![Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs00](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Georg_Ludwig_Engelhard_Krebs00.jpg)
Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs (19 July 1792 - 11 May 1844) was a German apothecary and natural history collector who spent most of his career in
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
.
Life and career
He was born in
Wittingen
Wittingen () is a town in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is about northeast of Gifhorn, and southeast of Uelzen.
Division of the town
Wittingen consists of 27 districts:
History
The earliest identified record of Wittin ...
, then a part of
Electorate of Hanover
The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...
in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. He was the son of Johan Krebs and Cecilia Engtlingen, and brother to Sophie Margaretha Dorothea Krebs and Georg Krebs.
Soon after qualifying as apothecary, he was recruited to work in South Africa by the firm of ''
Pallas & Poleman'' of Cape Town. Arriving in May 1817, Krebs started collecting, often in the company of
Karl Heinrich Bergius
Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790–1818), also known as Carl Heinrich Bergius, was a Prussia, Prussian botany, botanist, Natural history, naturalist, Cavalry, cavalryman and pharmacy, pharmacist from Küstrin. He is notable for his natural history coll ...
who died at age 28 of pulmonary tuberculosis in January 1818, poverty-stricken and abandoned by his former sponsors and employers. Krebs also got to know and collected in the company of
Mund and Maire Johannes Ludwig Leopold Mund (1791-1831) and Louis Maire (floruit, fl. 1815-1833) were natural history collectors who worked in the Cape Colony under the sponsorship of the Berlin Museum of Natural History. Museum specimens they collected were alway ...
,
Joachim Brehm,
von Chamisso,
Delalande Delalande is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Michel Richard Delalande (1657–1726), French Baroque composer and organist
* Pierre Antoine Delalande
Pierre Antoine Delalande (27 March 1787 – 27 June 1823) was a French nat ...
, and Dr. William Gill, who became a close friend and medical adviser during their stay in the Eastern Cape.
Krebs asked his brother, Georg, a medical student in Berlin, to find out whether the
Berlin's Natural History Museum was interested in purchasing natural history specimens. When
Martin Lichtenstein
Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist.
Biography
Born in Hamburg, Lichtenstein was the son of Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein. He studied medicine a ...
agreed to this, some large consignments were shipped in 1820 and 1821.
At the end of his four-year contract with Pallas & Poleman, Krebs was succeeded by Carl Friedrich Drège, the brother of
Johann Franz Drège
Johann Fran(t)z Drège (or Jean François Drège) (25 March 1794 Altona, Hamburg, Germany – 3 February 1881 Altona, Hamburg, Germany), commonly referred to by his standard botanical author abbreviation Drège, was a German horticulturalist, botan ...
, leaving him free to sail to
Algoa Bay
Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located in the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope.
Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour c ...
where he arrived in November 1821. He left immediately for the inland town of
Uitenhage
Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...
where he was to stay the next three years. Back in Germany, Lichtenstein had obtained permission for Krebs to collect on behalf of the Berlin's Natural History Museum, resulting in the splendid title of "Cape Naturalist to the King of Prussia".
[Ffolliott and Liversidge, Ludwig Krebs (Cape Town, Balkema, 1971), cited by Marian Baker i]
"Ludwig Krebs: A naturalist's observations of the Sixth Frontier War (1834-5)"
''Military History Journal'', Vol 14 No 2 - December 2007
In 1822 Krebs collected at Uitenhage,
Sundays River
The !Khukaǁgamma or Sundaysriver ( af, Sondagsrivier) is a river in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Inqua Khoi people, who historically were the wealthiest group in Sout ...
, Galgenbosch,
Van Stadens River
Van Stadens River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located about 30 km west of Port Elizabeth.
The river was named after Marthinus van Staden, one of the area’s pioneering farmers. He was also a ...
, Zuurberg and
Swartkops
Swartkops is a village in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The location is on the Swartkops River, 11 km north of Port Elizabeth and 1,6 km from the Indian Ocean. ''Swartkops'' means "black hills" in Afri ...
, sending four consignments to Lichtenstein, which consisted mainly of birds, mammals and insects, but with some bulbs and succulent plants, assisted and advised 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 ...
. In 1823 he roamed further afield visiting the
Bushmans,
Kariega and
Kowie River
The Kowie River (Coyi in Xhosa) is a river in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It has its source in the hills of the "Grahamstown Heights" from where it flows in a south-easterly direction draining the major part of the Bathurst region, reaching ...
s, sending off his eighth consignment of 3800 insects, some 100 birds and no plants.
In August 1823 he visited the newly established
Fort Beaufort
Fort Beaufort (Xhosa: iBhofolo) is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and had a population of 25,668 in 2011. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883. The town lies at the confluen ...
, collecting for a few months along the Baviaans River, now called
Baviaanskloof River
The Baviaanskloof River is a river flowing through the Cape Fold Mountains of the Western Cape and eventually Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The river's origin is in the eastern extremity of the Little Karoo, and follows a valley between ...
, and eastwards to the
Great Fish River
The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) ( af, Groot-Visrivier) is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish Riv ...
, returning to Uitenhage by January 1824. His 9th and 10th consignments were shipped from Cape Town in January 1825.
In 1824 Lichtenstein warned him that his contract for supplying specimens to the Berlin Museum was about to end and that they would only accept 3 further consignments. Krebs sailed to Cape Town in November 1824 to discuss his future with Poleman. Krebs had thought of starting a pharmacy somewhere in the Cape, and wrote to his brother inviting him to join in the enterprise. Early in 1825 he returned to Algoa Bay, making his way once more to the Baviaans River, where he stayed again on the Boschfontein farm belonging to Field Cornet Cornelius van der Nest, a farm which was also periodically visited by
Clemenz Wehdemann.
In the following summer Krebs explored and collected beyond the
Winterberg
Winterberg ( Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland.
Geography
Winterberg is located in the middle of ...
in the area of present-day
Queenstown, and soon dispatched his eleventh consignment made up of six cases. By June 1826 he had started a pharmacy in
Grahamstown
Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...
, taking on Leopold Schmidt as a partner, and hoped to persuade his two nephews, Carl and Heinrich Kemper, two trained apothecaries, to also join him.
In March 1828 his health suffered a blow when, while on a visit to Cape Town, he was stricken by rheumatism, a condition he was to endure for the rest of his life. Consequently, he convalesced for six months, staying with Pieter Heinrich Poleman. At about this time his application for citizenship was approved, enabling him to buy a farm called "Doornkroon" on the Baviaans River, and which he later renamed "Lichtenstein" in honour of his patron, Martin Lichtenstein.
[ Carl Kemper arrived in Cape Town in January 1829 and joined Krebs at Baviaans River. In November 1829 Krebs sent through his 12th consignment made up of material collected over several years; included were more than 7000 preserved plant specimens and a barrel with a complete Bushman pickled in brine, some 900 birds and over 7000 insects. These specimens had been collected from Baviaans River, ]Tembuland
Thembuland, af, Temboeland, is a natural region in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its territory is the traditional region of the abaThembu, one of the states of the Xhosa nation.
It was formerly also known as "Tamboekieland" or "Tam ...
, and the Tarka and Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
s.
His brother Georg arrived in Cape Town in May 1834 and was granted a medical licence, joining the other members of the family at "Lichtenstein" in July. Much work went into building up the farm after it had been through the Sixth Kaffir War of 1834/5. Krebs' letters about the war survive. Georg set up a practice in Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the c ...
, later becoming District Surgeon. Krebs' partner Leopold Scmidt died in July 1836 and Krebs disposed of all his Grahamstown interests, but continued dispensing from the farm.
For a long time Ludwig Krebs had been thinking about an expedition north of the Orange and Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
s. Accordingly, accompanied by his nephew Carl Klemper, he left his farm in March 1838 with four wagons. His route was through the present-day Aliwal North
Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape.
History
Sir Harry Smith, then ...
, Jammersberg near Wepener
Wepener is a town in the Free State, South Africa, located near the border of Lesotho.
History
The town is named after Louw Wepener, the leader of the Boers in their war with the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I in 1865. It was founded in 1867 on t ...
, Thaba Nchu
Thaba 'Nchu is a town in Free State, South Africa, 63 km east of Bloemfontein and 17 km east of Botshabelo. The population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The town was settled in December 1833 and officially established ...
, north-east toward Clocolan
Clocolan, established in 1906, is a small town in the Free State (South African province), Free State Province of South Africa. The Basotho called the place Hlohlolwane (Hlohla-o-lwane, "get up and fight"). New inhabitants mispronounced the name a ...
, Mpharane near Ficksburg
Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and p ...
, and northwards to the Makwassie area. He crossed the Sand River near the present Senekal
Senekal is a town situated on the banks of the Sand River in the eastern part of the Free State province of South Africa. It was named after Commandant FP Senekal. It is the second largest town in Setsoto Municipality after Ficksburg, the lar ...
and followed it westward, and then northwards to the Vals River
The Vals River ( af, Valsrivier) is a tributary of the Vaal River in the Free State, South Africa. It is a strong seasonal river.
This river of the Middle Vaal System is a good place for fishing, especially the local Largemouth Yellowfish.
Cour ...
. He went west again crossing the Vaal River, probably at Kommando Drift, and then northwards to the Makwassie highlands where he collected for several weeks. His return leg followed a more westerly route, and he arrived at 'Lichtenstein' toward the end of December 1838. Another expedition was planned for Natal, but his chronic rheumatism made this extremely difficult, though there is evidence that Carl Klemper may have visited the region in 1839 or 1840.
He died at "Lichtenstein" farm near Bedford, Eastern Cape
Bedford or Nyarha is a rural town in the centre of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It was established in the mid-19th century when Sir Andries Stockenstroom sold portions of land from his farm Maastroom to raise funds for the restorati ...
, South Africa at the age of 51.
Legacy
Ludwig Krebs put together one of the most extensive natural history collections from Africa to reach Europe. Their value was slightly debased by Lichtenstein's breaking up the collections for auctioning and citing their provenance as "Kaffraria", whereas Krebs had provided detailed notes on the localities on his original labels.
Krebs is commemorated in numerous plant and animal specific names including '' Gazania krebsiana'' and uniquely in the monotypic '' Glekia krebsiana'', belonging to the Scrophulariaceae
The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...
, the genus formed from his initials by Olive Mary Hilliard
Olive Mary Hilliard ( Hillary, 4 July 1925 – 30 November 2022) was a South African botanist and taxonomist. Hilliard authored 372 land plant species names, the fifth-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist.
Hilliard was bo ...
, and the species by George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...
- this is an alpine species found on the high mountains of Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
and Cape Provinces
The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sout ...
(region of South Africa). 'Krebs's fat mouse', ''Steatomys krebsii
The Krebs's fat mouse (''Steatomys krebsii'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia.
Its natural habitats are Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation and subtropi ...
'' Peters Peters may refer to:
People
* Peters (surname)
* Peters Band, a First Nations band in British Columbia, Canada
Places United States
* Peters, California, a census-designated place
* Peters, Florida, a town
* Peters Township, Kingman County, Kan ...
, 1852, was also named in his honour.
References
Bibliography
*''"Ludwig Krebs. Cape naturalist to the king of Prussia 1792-1844"'' - Pamela M. ffolliott, Richard Liversidge (AA Balkema, 1971) ASIN: B000X92WLI
External links
''"Ludwig Krebs - A naturalist's observations of the Sixth Frontier War (1834-5)"'' - Marian Baker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krebs, Georg Ludwig Engelhard
1792 births
1844 deaths
People from the Kingdom of Hanover
Cape Colony people
19th-century German chemists
19th-century German botanists
German natural history collectors
German naturalists
People from Wittingen