Heinrich Gätke (born 19 May or 19 March 1814 in
Pritzwalk – died 1 January 1897 in Heligoland) was a German
ornithologist
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
and artist.
Biography
The son of a baker, he was sent to study commerce in Berlin but became a painter. In 1837 he travelled to the island of
Heligoland
Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...
for the first time. From 1841 he decided to live there and from 1843 he studied birds on the island. He studied ornithology and made a collection. In 1891 a station was established in Heligoland and the
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n government acquired his collection for the North sea museum. The collection was destroyed in 1944 by a bombing.
Writings
''Die Vogelwarte Helgoland'' hrsg. von Rudolf Blasius, 1891 (''Vogel'' = bird; ''Warte'' = observation point or station)
''Heligoland as an Ornithological Observatory''trans. by Rudolph Rosenstock, 1891
See also
*
Heligoland Bird Observatory
The Heligoland Bird Observatory (''Vogelwarte Helgoland'' in German), one of the world's first ornithological observatories, is operated by the Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Helgoland e.V., a non-profit organization which was founded in 1 ...
References
External links
*
Heligoland as an Ornithological observatory
1814 births
1897 deaths
People from Pritzwalk
German ornithologists
Heligoland
{{ornithologist-stub