Otto Karl Siegfried Passarge (28 November 1866 – 26 July 1958) was a German geographer from

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

Life

Siegfried Passarge was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, the son of travel writer . He attended

Collegium Fridericianum The Collegium Fridericianum (also known as the Friedrichskolleg, Friedrichskollegium, and Friedrichs-Kollegium) was a prestigious Gymnasium (Germany), gymnasium in Königsberg, Prussia. Alumni were known as ''Friderizianer''.Gause, p. 716 History ...

, and after graduation studied geography in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. He also trained in medicine, and worked as a doctor during his military service. In 1894 Passarge took part in an expedition to Adamawa, at the northern boundary of the former German colony of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

., p.66 From 1896 to 1899 Passarge worked as a geologist and surveyor for the British West Charterland Company in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, during which time he made extensive ethnographic studies of the

Khoisan Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...

and Bantu. In 1901–1902 he took part in an expedition to the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, followed by travel in Algeria in 1906 and 1907. His travel memoirs record his experiences, including the violences he committed whilst in Africa. From 1904–1905 Passarge held the post of Associate Professor of Geography in Berlin and in 1905 he became Professor of Geography in Breslau. In 1908 he joined the Colonial Institute in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, where he worked until 1936. He theorised that it should be possible for geographers to set up a taxonomic system for landforms, in much the same way as the biological sciences, although he favoured an empirical, descriptive system rather than a genetic one. Passarge's theories of racial geography (expounded in the 1920s in ''Das Judentum als landschaftskundlich-ethnologisches Problem'') were embraced by the Nazi Party after 1933. On 11 November 1933, he was among the signatories of the commitment of the professors at German universities and colleges to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi state.

Works (selection)

* ''Die Kalahari'', 1904 * ''Südafrika'', 1908 * ''Physiologische Morphologie'', 1912 * ''Die Grundlagen der Landschaftskunde'', 3 Bde. 1919–1920 * ''Die Landschaftsgürtel der Erde'', Breslau: Ferdinand Hirt 1923 * ''Das Buch vom Kahal, 2 Bände''. Leipzig: Hammer-Verlag 1928 * ''Das Judentum als landschaftskundlich-ethnologisches Problem'', München: J. F. Lehmanns Verlag 1929 * ''Geographische Völkerkunde'', Berlin: Safari-Verlag 1951

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passarge, Siegried 1866 births 1958 deaths German geographers German geomorphologists Academic staff of the University of Breslau Academic staff of the University of Hamburg Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Scientists from Königsberg