August Wilhelm Eichler and the Berlin Botanic Garden

"In the attic of a residential building that almost certainly once belonged to the Eichler family, a box of handwritten papers, galley proofs, herbarium material, and correspondence was found..
This legacy is currently being cataloged by Peter Hirsch."

April 22, 1839

On this day, the German botanist August Wilhelm Eichler was born.

While researching Eichler, I discovered the Berlin Botanic Garden website.

Eichler was the director of the Botanic Garden from 1879 to 1887.

In one of the Botanic Garden's recent annual reports, they shared this exciting tidbit regarding an Eichler discovery in Berlin:

[Eichler's lifetime] was an eventful time, with World Fairs, the invention of electricity, and rapid industrialization.

There is no question that the director of a botanic garden would have been preoccupied by such innovations, but a recent find has provided us with absolute proof that this was so.

In the attic of a residential building that almost certainly once belonged to the Eichler family, a box of handwritten papers, galley proofs, herbarium material, and correspondence was found...

This legacy is currently being cataloged by Peter Hirsch.