Carl Christian Gottsche (1 March 1855 – 11 October 1909) was a German

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. He is known for geological investigations of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

and neighboring regions. He was born in Altona,

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (; ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy ...

, Denmark. He studied geology at the Universities of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1878 with a thesis on

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

fossils from the Argentine

Cordillera A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly used in physical geogra ...

. In 1880 he became an assistant at the mineralogical institute in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, receiving his habilitation the same year with a dissertation on sedimentary-drift in the province of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1881 he relocated to Japan, where he was tasked with completing the establishment of a

mineralogical Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

-geological institute at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. At the university he also gave lectures. For much of 1884 he conducted research in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, afterwards returning to Germany, where in 1886 he was appointed

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the mineralogical-geological department of the Natural History Museum in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. In 1900 he attained the title of professor, later becoming director of the mineralogical-geological institute (1907). He was the son of

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Carl Moritz Gottsche Carl Moritz Gottsche (3 July 1808 – 28 September 1892) was a German physician and bryology, bryologist born in Altona, Hamburg, Altona. He was the father of geologist Carl Christian Gottsche (1859-1909). Gottsche was a leading authority of Hepat ...

(1808–1892).

Taxa named in honor

Taxa named in honor of Carl Christian Gottsche include: * '' Semisulcospira gottschei'' (Martens, 1886)

Written works

* ''Ueber jurassische Versteinerungen aus der argentinischen Cordillere'' (graduation thesis). * ''Die sedimentärgeschiebe der Provinz Schleswig-Holstein'' (habilitation thesis). * ''Die Mollusken-Fauna des Holsteiner Gesteins'', 1887 -

Mollusks Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The num ...

found in

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

rock formations. * ''Kreide und Tertiär bei Hemmoor in Nord-Hannover'', 1889 -

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

and

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

near

Hemmoor Hemmoor () is a small town in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the river Oste, approx. 40 km northeast of Bremerhaven, and 25 km south of Brunsbüttel. History Hemmoor belonged to the Prince-Archb ...

in North

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

.WorldCat Titles
(publications)

References

Dansk Geologisk Forening
(translated biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottsche, Carl Christian 1855 births 1909 deaths 19th-century German geologists Scientists from Hamburg