Hans Dernschwam

Hans Dernschwam von Hradiczin was a German Bohemian humanist, traveler, and chronicler known for his travels in the Ottoman Empire. Four years after graduating from the Leipzig University in 1510, he moved to Buda (Ofen) to join French humanist Hieronymus Balbus, a court tutor. Dernschwam moved to Pressburg and traveled across the Kingdom of Hungary and Transylvania, copying Roman inscriptions. After serving Anton Fugger, he joined the imperial embassy sent by the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1553. During his travels throughout the Ottoman realm that lasted two years, he documented the daily lives of the locals as well as the presence of many Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians in Anatolia. His life after his travels is largely unknown.