Brackebusch, Ludwig b. March 4, 1849; Northeim, Prussia d.June 2, 1906; Hanover
German geographer and cartographer of Argentina.
Brackebusch studied geology at the University of Gottingen, where he received his doctorate in 1874. Shortly after, Hermann Burmeister, who was in charge of establishing the new natural science department at the University of Cordoba, offered him a professorship.
In 1875, Brackebusch began teaching mineralogy and geology at this Argentinean university, where he remained for sixteen years. Together with Arthur Seelstrang, Brackebusch explored the Sierra de Cordoba and produced the first map of this mountain range. In addition, he drew maps of the Sierra de San Luis and the Sierra de Ambato in the province of Catamarca. Financed by the Argentinean state, Brackebusch began the systematic exploration of the Cordilleras on the Chilean border (Sierra de Valasco) in 1880. On the request of the government, he went on to explore the northern province of Jujuy, where he focused on the oil fields and gold mines. In 1883, Bracke- busch traveled for the third time into the mountainous province of Salta in northwestern Argentina. When he returned to Germany for a visit, he used his time home to design a topographical map of Argentina on a scale of 1 to 1 million (Mapa del Interior de la Republica Argentina, 1885). In 1887, the Argentinean government asked him to produce a relief map of the country on a scale of 1 to 500,000 for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889. To fulfill this request, Brackebusch went on a new expedition in the Cordilleras from Mendoza to Salta in order to measure the region trigonometrically and searched for selenium, oil, coal, and copper. His Mapa de la Republica Argentina y de los Paises limitrofes was 8 meters (8.7 yards) long, about 5 meters (5.5 yards) wide, and 70 mm (2.75 inches) high. It was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. This map was printed for the first time in 1891 in two sheets and reduced to a scale of 1 to 1 million. Brackebusch was the first geographer to explore the geology and minerals of the Argentinean Cordilleras systematically, as well as the first to produce topographical and geological maps of those mountains.Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Argentina; Burmeister, Carl Hermann Conrad
References and Further Reading
“Dr. Ludwig Brackebusch.” Deutsche Rundschau fur Geographie und Statistik. Vol. 17 (1895): 39-41.
Hantzsch, Viktor. “Ludwig Brackebusch.” Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog. Vol. 11 (1908): 161-165.
Henze, Dietmar. Enzyklopadie der Entdecker und Erforscher der Erde. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1978, 1:335-336.