25 Facts About Heinrich Barth

Heinrich Barth was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many.

Heinrich Barth established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel.

Heinrich Barth was born in Hamburg on 16 February 1821.

Heinrich Barth was the third child of Johann Christoph Heinrich Barth and his wife Charlotte Karoline nee Zadow.

Heinrich Barth was very studious but not popular with his classmates.

Heinrich Barth excelled at languages and taught himself some Arabic.

Heinrich Barth left school aged 18 in 1839 and immediately enrolled at the University of Berlin where he attended courses offered by the geographer Karl Ritter, the classical scholar August Bockh and the historian Jakob Grimm.

Heinrich Barth defended his doctoral thesis on the trade relations of ancient Corinth in July 1844.

Heinrich Barth formed a plan to undertake a grand tour of north Africa and the Middle East which his father agreed to fund.

Heinrich Barth left his parents' home at the end of January 1845 and first visited London where he spent two months learning Arabic, visiting the British Museum and securing the protection of the British consuls for his trip.

Heinrich Barth left London and travelled across France and Spain.

Heinrich Barth travelled through Egypt, ascending the Nile to Wadi Halfa and crossing the desert to the port of Berenice on the Red Sea.

Heinrich Barth returned to his parents' home in Hamburg on 27 December 1847 after a trip of almost three years.

Heinrich Barth described some of his travels in the first volume of his book, Wanderungen durch die Kustenlander des Mittelmeeres, which was published in 1849.

Heinrich Barth arrived in the city of Agadez in October 1850 where he stayed for several days.

The deaths of Richardson and Overweg, who died of unknown diseases, left Heinrich Barth to carry on the scientific mission alone.

Heinrich Barth was the first European to visit Adamawa in 1851.

Heinrich Barth studied minutely the topography, history, civilizations, languages, and resources of the countries he visited.

Heinrich Barth was interested in the history and culture of the African peoples, rather than the possibilities of commercial exploitation.

Heinrich Barth was the first true European scholar to travel and study in West Africa.

Heinrich Barth was fluent in Arabic and several African languages and was able to investigate the history of some regions, particularly the Songhay Empire.

Heinrich Barth returned from Great Britain to Germany, where he prepared a collection of Central African vocabularies.

Heinrich Barth wrote an account of these travels that was published in Berlin in 1864.

Heinrich Barth's grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.

Heinrich Barth is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African venomous snake, Polemon barthii.