Heinrich Wullschlägel

Heinrich Rudolf Wullschlägel ( born 1 February 1805 in Sarepta, † March 29, 1864 in Berthelsdorf ) was a clergyman of the Moravian Church. He worked as a missionary and plant collector in Central and South America, and later as a bishop in Berthelsdorf.

Wullschlägel was born in 1805 in Sarepta, near Volgograd. He received his education in Niesky and attended the theological seminary in the Silesian Gnadenfeld ( Pawłowiczki ). He then worked from 1826 to 1834 as a teacher in Niesky Ebersdorf and Herrnhut. In the years 1834-1843 he worked in the administration of the Moravian Church in Neudietendorf.

From 1844, he began his mission trip in the Caribbean, South and Central America. He was active in Antigua, Jamaica, and from 1849 to 1855 in Paramaribo ( Suriname). In 1855 he traveled to Bluefields on the Miskito coast, and later that year returned to Berthelsdorf. There he worked in a managerial capacity of the Brethren and was appointed bishop in 1857. On March 29, 1864 Wullschlägel died in Berthelsdorf.

During his time in America Wullschlägel collected numerous plants alone of Antigua and Jamaica about 1400 Herbarium Specimens. In honor of Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach Wullschlägels named the genus Wullschlaegelia.