Meyer, Hans Heinrich Joseph b. March 22, 1858; Hildburghausen, Thuringia d.July 5, 1929; Leipzig, Saxony
German publisher, geographer, colonial politician, and explorer of the Ecuadorian Andes. Hans Heinrich Joseph Meyer and his brother Herrmann Meyer belonged to a famous publisher’s family.
Their grandfather, Joseph Meyer (1796-1856), founded the Bibliographisches Institut in Gotha in 1826. This publishing house, since 1874 located in Leipzig, became one of the most important publishers of German literature and encyclopedias (Meyer's Conversations- Lexicon). From 1884 to 1914, the Meyer brothers took over the responsibilities of the Bibliographisches Institut from their father, Herrmann Julius Meyer (18261909). In 1914 Hans left the family enterprise to dedicate his life to scientific exploration and adventure.Hans Meyer studied Nationalokonomie (political economy) with Gustav Schmoller at the University of Straβburg. After he received his doctoral degree in 1881, Meyer embarked on a two-year journey around the world. The experience of different people and distant places sparked his interest in ethnology and geography. He was especially fascinated by the German colonies in Africa. Meyer, accompanied by the Austrian mountain climber Ludwig Purt- scheller, was the first European to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in October 1889. At this time, Kilimanjaro was part of German East Africa. In honor of Wilhelm II, Meyer named its highest peak Kaiser-Wilhelm- Spitze.
In order to compare his geographical and geological observations on Mount Kilimanjaro, Meyer went on several further explorations to other volcanic mountain ranges. Together with the Munich painter Rudolf Reschreiter (1868-1938), Meyer headed to Ecuador in 1903 and explored the highest volcanoes of the Andes (Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Antisana, Cerro Altar, Carihuairazo) for over half a year. As in Africa, Meyer took barometric measurements, determined the extent of the snow boundaries, and investigated glaciers and ablation forms. Meyer made detailed notes about his research in his dairies; he produced countless maps and numerous photographs.
In addition, Reschreiter produced several drawings and paintings of these landscapes. This material became the basis for Meyer’s book In den Hoch-Anden von Ecuador, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi etc. Reisen und Studien (In the High Andes of Ecuador, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, etc.: Travels and Studies, 1907), which included high- quality pictures. For research on glaciers in tropical regions, Meyer’s research was not only pioneering, it also withstood the test of time. Even in present times, Meyer’s research is still of importance to research on climate change and global warming.From i9i5 to 1928 Meyer held a professorship in colonial geography and politics at the University of Leipzig. He combined his research with active political engagement in colonial politics. Meyer championed economic reforms for Germany’s colonies to increase their usefulness to the mother country. Further, he hoped to expand the interest in geographical and geological exploration of the German territories in Africa. Meyer, who was a wealthy man because of his family’s publishing house, employed his wealth in 1910 to fund a professorship for colonial geography at the University of Berlin. In Leipzig he supported the Museum for Ethnography and the Museum of Regional Geography (now Leibniz-Institut fur Landerkunde), which housed his collections and those of his brother’s Xingu expeditions.
Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Meyer, Herrmann
References and Further Reading
Brogiato, Heinz Peter, ed. Die Anden.
Geographische Erforschung und kunstlerische Darstellung. 100 Jahre Andenexpedition von Hans Meyer und Rudolf Reschreiter 1903—2003. Wissenschaftliche Alpenvereinshefte no. 37. Munich: Deutscher Alpenverein, 2003.