author
Johann Matthäus Bechstein
1757–1822
A pioneering German naturalist and forester, he helped shape early forestry education while writing widely on birds and other animals. His work on cage birds made his name especially well known beyond Germany.
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About the author
Born in Waltershausen in 1757, Johann Matthäus Bechstein studied theology at Jena before turning toward the natural world that would define his career. He became a teacher at Salzmann's school in Schnepfenthal, founded a forestry school at Waltershausen in the 1790s, and later led the forestry academy at Dreißigacker near Meiningen.
Bechstein was remarkably wide-ranging: a naturalist, forester, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. He is often remembered as an early pioneer of scientific forestry in Germany, and in Britain he was especially known for his book on singing and cage birds, Naturgeschichte der Stubenvögel.
He died in 1822, but his name still survives in natural history through Bechstein's bat, a species named in his honor. His career sits at an interesting crossroads, where close observation of animals met the emerging study and management of forests.