Ferdinand von Richthofen
✓ Source-basedstableGerman traveller, geographer and scientist (1833-1905)
He gave the Silk Road its name. The German geographer's 1877 coinage turned a tangle of ancient caravan routes into a single phrase that shaped how the world thinks about East-West exchange.
Also inDeutsch
Photos 8
_-_Ernst_(...)Milster_Ernst_btv1b84510245_(cropped).jpg?width=1200)
(Ferdinand von Richthofen) - Ernst (...)Milster Ernst btv1b84510245 (cropped)_-_Ernst_(...)Milster_Ernst_btv1b84510245.jpg?width=1200)
(Ferdinand von Richthofen) - Ernst (...)Milster Ernst btv1b84510245
TE&II Vol 6 Fig 012q
The Plain of Ch'eng-tu_b_295.jpg?width=1200)
Die Gartenlaube (1878) b 295
F-von richthofen.jpg?width=1200)
Ferdinand von Richthofen (1833-1905).jpg?width=1200)
Ferdinand von Richthofen - Ernst Milster Nachfolger, Hermann Joop - btv1b84510245 (1 of 2)Awards 6
In their orbit 2
Connected to Ferdinand 6
Karl ZieglerAlso won Honorary doctor of the Heidelberg University
Charles LyellAlso won Wollaston Medal
Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the AbruzziAlso won Founder’s Medal
Viktor GoldschmidtAlso won Wollaston Medal
Peter RoseggerAlso won Honorary doctor of the Heidelberg University
Emin PaşaAlso won Vega MedalAbout this person
Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen was born on 5 May 1833 into a German noble family. He built his career as a traveller and scientist, ranging across continents to map and study the physical world. In 1877 he coined "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen" - Silk Road, Silk Routes - terms that would outlive him by centuries. He also standardized chorography and chorology, tightening the methods geographers use to describe and compare regions. He died on 6 October 1905, leaving a discipline more rigorous and a metaphor the world still uses.
Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.