10 Facts About Ludwig Reichenbach

Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach was a German botanist, ornithologist and illustrator.

Director of the natural history museum in Dresden, Professor Ludwig Reichenbach was faced with an annoying yet seemingly unsolvable problem of showing invertebrate marine life.

Ludwig Reichenbach wanted something more, specifically 3D colored models of marine invertebrates that were both lifelike and able to stand the test of time.

Ludwig Reichenbach needed and, at last, provided an outlet for the wonder Leopold had felt all those years ago when observing the phosphorescent ocean life.

Poetically, though Ludwig Reichenbach did not know it, many years later his showcasing problem and manner of finding the Blaschkas would be repeated by Harvard Professor George Lincoln Goodale - Goodale getting the idea for the creation of the Glass Flowers from Harvard's own collection of Glass sea creatures.

Ludwig Reichenbach was later the founder of the Dresden botanical gardens and joint founder of Dresden Zoo.

The museum's zoological collection was almost completely destroyed by the fire in the Zwinger palace during the constitutional crisis of 1849, but Ludwig Reichenbach was able to replace it within only a few years.

Ludwig Reichenbach was honoured by having several plants and animals named after him including Iris reichenbachii Heuff.

Dr Ludwig Reichenbach oversaw a world-famous botanical garden in Dresden with a great collection of cacti, and Echinocactus reichenbachii a beautiful cactus of the south-central US and northern Mexico was named in his honor.

Ludwig Reichenbach died in 1879 and was interred in the Trinity Cemetery in Dresden Johannstadt.