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.

Exhibition

How knowledge grows

This is illustrated by an exhibition in Berlin's Botanical Gardens with the subtitle "Alexander von Humboldt and the roots of knowledge production". Exhibits and an audio station help visitors explore how botanical knowledge comes about and its relevance today. Was Humboldt really the inventor of infographics, and what do plants have to do with it?

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

Rediscovering Humboldt beyond the familiar

Oliver Lubrich has published an anthology of the Complete Writings of Alexander von Humboldt. In this conversation, the literary scholar, since 2011 Professor of Comparative and Modern German Literature at the University of Berne, tells us what new insights these writings afford.

Interview

A scarab called Humboldt

Bert Kohlmann is a biologist, professor at the EARTH University in Costa Rica and a highly sought-after beetle specialist. In this interview he speaks about the recently discovered species Onthophagus humboldti and Uroxys bonplandi, Humboldt's relevance, and the popularity of science.

Theatre

HUMBOLDT! The musical

The life of Alexander von Humboldt has inspired artists time and again. One particularly successful case in point is a biographical musical about the scientist. Ten years after its premiere, it has returned to a Berlin stage to mark Humboldt's birthday.