Humboldt today – celebrating the anniversary of a discoverer and networker

Videos & Statements

For me, Humboldt today means ...

How modern and how relevant is Alexander von Humboldt today, 250 years after his birth? Personal answers, stories and ideas.

Kosmos Lecture

Where is the safe space for humanity?

In the winter of 1827/28, Alexander von Humboldt presented his famous Kosmos lectures in Berlin. Berlin's Humboldt University is revisiting the series in the anniversary year. The lecture series features talks by a number of pioneering scientists. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Brazilian environmental physicist Paulo Artaxo spoke at the opening event about Humboldt as an idol and climate change.

Portrait

The Humboldt Code

He was an obsessive networker, a daredevil and a marketing genius. The reports on his travels and adventures earned him star status. Today, on the 250th anniversary of his birth, the Prussian scholar is still revered. On the secret of an eternal idol.

Quotes

If Humboldt were on Twitter today

He liked to formulate succinct sentences and deliver punch lines. He took a stand against slavery, colonialism and environmental destruction. What stance would Humboldt take on current issues? We present his quotes in a new light.

Expedition

Humboldt’s Travels

Alexander von Humboldt left the shores of Europe for the first time in 1799. His country of embarkation was Spain and his destination the ‘New World’. Insights into Humboldt’s great American voyage from 1799 to 1804.

Picture gallery

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Our network and our staff honour the memory of the man after whom our foundation is named.

Interview

“Everybody’s star”

Whether as a discoverer, Romantic, Atlanticist, climate prophet or working class hero: there isn’t just one Humboldt, but lots of them. Historian of science, Nicolaas A. Rupke, has investigated how the various images of Humboldt have come about.

Interview

A testimony to a restless spirit

Andrea Wulf has written numerous books, including “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World” which became a bestseller in 2015. Her latest work “The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt” is an illustrated biography documenting the explorer’s great journey through South America (1799 – 1804). It is illustrated by Lillian Melcher.

Traces

A name to conjure with

Few figures in history have had so many landmarks or discoveries named after them. The memory of Alexander von Humboldt is kept alive not only in his anniversary year of 2019 but also in atlases and encyclopaedias. His name even crops up in outer space.

Interview

“Humboldt had this ruthlessness towards himself”

Researcher, globetrotter, networker and discoverer – Alexander von Humboldt was a real high-flyer. But who was Alexander, the private person? An interview with journalist and author Dorothee Nolte about the life and loves of an immortal genius.