Eduard Bruckner

Who was Eduard Bruckner?

Eduard Brückner was a German geographer, meteorologist, glaciologist and climate scientist.

He was born in Jena, the son of the Baltic-German historian Alexander Brückner and Lucie Schiele. After an education at the Karlsruhe gymnasium, beginning in 1881 he studied meteorology and physics at the University of Dorpat, graduating in 1885. He joined the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg, then, following studies at Dresden and Munich, he became a professor at the University of Bern in 1888. The same year he married Ernestine Steine. In 1899, he was rector at the university. He moved back to Germany in 1904, becoming a professor at the University of Halle. Two years later in 1906, he was a professor at the University of Vienna. He died in Vienna.

Professor Brückner was an expert on alpine glaciers and their effect upon the landscape. Between 1901–1909 he collaborated with German geographer and geologist Albrecht Penck to produce a three volume work titled Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter. This served as a standard reference on the ice ages for several decades thereafter.