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In the 18th century Göttingen was located on the southern border of the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Therefore most of Blumenbach’s shorter journeys also led him to or through “foreign” territories. Click on the illustration for a larger view, explanations and references. |
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| Listed are Blumenbach’s journeys and stays outside Göttingen between 1775 and 1839, mentioned in printed sources. If possible, travel stops or events are indicated on a daily basis. Clicking on the i -symbol opens a window with the respective bibliographical references, if possible with a link to an online version. |
| Blumenbach travelled for scientific, business, diplomatic and private reasons. A clear separation is often not possible. For example, he combined trips to his hometown of Gotha (where he had both family and professional contacts, for example to Franz Xaver von Zach) with scientifically fruitful visits to Goethe in Weimar and Jena. On the other hand, the visits to the research institutions in the residence city of Kassel probably also had convivial and entertaining elements. The spas visited by Blumenbach – Pyrmont and, to a lesser extent, Driburg, Eilsen and Rehburg – were meeting places for the regional, supra-regional and international elite i , including representatives of culture, science and state (scientific) administration, such as Blumenbach’s father-in-law Georg Friedrich Brandes, who – like his son Ernst later – was responsible for the University of Göttingen in the government of the state of Hanover. Blumenbach’s visits to his parents-in-law and his brother-in-law in Hanover probably also brought up university matters. |
| In addition to Blumenbach’s two major scientific journeys abroad (to Switzerland, 1783; to London, 1791/1792) and the mainly diplomatic mission to Paris (1807), the list documents Blumenbach’s intensive travel activities in southern Lower Saxony and Thuringia, roughly in the geographical triangle of Hanover – Kassel – Weimar. A professional and above all private network on a regional level becomes tangible, which was cultivated by regular personal presence. This regional network complements Blumenbach’ local Göttingen relations and his network of and national and international relations, which Blumenbach maintained almost exclusively through his correspondence (and occasional visits of foreign scientists to Göttingen, see below). |
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