Christian Ludwig Brehm (24 January 1787 – 23 June 1864) was a German
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...
and
ornithologist
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
. He was the father of the
zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
Alfred Brehm
Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist and writer. His multi-volume book '' Brehms Tierleben'', which he co-authored with Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Wilhelm Haacke, and Richard Schmidtlein, becam ...
.
Life
Brehm was born in
Schönau near
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
on 24 January 1787. He was educated at
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...
to be ordained as minister at
Renthendorf
Renthendorf is a municipality in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany. The ornithologist Christian Ludwig Brehm was minister in Renthendorf from 1813, and his son Alfred Brehm
Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 Nov ...
in 1813 where he remained until his death on 23 June 1864.
He wrote ''Beiträge zur Vogelkunde'' (1820–22), which described 104 species of German
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s in minute detail,
and ''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vögel Deutschlands'' (1831) which described 900 bird species.
Brehm accumulated a collection of 15,000 birds until his death, which included samples from his son,
Alfred Brehm
Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist and writer. His multi-volume book '' Brehms Tierleben'', which he co-authored with Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Wilhelm Haacke, and Richard Schmidtlein, becam ...
. Alfred collected these birds from Sudan, Egypt, and throughout Europe.
He offered these to the
Berlin Zoological Museum in March 1835 because he feared that a storm would destroy his house, but the sale fell through. After his death, they remained in the attic of his house, where
Otto Kleinschmidt
Otto Kleinschmidt (13 December 1870 – 25 March 1954) was a German Ornithology, ornithologist, Theology, theologist and pastor. He was also an artist and taxidermist who produced specimens and illustrations of birds for his writings. He was crit ...
discovered them some years later. Kleinschmidt persuaded
Lord Rothschild
Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. He was the first Jewish mem ...
to buy them in 1897; they consisted of 9,000 skins, and the collection arrived at his
Natural History Museum at Tring
The Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild; today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum, London. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptil ...
in 1932. However, the collection returned to Germany, where it was moved to
Museum Koenig
The Museum Koenig Bonn, formerly Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (German: ''Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig'', abbreviated ZFMK), is a natural history museum and zoological research institution in Bonn, Germany. The mus ...
, located in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
.
Works
*''Beiträge zur Vogelkunde'' 3 Bde, ab Bd. 3 in collaboration with W. Schilling.
Neustadt a. Orla 1820–1822.
*''Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte aller europäischen Vögel'', 2 Bde.
Jena
Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
1823–1824
*''Ornis oder das Neueste und Wichtigste der Vogelkunde''. Jena 1824–1827, first ornithologic journal.
*''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vögel Deutschlands''.
Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately south of Erfurt and north of Nuremberg w ...
1831.
''Handbuch für den Liebhaber der Stuben-, Haus- und aller der Zähmung werthen Vögel'' Ilmenau 1832.
*''Der Vogelfang''. Leipzig 1836.
*''Der vollständige Vogelfang''.
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
1855.
*''Die Kunst, Vögel als Bälge zu bereiten''. Weimar 1842.
*''Die Wartung, Pflege und Fortpflanzung der Canarienvögel''. Weimar 1855, 2. ed. Weimar 1865, 3. ed. Weimar 1872, 4. ed. Weimar 1883, 5. ed.. Weimar 1893.
*''Die Naturgeschichte und Zucht der Tauben''. Weimar 1857.
*(with E. Baldamus, John Wilhelm von Müller & J. F. Naumann) ''Verzeichnis der Vögel Europa's. als Tausch-Catalog eingerichtet''. Stuttgart 1852
*''Monographie der Papageien oder vollständige Naturgeschichte aller bis jetzt bekannten Papageien mit getreuen und ausgemalten Abbildungen, im Vereine mit anderen Naturforscher herausgegeben von C.L. Brehm''. Jena &
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
1842–1855
See also
*
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...
References
External links
Website advertising the Brehm Memorial Center in Renthendorf a museum in Brehm's home, and that of his family, including his son
Alfred Brehm
Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist and writer. His multi-volume book '' Brehms Tierleben'', which he co-authored with Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Wilhelm Haacke, and Richard Schmidtlein, becam ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brehm, Christian
1787 births
1864 deaths
German ornithologists
People from Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
University of Jena alumni
Zoological collectors