Baron von Mueller

On this day in 1897, executors for the botanist Baron von Mueller's estate posted a request for donations in newspapers.

The plan was to raise money for a monument over von Mueller's grave in the St. Hilda Cemetery in Melbourne.
Four years later, by the end of November in 1901, newspapers announced that the monument was unveiled at a small ceremony with friends and government officials.
The effort to establish the monument was led by Mueller's friend, Reverand Potter. Potter recalled that Mueller had

"expressly desired that only wildflowers and grasses should grow upon his grave until such time as a worthy monument could be erected."

Mueller's monument is a tall stone obelisk topped with an urn. A copper medallion shows his profile and the inscription on the monument ends with these words by Friedrich Schiller, the Baron’s favorite poet:

"Despair not! There are still noble hearts that glow for the august and sublime."