplandia. Journal for the whole botany. Official organ of the KL-C. Academy of Natural Scientists, 4th year, published by Carl Rümpler, Hanover 1856, pp. 294–296.
  12. ↑ E. von Hagen: History of the Neumark Dragoon Regiment. 3rd edition, ES Mittler, Berlin 1885, p. 485.
  13. ↑ Flotow, Julius von. In: Karl Gabriel Nowack: Schlesisches Writer Lexikon - or bio-bibliographical index of the Silesian writers living in the second quarter of the 19th century. Verlag von Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1836, p. 32.
  14. ↑ Flotow, Julius von. In: Karl Gabriel Nowack: Schlesisches Writer Lexikon - or bio-bibliographical index of the Silesian writers living in the second quarter of the 19th century. Verlag von Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1836, p. 32.
  15. ↑ Flotow, Julius von. In: Karl Gabriel Nowack: Schlesisches Writer Lexikon - or bio-bibliographical index of the Silesian writers living in the second quarter of the 19th century. Verlag von Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1836, p. 32.
  16. ^ GW Körber: About Julius von Flotow. In: 34th annual report of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture. Graß, Barth and Comp. Breslau 1856, p. 50f.
  17. ↑ Flotow, Julius von. In: Karl Gabriel Nowack: Schlesisches Writer Lexikon - or bio-bibliographical index of the Silesian writers living in the second quarter of the 19th century. Verlag von Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1836, p. 32.
  18. ↑ J. von Flotow: lichens, especially in Silesia, the Mark and Pomerania collected from July v.. Flotow. On commission from Barth in Leipzig, Cent. I: Hirschberg 1829, cent. II: Hirschberg 1831.
  19. ^ V. Monographic contributions to Floren. Cryptogamy. In: Royal Botanical Society of Regensburg: Botanical literature sheets for the periodic presentation of the progress in botany in constant relation to the entire natural history: And in their application to agriculture and horticulture, arts and trade. 4th volume, 3rd year, 1st half, Fridrich Pustet, Regensburg 1830.
  20. ↑ Original reports from learned societies. Botanical Section of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture in Breslau. Meeting on November 5, 1885. In: Botanisches Centralblatt ; referring organ for the entire field of botany. 6th year, published by Theodor Fischer, Cassel 1885, p. 282.
  21. ↑ CGD Nees von Esenbeck: Natural history of the European liverworts with memories from the Giant Mountains. (1833–38, 4 volumes)
  22. ↑ Original reports from learned societies. Botanical Section of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture in Breslau. Meeting on November 5, 1885. In: Botanisches Centralblatt; referring organ for the entire field of botany. 6th year, published by Theodor Fischer, Cassel 1885, p. 282.
  23. ↑ J. v. Flotow: Observations on Haematococcus pluvalis (rain of blood) and its metamorphoses. In: Negotiations of the Imperial Leopoldinsich-Carolingian Academy of Natural Scientists. Volume 12, Eduard Webers's Buchhandlung, Breslau and Bonn 1843, p. 413ff.
  24. ^ M. Elsner: Synopsis florae cervimontanae: Praemissa est de speciei definitionibus quaestiuncula critica. Georg Philipp Aderholz, Bratislava 1839.
  25. ^ W. Schmidt: Moritz Elsner and the 1848 democracy in Silesia. In: Meeting reports of the Leibniz Society. 63, 2004, pp. 19-53.
  26. ↑ T. Bail: In memory of Major von Flotow. In: The hiker in the Giant Mountains. No. 82, August 1889, pp. 93-95.
  27. ↑ JDF Neigebaur : History of the Imperial Leopoldino-Carolinian German Academy of Natural Scientists during the second century of its existence. Friedrich Frommann, Jena 1860, p. 268.
  28. ↑ T. Bail: In memory of Major von Flotow. In: The hiker in the Giant Mountains. No. 82, August 1889, pp. 93-95.
  29. ↑ M. Holzmann: German Pseudonym Lexicon. G. Olms, 1989, p. 92.
  30. ↑ Dr. Julius von Flotow and his research on Haematococcus pluvialis. In: O. Zacharias: About solved and unsolved problems in natural research. 2nd increased edition, Denicke's Verlag, Leipzig 1887, pp. 105-120.
  31. ↑ T. Bail: In memory of Major von Flotow. In: The hiker in the Giant Mountains. No. 82, August 1889, pp. 93-95.
  32. ↑ T. Bail: In memory of Major von Flotow. In: The hiker in the Giant Mountains. No. 82, August 1889, pp. 93-95.
  33. ↑ M. Holzmann: German Pseudonym Lexicon. G. Olms, 1989, p. 92.
  34. ^ I. Urban: History of the Royal Botanical Museum in Berlin-Dahlem (1815–1913) along with a list of its collections. In: Supplement to the Botanisches Centralblatt. Volume 34, published by C. Heinrich, Dresden 1917, p. 37f.
  35. ↑ Entry Herbarium (HAL) on the homepage: University collections in Germany - The information system on collections and museums at German universities. accessed on February 12, 2015
  36. ^ V. Otte et al .: Environmental monitoring with lichens in the Euroregion Neisse. In: Pecknia. No. 9. 2014, pp. 49-57.
  37. ↑ C. Nees von Esenbeck: Announcements of the KLC Academy of Natural Scientists: Dr. Julius von Flotow. In: Bonplandia. Journal for the whole botany. Official organ of the KL-C. Academy of Natural Scientists, 4th year, published by Carl Rümpler. Hannover 1856, pp. 294-296.
  38. ↑ T. Bail: In memory of Major von Flotow. In: The hiker in the Giant Mountains. No. 82, August 1889, pp. 93-95.
  39. ↑ F. Lauer: Sieber'sche lichens. In: Linnaea. A journal for botany in its entirety. 2nd volume, Ferdinand Dümmler, Berlin 1827, p. 38ff.
personal data
SURNAME Flotow, Julius von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flotow, Julius Christian Gottlieb Ulrich Gustav Georg Adam Ernst Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian major and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Pitzerwitz , Neumark
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1856
Place of death Wroclaw