Thomas Conrad von Baldenstein

Baldenstein Castle from the south

Thomas Conrad von Baldenstein (born on January 28, 1784 at Baldenstein Castle , Canton of Graubünden ; died on September 14, 1878 there ) was a Swiss naturalist who primarily dealt with the bird world in the Alps and who first described the willow tit as a separate species in 1827 . He also established the genus Hippolais .

Life

Thomas Conrad was born in 1784 in Grisons at Baldenstein Castle, which his father Francesco Conrad (1753 - 1821), a wealthy businessman, had acquired in 1782. The family had already achieved prosperity in Italy at the time of grandfather Giacomo Conrad and owned extensive estates in the Hinterrhein region and in the Valtellina . The latter lost Francesco in 1798 when the Cisalpine Republic was founded and was compensated for it. With the compensation he bought the former Sant'Agnese monastery near Cavaglietto in Piedmont . He worked as a merchant in the sericulture and mining business, was proconsul , governor and deputy . Thomas was the oldest of ten siblings; he had five brothers and four sisters. The family was not of noble descent. The addition of "von Baldenstein" to the name was primarily intended to prevent confusion.

Thomas Conrad grew up at Schloss Baldenstein and in Chiavenna (Kleven) and spoke German, Italian and later also fluent French. He initially received private lessons and then went to the Philanthropin in Reichenau , which was dissolved on May 9, 1798. The pastor of Sils im Domleschg prepared him for his studies, which he began on August 19, 1801 at the law faculty in Erlangen . The duration of the course is unknown. However, Conrad did not achieve a degree because he went to Piémont to manage the father's estate of Sant'Agnese.

Later Conrad joined the Graubünden regiment of the Kingdom of Sardinia . His military career led him to the rank of captain before the regiment was disbanded in 1816. As a captain, he later served in the Graubünden militia for another eight years. In 1826 he took his leave and devoted himself to the administration of the estate in Baldenstein, the business in Chiavenna and his passions - ornithology and beekeeping.

In 1824 he married Clara Cantieni, with whom he had a son who died in 1836 at the age of nine. Conrad died very old, blind and almost deaf on September 14, 1878 at Baldenstein Castle. His wife outlived him by ten years.

Act

Evidently, since his first time in Piedmont, Conrad conducted ornithological field studies - almost daily at times - which he recorded in diary notes. He built an important collection of skins and eggs, which fell victim to a castle fire shortly before his death. He skillfully illustrated his scientific descriptions of birds in watercolors. Conrad was largely silent and a significant part of his notes remained unpublished.

In the New Alpina , published by the pastor and natural scientist Johann Rudolph Steinmüller in 1927, there are in part very extensive descriptions, behavioral studies and avifaunistic reports by Conrad on alpine species such as snow sparrow (first description of female and juvenile dress), mountain pipit , pygmy owl , lemon tick and rock tern . The section on the " swamp tit " represents the first scientific description of the willow tit . Previously, no distinction had been made between the two species. Conrad already describes in detail the decisive characteristics such as the different chants or different habitat requirements. In the longer summary of the news about the still too little-known family of our leaf warblers (to which he also counts the mockers ), he describes the Orpheusspötter as an "Italian yellow-bellied leaf warbler" ( Hippolais italica ) and creates the new genus Hippolais , which is still today Endures. He also describes the “white-bellied leaf warbler” ( Sylvia albicans ) - today's mountain warbler - as a new species . If he had published the corresponding diary entry from 1813 earlier, this would probably be the first description. However, the description by Louis Pierre Vieillot published in 1819 now has priority .

Smaller publications are devoted to the behavior of the bearded vulture in captivity (1829) or the way of life of the wild fowl (1865). A directory of Graubünden's birds remained unfinished and the “Vogelbauer”, a manuscript with 96 hand-painted panels and descriptions of 197 bird species, was only published as an art print in 1981 - almost a hundred years after Conrad's death.

Conrad was also active as a beekeeper, was involved in the regional beekeeping society and published in the "Bienenzeitung". In 1843 he had Italian bees sent from Castasegna and introduced the particularly high-yielding breed to Graubünden. The bee researcher Johann Dzierzon also took up this suggestion and sent Conrad to Italian bees.

Works

• Various articles in Johann Rudolph Steinmüller: Neue Alpina - a font dedicated to Swiss natural history, alpine and agriculture , Steinerische Buchhandlung, Winterthur, 1827, ( digitized from google books )
• Contributions to the natural history of the bearded geyer (Gypaetos barbatus) , memoranda of the General Swiss Society for the Whole Natural Sciences, Volume 1, 1829, doi : 10.5169 / seals-357961
• How do our wild chickens live? , Negotiations of the Swiss Natural Research Society, Volume 49, 1865
• Bird farmer. In addition to notes on the natural history of the birds contained in the same, which are all drawn from nature and described according to our own observations 1811–1868 , Chur, Calven, 1981

literature

• Paul Fravi: Thomas Conrad, the founder of alpine ornithology in Graubünden , Bündner monthly newspaper: magazine for Bündner history, regional studies and building culture, issue 7–8, 1976, doi : 10.5169 / seals-398193
• Ludwig Gebhardt: Die Ornithologen Mitteleuropas , Summary of Volumes 1–4, Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2006, ISBN 3-89104-680-4 , Vol. 1, p. 65

Web links

• Jürg P. Müller: Thomas Conrad von Baldenstein. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . March 1, 2005 , accessed October 20, 2015 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fravi (1976), p. 203, see literature; According to Th. Conrad's diary, according to other information, the place of birth is Chiavenna.
2. ↑ Jürg Simonett: Francesco Conrad von Baldenstein. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 19, 2005 , accessed October 20, 2015 .
3. ↑ Fravi (1976), p. 2014, see literature