The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have never looked at the world.
Discoverer
The combination of travelling and research was an ideal combination for Alexander von Humboldt. After his first travels in Europe in 1789/90, he was able to plan and prepare for his wish - thanks to his inherited fortune: He wanted to travel to the tropics and explore as many aspects of animate and inanimate nature as possible.
From 1799 to 1804, Humboldt and his companion Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland travelled through South and Central America: from Spain via the Canary Islands to Venezuela and Cuba, through the Andes to the Peruvian coast, to Mexico and back to Europe with a stopover in the USA. This great South American journey was celebrated as the second scientific discovery of South America.
Humboldt spends his 60th birthday on his second major expedition in Russia. It travelled via St. Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan. The exploration of the Urals begins from Yekaterinburg. However, Humboldt's wish to cross the Chinese border and enter Tibet is not fulfilled. Shortly before Christmas, after a journey of 18,000 kilometres, Humboldt is back in Berlin.
Naturalist
The polymath Humboldt was involved in a wide range of research areas: from volcanology and geology, cartography, geomagnetism, botany and zoology, ethnology, economics, agriculture and mining to astronomy, meteorology and oceanography. Natural science disciplines such as physical geography, climatology, ecology and oceanography see Humboldt as their founder.
The aim of his expeditions and research was to gain complete knowledge of the world and thus to understand the interaction of all natural forces. His late work, the five-volume "Kosmos. Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung" (Cosmos. Outline of a Physical Description of the World) is still unique in its comprehensive approach today. His Cosmos lectures at Berlin University were regarded as the cultural highlight of 1826 in Berlin.
World surveyor
The lithograph Geography of Plants in the Tropical Countries is based on observations and measurements made by Alexander von Humboldt and A. Bonpland from the 10th degree north to the 10th degree south latitude in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 and 1803.
In this work, Humboldt used an idealised cross-section of the Andes to illustrate the distribution of plants in a unique way, thereby founding "plant geography". He measured and recorded the climatic and vegetation stages of the tropical high mountains in many different ways. Humboldt summarised the altitude-specific sequence of plants in his famous "Nature Painting". The naturalist had recognised that the sequence of vegetation zones that can be observed depending on latitude corresponds to altitude. Today, his approaches are (once again) of particular importance in the tropical regions. Humboldt's magnificent project, which has never been repeated, has lost none of its relevance even after more than 200 years.
Cosmopolitan
Alexander von Humboldt was a global networker and cosmopolitan. He travelled the world, commuting between Paris and Berlin as well as between art and science, literature and politics. Just as Humboldt saw all natural sciences as interdisciplinary and interwoven into a holistic approach, he also wanted to connect people with each other. His ideas not only transcended continents and oceans, but also social classes and scientific boundaries. He networked researchers of his time across political barriers and promoted communication between foreign cultures. He always saw science in interaction with people and campaigned for public access to education for citizens of all classes. His ideals of freedom and fraternity opened the doors to foreign cultures and make him a role model today, not only as a scientist but also as a human being.
Gipfelstürmer
Alexander von Humboldt's hands are bleeding as he struggles up the steep slopes of the almost 6300 metre-high Chimborazo. It was 23 June 1802 in the Andes of what is now Ecuador, and the sharp rock of the volcano slashed his skin with every misstep. "Our companions were frozen with cold and left us in the lurch," Humboldt later noted in his diary. "They assured us that they would die of shortness of breath, although a few hours earlier they had looked at us with pity and claimed that the whites couldn't even make it to the snow line." A misjudgement. The famous naturalist climbs higher than anyone before him. Humboldt's description of the ascent is the first precise description of the symptoms of altitude sickness. Despite the inadequacies of their footwear, clothing and equipment, Humboldt and his companions Aimé Bonpland and Carlos Montúfar almost reached the summit of Chimborazo, but had to turn back due to an impassable crevasse 400 to 800 metres below the crater. Never before had people climbed higher. A good 215 years later, climbers fail to reach the same altitude on Ecuador's highest mountain - even though they are better equipped and acclimatised and the journey is easier than Humboldt's.
Inventor
His wealth of ideas and creative thinking made Humboldt not only a researcher, but also an inventor. Between 1792 and 1797, as a (senior) mine foreman in Franconia, he developed a "light-preserving lamp". To develop this miner's lamp, he carried out underground tests and risked his own life for his research purposes. Humboldt even fainted during one of the tests. In the end, however, his concept worked: after a few improvements, the lamp could be used. Humboldt's lamp was invented. Another device, a kind of "rescue bottle", was designed to make breathing easier in oxygen-deprived situations. He also used his own body as a test subject and filled a room with harmful gases to test the functionality of the breathing apparatus.
Mastermind
Today, Alexander von Humboldt is regarded as a pioneer for the 21st century, for global cooperation and transdisciplinary research. He was a visionary. With his holistic view, Humboldt laid the foundation for our understanding of a networked environment full of interactions. Around 200 years ago, he established integrative natural research in geology and biology and recognised the central role of humans even then. What makes Alexander von Humboldt so special is his sense of the big picture. Following the division of the sciences into specialised individual disciplines, his global-ecological approach has only regained importance since the end of the 20th century.
Initiator
In addition to his role as the founder of the nature conservation movement and "ecology", Humboldt can also be described as the initiator of almost all natural history disciplines. His idea of networking the scientific disciplines revolutionised the exchange between researchers of his time. Driven by the need to disseminate knowledge, Humboldt succeeded in pooling his accumulated knowledge and making it available to the various target groups. His research findings should be accessible to everyone, scientists and citizens alike. Humboldt fostered his large network of contacts and established a global network through correspondence and the interdisciplinary exchange of results - an unprecedented way of exchanging information at the time.
Star shower
"From half past two onwards, we saw extremely strange fire meteors. Thousands of fireballs and shooting stars fell one after the other for four hours." This is how Alexander von Humboldt described the Leonid storm, which he and his companion Aimé Bonpland observed from Venezuela in November 1799. Humboldt's observations led to the realisation that this was a periodic event. The shooting stars of the Leonids are only really spectacular every 33 years, which is the orbital period of the comet around the sun. When the tail star has just passed through, the trail it leaves behind is fresh and full of dust particles. The next big fireworks display in the autumn night sky is not expected until 2031.
Adventurer
On 30 March 1800, Alexander von Humboldt and his companion Bonpland finally set off into the heart of the rainforest of South America to find the mysterious jungle canal called Casiquiare and thus solve one of the greatest mysteries of the New World. It was a daring expedition, as Humboldt could not swim. But other dangers also lurked: in addition to snakes and crocodiles, there were jaguars in the undergrowth and bloodthirsty piranhas in the river. The explorers' diet was even more adventurous. When they were invited to dinner by the natives, they were served grilled monkey meat, ants and other insects. Even animals that had been killed with poisoned arrows ended up on Humboldt's plate. Here he once again showed his courage (but he knew that the poison was only deadly if it got into the bloodstream, but was harmless to eat). Another deadly danger he encountered: cannibals. Humboldt hardly shied away from any culinary challenge, but did he taste human flesh? At least he didn't write anything about it in his diary.
