Friedrich Robert von Beringe (21 September 1865 – 5 July 1940) was a German army officer, born in Aschersleben. He was the son of Mathilde Luise and Captain Karl Robert von Beringe. In the small town in what is now

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, which then belonged to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

, his father was a cavalry officer commanding a squadron of the

10th (Magdeburg) Hussars The 10th (Magdeburg) Hussars Regiment ''( ger, Magdeburgisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 10)'' were a Prussian Light cavalry regiment of the IV Corps that was formed in late 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon after the Battle ...

. Friedrich Robert followed his father's footsteps, becoming an officer in the Hussars Regiment No. 1. He was honored with the regimental ring, and became a close friend of

August von Mackensen Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during World War I of 1914–1918 and became one of the ...

, later becoming a

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

, who commanded the regiment from 17 June 1893 to 27 January 1898. In 1894 von Beringe volunteered for the recently created Schutztruppe, the protective force of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, and he was promoted to Captain in 1899. Captain von Beringe, together with a physician, Dr. Engeland, a Corporal Ehrhardt, and twenty local troops with equipment and native porters left Usumbura (modern

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...

) in German East Africa on 19 August 1902. Their destination was the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Yuhi V Musinga Yuhi Musinga (Yuhi V of Rwanda, 1883 – 13 January 1944) was a king of Rwanda who came to power in 1896 and collaborated with the German East Africa, German government to strengthen his own kingship. In 1931 he was deposed by Ruanda-Urundi, the Be ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. They then headed north to the volcanic Virunga Mountains. On 17 October 1902 he shot two large apes that were unknown to science at the time. He sent them to the Natural History Museum in Berlin, where they were examined and documented by Paul Matschie. The species was named ''Gorilla beringei'' in his honor, a gorilla species distinct from the previously discovered

western gorilla The western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') is a great ape found in Africa, one of two species of the hominid genus ''Gorilla''. Large and robust with males weighing around , the hair is significantly lighter in color than the eastern gorilla, ''G ...

("Gorilla gorilla"). This new species, commonly called "

eastern gorilla The eastern gorilla (''Gorilla beringei'') is a critically endangered species of the genus ''Gorilla'' and the largest living primate. At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies. There are 3,800 eastern lowland gorillas or Graue ...

", was later determined to consist of two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: the

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018. There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central/ ...

(''Gorilla beringei beringei'') and the

eastern lowland gorilla The eastern lowland gorilla (''Gorilla beringei graueri'') or Grauer's gorilla is a Critically Endangered subspecies of eastern gorilla endemic to the mountainous forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Important populations of t ...

(''Gorilla beringei graueri''). In 1906, Captain von Beringe moved back to Germany. Until the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he lived with his family in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. On 5 July 1940, he died in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

after years of suffering from diabetes. A memorial plaque is dedicated to von Beringe at the entrance to the 400 square kilometer Virunga National Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beringe, Friedrich Robert von 1865 births 1940 deaths People from Aschersleben Colonial people of German East Africa Prussian Army personnel Schutztruppe personnel Colonial governors of Ruanda-Urundi