Karl Heinrich Emil Koch | |
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| Born | 6 June 1809 (1809-06-06) Ettersburg, Germany |
| Died | 25 May 1879 (1879-05-26) (aged 69) Berlin, Germany |
Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (6 June 1809 – 25 May 1879) was a Germanbotanist. He is best known for his botanical explorations in theCaucasus region, including northeastTurkey. Most of his collections have today been lost.[citation needed] He is also known as the first professional horticultural officer in Germany.
He was born inEttersburg nearWeimar, Germany. He studied at the universities ofJena andWürzburg and taught, asprivatdocent, at theUniversity of Jena beginning 1834. He became an associate professor in 1836. He undertook a journey of research into southern Russia in 1836–38, and a second in 1843–44. The fruit of this second trip, in which he also visitedAsia Minor,Great Armenia, theCaspian Sea, and theCaucasus Mountains,[1] was his"Wanderungen im Oriente, während der Jahre 1843 und 1844" (1846).
After his second journey, he settled at theUniversity of Berlin in 1847, where he was later appointed assistant professor. He was at theBerlin botanical gardens beginning in 1849. He became general secretary of theBerlin Horticultural Society (Verein zur Beförderung des Gartenbau, aPrussian state institution),[1] in which capacity he published"Wochenschrift für Gartnerei und Pflanzenkunde" (1858–72). In 1859, he was appointed professor of the Agricultural High School in Berlin. He died in Berlin.
Besides the travel book already mentioned, Koch wrote "Reise durch Russland nach dem kaukasischen Isthmus" (Trip through Russia and the Caucasian isthmus, Stuttgart, 1842–43), "Fährtenabdrücke im bunten Sandstein" (withErnst Erhard Schmid, 1841),[3] "Hortus dendrologicus" (Berlin, 1853–54), "Dendrologie" (Erlangen, 1869–72), and other works.
