Carl Ferdinand Heinrich von Ludwig aka Baron von Ludwig (6 October 1784
Sulz am Neckar
Sulz am Neckar is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, 22 km north of Rottweil, and 19 km southeast of Freudenstadt.
Sulz am Neckar came in the possession of the Hohe ...
– 27 December 1847
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
), the son of a clerk in the ecclesiastical administration, he was a German-born pharmacist, businessman and patron of the natural sciences, noted for having started Cape Town's first botanic garden.
Biography
Pharmacy career
Ludwig served his pharmacy apprenticeship at
Kirchheim near
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
from where he went on to work in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, first as apothecary and later as technician in a chemical laboratory . In 1805 he responded to an advertisement in an Amsterdam newspaper and applied for a post as pharmacy assistant to a certain Stuttgart-born Dr Liesching of Cape Town. Friedrich Ludwig Liesching was a former physician to the Württemberg regiment at the Cape. Ludwig's application was accepted and he sailed for the
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
in October 1805. His qualifications as pharmacist were approved in 1807 by a body set up to scrutinise the Cape medical and apothecary fraternities. Ludwig was regarded as a physician.
Business interests
In January 1816 Ludwig married Alida Maria Burgers, widow of Carl Ferdinand Heinrich Altenstaedt. She had inherited a stately dwelling in St. George's Street, and a small but lucrative business from her husband who had been a brewer, and a tobacco and snuff merchant. The business continued to thrive and Ludwig became one of the notables of the Cape community, in 1824 helping to found the South African Literary Society. The success of the business afforded him ample leisure time, so that he could indulge in his other interest, the collection of natural history specimens. Ludwig Beil, the Cape Town organist, accompanied him on a collecting trip to
Swellendam
Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...
in 1826. That same year he shipped a collection of plants and insects to the Stuttgart Royal Museum, in recognition of which he was awarded a Knighthood of the
Order of the Royal Crown of Württemberg, which entitled him to place the prefix 'von' in front of his surname. He took a larger collection of plants, insects, birds and mammals with him on an 1828 visit to Germany - for this he received an honorary
Ph.D
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
from the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
.
Botanical garden
On his return from Europe, Von Ludwig bought about 3 acres of land in Kloof Street, Cape Town, and over the next couple of years planted the groundwork of a botanic garden. Besides large numbers of trees, shrubs and bulbs from Europe, America and Australia, he also included fruit trees, vegetables and crop plants. He introduced the
Jacaranda
''Jacaranda'' is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. The generic name is also used as the common name.
The species ''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' has achie ...
tree to South Africa. Many of the species were indigenous, some acquired from
Ecklon and
Zeyher. The Irish botanist,
Harvey
Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit
* Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
, noted his appreciation of the easy access that was provided for studying the plants. Other prominent scientists such as
Charles Bunbury and
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...
visited what had become known as Ludwigsburg Garden, while
Lady Jane Franklin
Jane, Lady Franklin (née Griffin; 4 December 1791 – 18 July 1875) was the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, she became known for her philanthropic ...
, who explored the garden in 1836, noted that even though only 3 acres in extent 'being well laid out with numerous divisions and paths' made it appear larger. The astronomer
John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...
used a
camera lucida
A ''camera lucida'' is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists and microscopists.
The ''camera lucida'' performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist se ...
to sketch the developing site in 1834 (see drawing above). A certain Leibold was first superintendent of the garden from 1834 to 1837, followed by
James Bowie
James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
over the period 1838–42, and Thomas Draper 1843-47 until Ludwig's death. The botanist
Ludwig Pappe, later Colonial Botanist, prepared herbarium specimens from the garden plants.
Cape explorations
Von Ludwig made few long journeys exploring the Cape. In 1834 he and his wife visited
Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...
, the nearby
Cango Caves
The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known, and most pop ...
and the coastal town of
Knysna
Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47. ...
, staying with the enigmatic
George Rex. Ludwig did however support the idea of exploring the interior and played an active role in the 'Cape of Good Hope Association for exploring Central Africa'. From Ecklon he acquired a collection of insects, from
Andrew Smith he obtained rare birds, and plant specimens from Zeyher and
Drège. His collections continued to be shipped to Stuttgart and Frankfurt, and he sent Cape bulbs and seeds to various organisations such as the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...
. In recognition of these contributions ''
Curtis's Botanical Magazine
''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''.
Each of the issue ...
'' dedicated an issue to him (Vol.62 of 1835) as was Harvey's 1838 ''Genera of South African Plants''.
European visit
In 1836 or 1837 Von Ludwig again visited Europe and presented large collections of natural history items to various scientific organisations. Tübingen conferred an honorary
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
, Stuttgart granted freedom of the city, while the King of Württemberg elevated him to the nobility with the hereditary title of 'Freiherr' (Baron),
[ Cast, F. (Ed) (1839). ''Historisches und genealogisches Adelsbuch des Königreichs Württemburg'']
/ref> made him a Knight Commander of the Royal Crown of Württemberg and presented him with a snuffbox 'richly set with diamonds'. While in Stuttgart he contacted Ferdinand Krauss, who had also started his career as an apothecary's apprentice, inviting him to the Cape. Since he had corresponded with him, he also visited William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...
in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.
South African journey
In February 1838 Baron von Ludwig and his daughters left Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, together with Krauss who had agreed to go to South Africa. Their boat arrived in Table Bay
Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named ...
on 7 May 1838. Krauss stayed with Von Ludwig for seven months, preparing for his trip eastwards. The hospitality Von Ludwig displayed to passing scientists and collectors was legendary - Joseph Burke had stayed with him when he arrived at the Cape in 1840. Von Ludwig supported the cause of the Voortrekker
The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...
s and on various occasions sent them boxes of vegetable seeds acquired from Germany and the Netherlands.
Von Ludwig continued with his active role in Cape affairs - he joined the committee of the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society in 1836 and that of the South African Public Library in 1843. He played a leading part in the founding of the Natal Cotton Company, the Cape of Good Hope Gaslight Company in 1845 and erecting a gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
.
South African Mining Company
Rich copper deposits were known to exist in Namaqualand
Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...
since the days of Cape governor Simon van der Stel
Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony, the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.
Background
Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Steland Maria Lievens ...
in 1685, but had received little attention because of the remoteness of the location and its severe conditions. Between 1836 and 1837 the English explorer Sir James Alexander launched an expedition to Namaqualand, sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. A year later he attempted extraction of copper in the area but abandoned the operation due to logistical problems. Alexander's failed attempts reawakened interest in the possibility of mining. The ''South African Mining Company'', the country's first mining company, was founded on 21 March 1846, with Baron von Ludwig as chairman, and a total of nine directors, all leading Cape Town businessmen. The location the company intended to mine was at 28° 40′ S, 17° 8′ E. Rich copper ore was found at the site, but a general reluctance by shareholders to fund a project that was not producing immediate profit, led to the company's eventual demise.
Legacy
After Baron von Ludwig's death his garden was offered for sale to the Colonial Government, but the offer was declined, though a few plants were bought for the so-called official Botanic Garden which had not been developed and was in a state of neglect. Various horticulturalists, such as Thomas Draper and Carl Zeyher were employed, but either resigned or were discharged due to differences with the Botanic Garden Committee who were bent on profit.
Von Ludwig is commemorated in the plant species names ''Restio
''Restio'' is a genus of flowering plants within the family Restionaceae, described in 1772.Rottbøll, Christen Friis. 1772. Descriptiones Plantarum Rariorum 9 The entire genus is endemic to South Africa (Cape Province and KwaZulu-Natal).
In c ...
ludwigii'', ''Tulbaghia
''Tulbaghia'' (wild garlic or society garlic) is a genus of monocotyledonous herbaceous perennial bulbs native to Africa, belonging to the amaryllis family. It is one of only two known genera in the society garlic tribe within the onion s ...
ludwigiana'', ''Hibiscus
''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...
ludwigii'' and ''Hypoxis
''Hypoxis'' is a genus of flowering plants of the family Hypoxidaceae. The genus has an " almost cosmopolitan" distribution, occurring in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.Singh, Y. (Natal Herbarium, Durban)''Hypoxis''.PlantZAfrica.com: ...
ludwigii''. Among birds, Ludwig's bustard
Ludwig's bustard (''Neotis ludwigii'') is a species of bird in the bustard family, and named after Baron von Ludwig. It is a medium-to-large sized species.
Description
The Ludwig's bustard can weigh from , with a mean of for the much larger ma ...
and the common square-tailed drongo
The common square-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus ludwigii''), formerly the square-tailed drongo, is a passerine bird in the family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in parts of southern Africa.
These insectivorous birds are usually found i ...
(''Dicrurus ludwigii'') carry his name.
[''Botanical Exploration in Southern Africa'' - Mary Gunn & L. E. Codd (AA Balkema,1981)]
Coats of arms
Von Ludwig used at least two coats of arms.
A bookplate, identifying him as 'C.F.H. von Ludwig Phil Dr', shows the arms as a quartered shield. The first quarter shows a wheatsheaf on a golden field, the second a silver fleur de lis on a blue field, the third a crescent moon on a red field, and the fourth a rampant red lion on gold.[Bradlow, F.R. (1965). ''Baron Von Ludwig and the Ludwigsburg garden''.] Evidently this bookplate dates from between 1828 (when he was awarded the doctorate) and 1837 (when he was created a baron).
New arms were granted to him together with the barony in 1837. They too were quartered, the first and fourth quarters showing a golden wheatsheaf on a blue background, and the second and third a silver fleur de lis on red.
Related articles
*List of natural history dealers
Natural history specimen dealers had an important role in the development of science in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. They supplied the rapidly growing, both in size and number, museums and educational establishments and private colle ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig, Baron von
1784 births
1847 deaths
German emigrants to South Africa
Natural history collectors