Eduard Brückner (29 July 1862 – 20 May 1927) was a

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

, glaciologist and climatologist.

Biography

He was born in

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 ...

, the son of the Baltic-German historian Alexander Brückner and Lucie Schiele. After an education at the

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

gymnasium, beginning in 1881 he studied meteorology and physics at the University of Dorpat, graduating in 1885. He joined the Deutsche Seewarte (German Hydrographic Office) 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 ...

, then, following studies at

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he became a professor at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

in 1888. The same year he married Ernestine Steine. In 1899, he was rector at the university. He moved back to Germany in 1904, becoming a professor at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

. Two years later in 1906, he was a professor at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He died in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Professor Brückner was an expert on alpine

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s and their effect upon the landscape. Between 1901–1909 he collaborated with German geographer and geologist Albrecht Penck to produce a three volume work titled ''Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter'' (''The Alps in the Ice Age''). This served as a standard reference on the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

s for several decades thereafter. Brückner was a proponent of the importance of climate change, including the effects on the economy and social structure of society. His research included studies of past climate changes and he proposed the 35-year-long ''Brückner cycle'' of cold, damp weather alternating with warm, dry weather in northwest Europe. The GKSS Research Centre's ''Eduard Brückner Prize'', for outstanding achievement in interdisciplinary climate research, is named after him.

References

1862 births 1927 deaths German geographers German glaciologists German climatologists Quaternary geologists University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Bern Academic staff of the University of Halle Academic staff of the University of Vienna German emigrants to Austria-Hungary Expatriates in the Russian Empire {{Glaciologist-stub