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The would-be famous German zoologist and writer, Alfred Brehm was born
in 1829, brought up in a small German village as the son of the local minister
Christian Ludwig Brehm. Joyful and friendly, the pastor was the darling
of his whole parish and his small, cozy house famous across most of Europe.
Christian Ludwig Brehm made a name for himself as an Baron Johann Wilhelm von Mueller of Wurttemberg, a devout ornithologist and traveler, then invited Alfred to join him on an expedition to Africa as a secretary and assistant. Almost immediately after arriving in Cairo both went down with a sunstroke from which they took some time to recover only to experience the horrors of the terrible earthquake that hit the Egyptian capital in 1847… All those initial problems over, the two finally reached Khartoum where they set up the headquarters of their expedition. After three years of studies Alfred’s elder bother, Oscar, joined the expedition which was now heading down the Nile to study Wadi-Galfa - a place that was as hard of reach as it was unknown – where they made many more important discoveries. Then a terrible tragedy happened when Oscar Brehm drowned swimming in the Nile… Alfred was absolutely inconsolable - he loved his brother to distraction, who, in his opinion. was destined to someday become a great scientist. They buried Oscar in out the desert and Alfred returned to Khartoum before setting out on another expedition into the forests of the Blue Nile region. During the five years he spent in Africa Alfred put together an impressive collection of animals and birds, some of which he took back to Europe. In Vienna the money-strapped Alfred had to sell off his hard-gained treasures, including his beloved lioness, Bahida. Financially independent now, he headed home arriving at his home village in July 1852. After his return from Africa, Alfred, who had just turned 23, started to study natural sciences at the University of Jena and then continued his studies at Vienna University where he published articles on ornithology in local magazines and helped found the German Ornithological Society. His personal life remained hidden from the public eye tough and we do not even know the name of his wife who accompanied him everywhere, brought up his children and died as an old woman… Alfred Brehm is best known for his multivolume work on the animal world. This book became known worldwide as Brehm’s “Life of Animals”. Just as the first volume went to the presses, the author accepted the post of first director of the Hamburg zoo. Afterwards he went to Berlin where he opened an aquarium, one of the most beautiful and best loved in Germany. Few people know that in 1876 Alfred Brehm traveled to Siberia using money donated by Russian industrialists. The expedition yielded extensive material in the fields of zoology and studies of local ethnic groups. At the peak of his popularity and with professorships and awards being continuously lavished on him by just about everyone, Alfred Brehm did not really care much about all that fuss, always being the life and soul of every society wowing people with his intellectual brilliance, the exquisite sense of humor and refined manners. But, like it usually happens in life that bliss proved pretty short lived though. First came the sad news of the death of his much loved mother, then of his wife and shortly afterwards, he received word of his youngest son’s death. After the hardship of this news Brehm relapsed into malaria and kidney problems he had developed during his last expedition to Africa. In order to find peace, Brehm returned to his hometown of Renthendorf where he died on November 11, 1884. The great natural scientist is long since gone but his seminal “Life of Animals” work still lives on…
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ornithologist
by publications and an extensive collection of stuffed birds and animals
and corresponded with scientists from all across the world. The minister
also boasted a huge library of religious books and descriptions of plant
and wildlife from all around the globe. His sons would often accompany
their father walking in the woods and collecting impressions of the local
animal life. By the time he turned eight, Alfred already knew by heart
the name of each and every bird in the vicinity of the village they lived
in. Alfred’s brother Oscar tried his hand also as a playwright and one
of his plays was successfully performed by several companies. The
brothers were friendly and easily got along with other people On top of
his other talents, Alfred was also a great storyteller with family friends
saying he could make a fine singer and even a good actor…
