Heinrich Christian Funck (22 November 1771 – 14 April 1839) was a German

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and bryologist. He was a co-founder of the

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Botanical Society. Funck was born in

Wunsiedel (; Northern Bavarian: ''Wåuṉsieḏl'' or ''Wousigl'') is the seat of the Upper Franconian district of in northeast Bavaria, Germany. The town is the birthplace of poet Jean Paul. It also became known for its annual Festival and the Rudolf ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He received early training at a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, subsequently studying in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

and

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 ...

. In 1803 he acquired the family-owned pharmacy in Gefrees, from where he performed research of

cryptogams A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being Multicellular organism, multicellular, Photosynthesis, photosynthetic, and pr ...

, especially

bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

. He conducted botanical investigations in the nearby

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

, and also organized excursions to the

Alps, Italy, Switzerland, et al. Between 1800 and 1838 Funck edited several series of exsiccatae and distributed the sets of specimens in bounded volumes.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. In 1834 he sold the pharmacy in Gefrees in order to devote more time and energy to botany. Funck died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in Gefrees on 14 April 1839.

Written works

* ''Kryptogamische Gewächse des Fichtelgebirges'',

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

; exsiccata work, second edition 1806–1838, 42 fascicles) – Cryptogamic plants of the Fichtelgebirge. * ''Deutschlands Moose: Ein Taschenherbarium zum Gebrauch auf botanischen Excursionen'',

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

(1820) – Mosses of Germany : a pocket

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

for use on botanical excursions.Denkschriften der Königlich-Baierischen Botanischen ..., Volumes 10–11
by Bayerische Botanische Gesellschaft in Regensburg

References

(translated biography) * [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.botanik.biologie.uni-muenchen.de/botsyst/ic/ic-pha-f.htm&ei=pBtdSvCUGIumMerTvK4C&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Heinrich%2BChristian%2BFunck%2522%2B1771%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D10 Phaneros and Pteridophytes (F)] Collectors Index Herbarium M (translated biography) 1771 births 1839 deaths People from Wunsiedel 19th-century German botanists German bryologists German pharmacists Scientists from Regensburg 18th-century German botanists {{Germany-botanist-stub