Johann Ferdinand Schalch (11 January 1848 – 19 November 1918) was a Swiss paleontologist and geologist. He conducted stratigraphic studies of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, and the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

regions and produced numerous maps. His fossil and geological collections were damaged when the Schaffhausen museum was bombed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and work

Schalch was the son of Katharina Juditha née Mägis and school teacher Ferdinand in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. He studied natural sciences at

Zurich Polytechnic ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

. Here he was influenced by

Arnold Escher von der Linth Arnold Escher von der Linth (8 June 1807 in Zürich12 July 1872) was a Swiss geologist, the son of Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth (1767–1823). He made the first ascent of the Lauteraarhorn on 8 August 1842 together with Pierre Jean Édouard ...

and

Oswald Heer Oswald Heer (or Oswald von Heer) (31 August 1809 – 27 September 1883), Swiss geologist and naturalist, was born at Niederuzwil in Canton of St. Gallen and died in Lausanne. Biography Oswald Heer was educated as a clergyman at Halle and t ...

. This was followed by studies 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

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

leading to a doctorate in 1870 under Fridolin Sandberger with a dissertation on the Triassic in the southeastern Black Forest. He then became a teacher in

Böckten Böckten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Geography Böckten has an area, , of . Of this area, or 43.0% is us ...

and from 1876 he worked at the Geological Institute in Leipzig. He then moved to Saxony to work with Hermann Credner from 1876. He conducted stratigraphic studies and produced geological maps of the region. In 1888

Harry Rosenbusch (Karl) Heinrich/Harry (Ferdinand) Rosenbusch (24 June 1836 – 20 January 1914) was a German petrographer. Harry Rosenbusch was born in Einbeck. He taught at Heidelberg University (1877–1908), where he founded the ''Mineralogisches-geologis ...

appointed him and Adolf Sauer to the Baden Geological Institute. He published several maps, treatises on rocks and fossils. He retired in 1918 and returned to Schaffhausen where he suffered from psychiatric problems and was sent for treatment to

Küssnacht Küssnacht am Rigi (official name since 2004: Küssnacht) is a village and a district and a municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of the three villages Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen, the hamlet ...

where he committed suicide. He donated his collections to the museum in the town of Schaffhausen but many of his collections were destroyed by bombing during World War II.

References

External links

Biography

Biography (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schalch, Ferdinand 1848 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Swiss geologists Suicides in Switzerland 20th-century Swiss geologists Swiss paleontologists