Sandberger, Carl Ludwig Fridolin von

Geologist, paleontologist, mineralogist

born: 22.11.1826 in Dillenburg

died: 11.04.1898 in Würzburg

After secondary school in Weilburg, Carl Ludwig Fridolin von Sandberger studied natural sciences in Bonn, Heidelberg, Marburg and Giessen. His teachers included Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and his doctoral supervisor Justus Liebig. In 1846 he was awarded his doctorate in Giessen at the age of nineteen, and in 1843 he joined the Verein für Naturkunde im Herzogthum Nassau (the later Nassauischer Verein für Naturkunde) in Wiesbaden, where he was elected chairman (secretary) in 1849.

In 1851 he also became director (inspector) of the Natural History Museum. From 1850 to 1853 he was editor of the Jahrbücher des Nassauischen Vereins für Naturkunde. An overview of the geological conditions of the Duchy of Nassau was published here in 1847 and an essay on the geology of Wiesbaden in 1850.

Sandberger initiated a scientific professionalization of the association. Together with his brother Guido Sandberger, he published the basic palaeontological work "Versteinerungen des Rheinischen Schichtensystems in Nassau" from 1850 to 1856. From 1855, he was Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at the Polytechnic in Karlsruhe, where he was in charge of the geological mapping of Baden-Württemberg from 1856 to 1863. His second major work "Die Conchylien des Mainzer Tertiärbeckens" was published here from 1858 to 1863.

From 1863 until his retirement in 1896, he worked as a full professor for the same subjects in Würzburg. The most striking contributions of this creative period are the 1000-page work "Land- und Süsswasser-Conchylien der Vorwelt" from 1870-75 and the "Untersuchungen über Erzgänge" from 1882 and 1885, published in two volumes. He advocated the theory of lateral secretion for the formation of ore veins, i.e. the origin of the ore solutions from the adjacent rock. Of significance for Wiesbaden is the description published in 1883 of the inclusions in the basalt of Wiesbaden-Naurod(Naurod) originating from the deeper earth crust and the upper earth mantle.

Sandberger received many honors and was ennobled for his services to the mineralogical and paleontological exploration of the Duchy of Nassau. The list of his scientific publications comprises 327 papers and six independent works. Significant parts of his paleontological collection can be found in the natural history collections of the Museum Wiesbaden.