Karel Slavoj Amerling

Who was Karel Slavoj Amerling?

Karel Slavoj Amerling was a Czech teacher, writer, and philosopher.

Amerling was born in Klatovy, and was the son of a wealthy baker. After he studied philosophy in Vienna, he worked two years as a governor. Then he studied medicine in Prague, but he was also interested in philosophy, theology, mineralogy, and biology. In 1836 he earned his degree, and went on to become a secretary of Earl A. Šternberk, but had to leave this post due to illness. Later, he became a doctor in Prague.

On July 25, 1840 he founded the Budeč institute, which combined the functions of several institutions. On the ground floor were workshops, and laboratories. The first floor was designed to educate future teachers. The second floor was primarily used for music education, but also had an extensive library with a printing press, which could print many alphabets including Cyrillic, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. There was also a clockmaker workshop, and a stone cutter workshop. An extensive natural science collection could also be found on this floor. The third floor was a hospital. There was also a tower which served as an astronomical observatory, and a meteorological station.