Hermann von Nathusius

Who was Hermann von Nathusius?

Hermann Engelhard von Nathusius was a German animal breeder.

Born in Magdeburg to industrialist Johann Gottlob Nathusius, Hermann von Nathusius studied the natural sciences. He took over Schloss Hundisburg from his father and turned it to agriculture, particularly cattle breeding. He introduced cattle breeds from England to Germany, and worked to promote the study of cattle breeding. He collected a large amount of information on his herds, whose breeding he personally oversaw, and amassed a collection of domesticated animal skeletons; his writings became an important reference for the scientific treatment of animal breeding. He was opposed to his contemporary Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, but data from his careful study of breeds was nonetheless used as support for that theory.

He was a member of the Prussian Landesökonomiekollegium, director of the province of Saxony's Landwirtschaftlicher Zentralverein, and president of the Deutsche Ackerbaugesellschaft, among other positions.