Baron Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen (5 May 18336 October 1905), better known in English as was a German traveller, geographer, and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosop ...

. He is noted for coining the terms "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen" = "

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

(s)" or "Silk Route(s)" in 1877."Approaches Old and New to the Silk Roads" Vadime Elisseeff in: ''The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce''. Paris (1998) UNESCO, Reprint: Berghahn Books (2000), pp. 1-2. ; ; (pbk)Waugh, Daniel. (2007). "Richthofen's "Silk Roads": Toward the Archaeology of a Concept." ''The Silk Road''. Volume 5, Number 1, Summer 2007, p. 4. He also standardized the practices of

chorography Chorography (from χῶρος ''khōros'', "place" and γράφειν ''graphein'', "to write") is the art of describing or mapping a region or district, and by extension such a description or map. This term derives from the writings of the anc ...

and chorology. He was an uncle of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

flying ace

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

, best known as the " Red Baron".

Biography

Ferdinand von Richthofen was born in Pokój, at that time called Carlsruhe in

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official ...

. He was educated in the Roman Catholic Gymnasium in Breslau. He studied Medicine at the University of Breslau and at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. He traveled or studied in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

. In 1860, he joined the Eulenburg Expedition, a Prussian expedition which visited

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, Celebes,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

between 1860 and 1862. No important work resulted from these travels, for much of Richthofen's records and collections was lost. China was at the time inaccessible owing to the

Taiping rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...

, but Richthofen was impressed with the desirability of exploring it. From 1862 to 1868, he worked as a geologist in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, discovering goldfields in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He then followed up his interest in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

by several more trips there, and also to

, and

. In China he located the dried-up lake bed of Lopnur. He published his geographical, geological, economic, and ethnological findings in three volumes with an atlas, which, however, did not cover the entire field or complete the author's plan. This work appeared at Berlin in 1877-85 under the title of ''China: Ergebnisse eigener Reisen und darauf gegründeter Studien''. In this standard work, the author deals not only with geology but with every subject necessary to a general geographical treatise. Notably he paid close attention to the economic resources of the country he traversed. He also wrote a valuable series of letters to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, and first drew attention to the importance of the coalfields of

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

, and of

Kiaochow The Jiaozhou Bay (; german: Kiautschou Bucht, ) is a bay located in the prefecture-level city of Qingdao (Tsingtau), China. The bay has historically been romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English and Kiautschou in German. Geogr ...

as a port. In 1875, he was appointed professor of

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, but being fully occupied with his work in China he did not take up professorial duties until 1879. In 1883, he became professor of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

, and professor of geography at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin in 1886. He occupied the latter position until his death. His lectures attracted numerous students who subsequently became eminent in geographical work, and in order to keep in touch with them he established his weekly geographical “colloquium.” Among his most famous students was Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer. He served as president of the German Geographical Society for many years and founded the Berlin Hydrographical Institute. He is noted for coining the terms "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen" = "

(s)" or "Silk Route(s)" in 1877. He also standardized the practices of

and chorology. He died in 1905 in Berlin.

Anecdotes

When William Gill consulted him about a planned trip to China, he remarked: The mountain range on the southern edge of the

Hexi Corridor The Hexi Corridor (, Xiao'erjing: حْسِ ظِوْلاْ, IPA: ), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and rela ...

in western China was named Richthofen Range after him, although the modern name is now Qilian Mountains. The 12940 ft. Mount Richthofen in

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

is also named after him.

Publications

In German

* “Die Kalkalpen von Vorarlberg und Nordtirol” in ''Jahrbuch der geologischen Reichsanstalt''; 1859–1861 * “Die Metallproduktion Kaliforniens” in ''Petermanns Mitteilungen''; 1865 * ''China, Ergebnisse eigner Reisen und darauf gegründeter Studien'' (China: The results of my travels and the studies based thereon), 1877–1912, 5 vols. and atlas * ''Aufgaben und Methoden der heutigen Geographie'' (an address delivered at Leipzig, 1883) * ''Führer für Forschungsreisende'' (A guide for the traveling researcher), Berlin, 1886 * ''Triebkräfte und Richtungen der Erdkunde in neunzehnten Jahrhundert'' (address on his election as rector, Berlin, 1903)

In English

* '' Comstock Lode: Its Character, and the Probable Mode of Its Continuance in Depth'' (1866) * ''Principles of the Natural System of Volcanic Rocks'' (1867) * ''Letters to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce'' (1869–72) * Richthofen, F. (1872). Letter from Baron Richthofen on the Province of Hunan. Shanghai: Re-printed at the "Ching-foong" Printing Office. State Library of New South Wales
TQ047868
* Richthofen, F. (1872). Letter by Baron von Richthofen on the provinces of Chili, Shansi, Shensi, Sz'-chwan, with notes on Mongolia, Kansu, Yünnan and Kwei-chau. no. 7. Shanghai: Re-printed at the "Ching-foong" Printing Office. State Library of New South Wales
TQ047868
* Richthofen, F. (1872). Letter by Baron von Richthofen, from Si-ngan-fu, on the rebellion in Kansu and Shensi. No. 6. Shanghai: Printed at the office of the 'North-China Herald'. State Library of New South Wales
TQ047868

Notes

References

* * Hans-Dietrich Schultz: ''Ferdinand von Richthofen: The True Founder of Modern Geography?.'' In: ''Die Erde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin.'' Volume 138, Issue 4 (2007), Special Issue "Ferdinand von Richtofen", pp. 333–352
(online)
* Ute Wardenga: ''Ferdinand von Richthofen - Then and Now. An Introduction.'' In: ''Die Erde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin.'' Volume 138, Issue 4 (2007), Special Issue "Ferdinand von Richtofen", pp. 301–311
(online)
* Ute Wardenga: ''Ferdinand von Richthofen and the Development of German Geography.'' In: ''Die Erde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin.'' Volume 138, Issue 4 (2007), Special Issue "Ferdinand von Richtofen", pp. 313–332
(online)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richthofen, Ferdinand von 1833 births 1905 deaths People from Namysłów County People from the Province of Silesia Silk Road Barons of Germany German geographers Ferdinand von Richthofen University of Breslau alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German expatriates in China Humboldt University of Berlin faculty University of Bonn faculty Leipzig University faculty Wollaston Medal winners Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences