Christian Konrad Sprengel

Christian Konrad Sprengel ( born September 22, 1750 in Brandenburg an der Havel, † April 7, 1816 in Berlin) was a German theologian, botanist and naturalist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " CKSpreng. ".

Life and work

Sprengel studied theology and philosophy in Halle and in 1774 was first a teacher in Berlin, and from 1780 to 1794 rector of the grammar school in Spandau in Berlin. After his early retirement, they had dismissed him for dereliction of duty, he lived as a private scholar in Berlin.

Since about 1787 explored district the pollination of flowers and the interrelationships of plants and insects. In 1790 he discovered among other things, the narrow-leaved Willowherb cross-pollination. With his seminal work " The secret of nature discovered in the construction and the fertilization of flowers" (Berlin 1793), he was the founder of modern ecology flowers. During his lifetime, but his recognition for his fundamental work was denied. The most prominent opponent of the discovery parish was Goethe, who accused him of nature inferior to a human mind. Sprengel's grave is located on the disability cemetery in Berlin.

The Christian Konrad Sprengel High School in Berlin -Spandau, the Konrad Sprengel Primary School and the Sprengelstraße in Brandenburg an der Havel remember the important son of the city. In addition, the parish roads in the Berlin districts of Berlin -Spandau, Wedding and Wilhelm city are named after him, in the district of Lichterfelde remembers today a monument in the Botanical Garden of the great botanist.