Alfred Brehm grew up in the small Thuringian village of Unterrenthendorf as the son of the pastor Christian Ludwig Brehm, and of his second wife Bertha nee Reiz.
10 Facts About Alfred Brehm
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Christian Ludwig Alfred Brehm made a name for himself as an ornithologist by publications and through an extensive collection of stuffed birds.
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Alfred Brehm continued his studies there until September 1846, when he left for Dresden in order to study architecture; however, he stopped after two semesters because Baron Johann Wilhelm von Muller, a well-known ornithologist, was looking for a companion for an African expedition.
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Alfred Brehm joined the expedition on 31 May 1847 as a secretary and as a collecting assistant to von Muller.
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The expedition took him to Egypt, the Sudan, and the Sinai Peninsula; the discoveries made were so important that, at age 20, Alfred Brehm was made a member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina.
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Alfred Brehm graduated after four semesters in 1855 and in 1856 went on a two-year journey to Spain with his brother Reinhold.
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Soon, Alfred Brehm became one of Germany's most popular naturalists and science writers, focusing on zoological themes.
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In May 1861 Alfred Brehm married his cousin Mathilde Reiz, with whom he had five children.
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On this trip Alfred Brehm met the artist Robert Kretschmer who would assist him in his later books.
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Alfred Brehm's life was full with writing, scientific expeditions and lecture tours.