Karl Rath (geologist)

Carlos Frederico José Rath

Karl Friedrich Joseph Rath or later Carlos Frederico José Rath (born March 31, 1802 in Stuttgart , † July 12, 1876 in São Paulo ) was a German geologist who emigrated to Brazil .

Live and act

Karl Rath worked as a curator at the Natural History Cabinet in Tübingen , where he drew relief maps and explored grave mounds. In Öhringen and Heilbronn he carried out geological investigations and constructed a rope making machine. He also lived temporarily in Kempten on the Rhine near Bingen .

He emigrated to Brazil in August 1845 . There he took part in several expeditions in the following years, especially in the state of São Paulo . The focus of his research was on geology and especially the exploration of raw material deposits and land surveying. In his records and publications he reported several times about caves in mostly little explored areas. In 1850 Rath settled in the city of São Paulo , in 1854 he applied for Brazilian citizenship, and in 1855 his eldest son Daniel Rath followed him as an emigrant.

Carlos Rath supported the establishment of a Protestant cemetery, road works, the water supply and, in the summer of 1848, the disease control. For the German emigrants in São Paulo, “Father Rath” was the focus of their community for many years. In retirement, he and Daniel Rath examined the clam-hill graves called sambaquis from prehistoric times. The Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, was interested in this research and asked Rath and his son to take him to the relevant excavation sites. Rath reported on this research in 1874 in his last work published in German in the chapter "The Brazilian Limestone Caves and Their Bone Contents".

At the beginning of 1876 Karl Rath received high public recognition, but in May he was dismissed from office. Presumably he had become uncomfortable for an authority because of his direct manner throughout his life. Carlos Rath did not recover from this blow. He died on July 12, 1876 in São Paulo, where he was buried in the cemetery he had established. In São Paulo the “Rua Carlos Rath” commemorates him.

Publications

• Rath, C. (1834): Description of the newly discovered cave near Erpfingen (in the Kingdom of Württemberg). - 24 p., Numerous Fig. On 2 (folding) boards, 1 plan (as a folding board); Reutlingen (with Fleischhauer and Spohn). [Identically published with the publisher's statement "Verlag der lithographischen Anstalt von Joh. Conrad Mäcken, jun."].
• Rath, C. (1871): Sobre a formatura das grutas calcareas e breves observacoes das de parte do Brasil. - 44 handwritten pages; São Paulo (Museu Imperial, Arquivo).
• Rath, K. (1874): The Sambaquis or shell-hill tombs of Brazil [Part "I" and Part "II"]. - Globus, Illustrirte Zeitschrift für Länder- und Völkerkunde, Vol. 26 (13): 193-198, 2 figures and (14): 214-218, 1 figure; Braunschweig.
• Rath, C. [†] (1978): Description of the newly discovered cave near Erpfingen (in the Kingdom of Württemberg). [Reprint of the 1834 edition]. - Treatises on karst and speleology, Series F (“History of Speleology, Biographies, Folklore”), 7: 1-24, numer. Fig. On 2 (folding) boards, 1 plan (as a folding board); Munich.

literature

• Rathgeber, Th. (2009): On the 175th anniversary of the Erpfinger Bear Cave, the astonishing life of the allegedly lost Karl Rath (1802-1876) in Brazil became known. - Laichinger Höhlenfreund, vol. 44, pp. 228–231, 1 fig .; Laichingen.

proof

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Thomas Rathgeber: Karl Rath (1802-1876) - cave explorers in the old and new world. ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. As of May 30, 2014.