Richard Klebs

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Erdmann Herrmann Richard Klebs (born March 30, 1850 in the Lyck district ; † June 20, 1911 in Königsberg i. Pr. ) Was a German geologist and pharmacologist who made a name for himself in amber research .

life and work

Richard Klebs was the son of the landowner Hermann Klebs and his wife Nanny geb. Voelkner . From the marriage of Richard Klebs to his wife Clara geb. Angels had three children.

Klebs studied pharmacy at the Albertus University in Königsberg , where he was awarded a Dr. phil. received his doctorate . He had already turned to geology during his studies and worked for the Physical-Economic Society . From 1881 to 1904 he was at the Prussian Geological State Institute (PGLA), where he became a state geologist. In the course of this activity, he made geological maps of East and West Prussia and examined the prehistoric burial ground in Tengen (Baden-Württemberg). At the same time, until 1899, Klebs advised the company Stantien & Becker , which had started to mine amber industrially in Samland . He succeeded in convincing the company owners to make all scientifically interesting pieces of amber available to a museum founded by Klebs but still owned by Stantien & Becker. In 1889 a museum catalog with 26,000 inventory numbers was published. In 1902, Klebs was invited to Russia by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II as a consultant for the restoration of the Amber Room . For the last three decades of his life he was curator of the amber collection of the Provincial Museum in Königsberg. He had the title of professor.

Richard Klebs built up a very extensive amber collection in the course of his life, in which he mainly included pieces with organic inclusions. Among them are pieces of great rarity and high scientific value (e.g. a flea and a lizard). 15 years after his death, the State of Prussia acquired at least part (probably 11,000 pieces) of his collection, which includes around 27,000 pieces with organic inclusions. His collection also included Neolithic artifacts from Schwarzort (today Juodkrante ) on the Curonian Spit . Substantial parts of Richard Klebs' collection did not survive the chaos of war and post-war. The remains are kept in the Institute and Museum for Geology and Paleontology (IMGP) of the University of Göttingen

The fossil flea Palaeopsylla klebsiana DAMPF 1911, discovered in a piece of Baltic amber, is named after him .

Works (selection)

  • The amber. Its extraction, history and geological importance. Explanation and catalog of the amber collection of the Stantien & Becker company. Koenigsberg 1880.
  • Extraction and processing of amber. Koenigsberg 1883.
  • The amber jewelry of the Stone Age from the excavation near Schwarzort and other locations in Press. In: Contributions to the natural history of Prussia. Koenigsberg 1882.
  • The trading varieties of amber. In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian State Geological Institute. Berlin 1882
  • About amber inclusions in general and the coleopteras in my amber collection. In: Writings of the Physical-Economic Society zu Königsberg i.Pr. No. 51, Koenigsberg 1910.

literature

  • Edwin & Elke Kaiserling: Amber from the private estate of Richard Klebs (Königsberg). Excursion guides and publications of the German Society for Geosciences (EDGG), Issue 236, Hanover 2008. ISBN 978-3-936617-86-3 .
  • Mike Reich & Joachim Reitner: From the Königsberg amber collection 'Schwarzorter Funde'. Göttingen 2014. ISBN 978-3-943647-08-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ K. Hinrichs: Bernstein, the "Prussian gold" in art and natural history chambers and museums from the 16th to 20th centuries. Dissertation, Humboldt University Berlin, 2006.
  2. ^ S. Ritzkowski: History of the amber collection of the Albertus University in Königsberg i.Pr. In: Amber - Tears of the Gods. Bochum 1996.
  3. ↑ B. Kosmowska-Ceranowicz: The tourist amber route to the Amber Coast. In Amber - Views - Opinions. Warsaw, Gdansk 2006.
  4. ^ S. Ritzkowski: Curiosities in Baltic amber from the Königsberg amber collection, now in the Göttingen collection. In: Amber - Views - Opinions. Warsaw, Gdansk 2006.
personal data
SURNAME Klebs, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Klebs, Erdmann Herrmann Richard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist and pharmacologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Elk circle
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1911
Place of death Koenigsberg i. Pr.