Rudolf von Fischer-Benzon

Rudolph Jacob Dietrich von Fischer-Benzon (born February 2, 1839 in Elsdorf-Westermühlen , † July 18, 1911 in Wyk auf Föhr ) was a German high school teacher and state librarian. He was the first director of the Schleswig-Holstein State Library. He also worked as a botanist .

Fischer-Benzon's father was the forest clerk Emil von Fischer-Benzon (1809–1881) and his paternal grandfather was Jacob Ludwig von Fischer-Benzon (1776–1833).

Fischer-Benzon attended the Schleswig Cathedral School from 1852 to 1857 and the Hamburg Polytechnic Preparation Institute from 1857 to 1859. From 1859 to 1865 he studied natural sciences (physics, mineralogy, mathematics and botany) at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel , where he received his doctorate in 1865 with a dissertation on the relative age of Faxekalkes . In the same year he was awarded the license to teach (venia legendi).

Professional Activities:

• Research trip through Norway and Sweden
• Private tutor in Courland with the family of Prince von Lieven at Blieden Castle (1867–1869)
• Lectures at the University of Kiel in the fields of geography and geology (1869)
• Entry into higher education, teaching at the grammar schools in Meldorf, Hadersleben and Husum (1869–1878), from 1878 to 1892 at the Kiel School of Academics (conferred the title of professor in 1889), retirement for health reasons on January 1, 1893
• Head of the Provincial Library (since 1899: Schleswig-Holstein State Library) in Kiel (1895–1911).

In 1898, he was the first Schleswig-Holstein state librarian to submit a printed catalog to the Schleswig-Holstein State Library (supplementary volume 1907). Since 1898 he was also secretary of the Society for Schleswig-Holstein History.

Awards

• Danebrogorden (Denmark) and Order of the Red Eagle 4th class (both 1893); Order of the Crown 3rd Class (1908).
• Sandstone stele in the Eichhof cemetery in Kiel near the cemetery chapel (his grave in the cemetery is no longer preserved).

Fonts

• The moors of the province of Schleswig-Holstein. Friederichsen, Hamburg 1891.
• Old German garden flora. Lipsius & Tischer, Kiel / Leipzig 1894 (digitized version) ; Reprinted by Walluf 1972.
• The lichens of Schleswig-Holstein. Lipsius & Tischer, Kiel 1901.

Sources and literature

• Olaf Klose : Rudolph Jacob Dietrich from Fischer-Benzon. In: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon. Volume 2. pp. 144-146.
• Wilfried Lagler: Rudolph von Fischer-Benzon (1839-1911). In: The home. Journal for natural and regional studies of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. Volume 96, 1989, pp. 289-292.
• Wilfried Lagler: The Schleswig-Holstein State Library. Development and importance. Boyens & Co., Heide 1989 (= publications of the Schleswig-Holstein State Library. Volume 6).
• Wilfried Lagler: "I greet you on the last piece of paper". The correspondence between Theodor Storm and Rudolf von Fischer-Benzon. In: Writings of the Theodor Storm Society. Volume 50, 2001, pp. 81-101.