Oskar von Riesenthal

Who was Oskar von Riesenthal?

Julius Adolf Oskar von Riesenthal was a German forester, ornithologist, hunter and writer.

He was born in Breslau, Silesia, to a family of Austrian descent. His father died when he was a year old, and he moved with his mother to Oels, where he spent his childhood and early youth until matriculating from Gymnasium. He studied at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy in Neustadt-Eberswalde, becoming a Revierförster in the Tuchola Forest, where he began studying ornithology. In 1871 he became Oberförster in Altenkirchen, where he wrote his first book, Die Raubvögel Deutschlands und des angrenzenden Mitteleuropas. He later became Royal Forester for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Domains in Charlottenburg, where he stayed until his death in 1898.