Karl Heinrich Bergius
German naturalist (1790-1818)
Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790–1818), also known as Carl Heinrich Bergius, was a Prussian botanist, naturalist, cavalryman and pharmacist from Küstrin. He is notable for his natural history collecting in southern Africa.
Bergius served as a cavalryman in the Prussian campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross. He subsequently studied pharmacy in Berlin where his botanical interests were noted by Martin Lichtenstein at the Berlin Zoological Museum. Lichtenstein encouraged him to go to the Cape Colony of southern Africa to work as an assistant pharmacist in Cape Town, where he arrived in 1815, in order to make natural history collections for the Berlin Museum.
He died in isolation and poverty in Cape Town in January 1818 of pulmonary tuberculosis, abandoned by even Mund and Maire with whom he had served in the Prussian Army. He is commemorated in the scientific name of the greater crested tern, Thalasseus bergii, as well as in the names of the plants Diascia bergiana Link & Otto, Ficinia bergiana Kunth and Ophioglossum bergianum Schltdl.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Karl Heinrich Bergius” is german naturalist (1790-1818). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Karl, Heinrich and Bergius, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “german naturalist (1790-1818)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3100289. VIAF identifies the subject as 308179177. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1790, 1818 and 1815.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Karl Heinrich Bergius”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Karl Heinrich Bergius primary sources, Karl Heinrich Bergius archive and Karl research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Karl Heinrich Bergius”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Karl Heinrich Bergius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.