Grave of Bedřich Všemír Berchtold in Buchlovice

 

The prominent naturalist and physician Bedřich Všemír Berchtold (1781-1876) spent the last years of his long and fruitful life with his relatives at Buchlovice Chateau and at Buchlov Castle. He wished to be buried among ordinary people in the cemetery of Buchlov. His grave lies close to the Chapel of St. Elizabeth. 

 

In the field of natural sciences, Bedřich Všemír Berchtold focused most intensively on botany, to which he also paid attention during his numerous research trips to nearby and distant regions. Count Berchtold`s interest in botany led not only to his discovering of many new plant species, but also to cooperating closely with Jan Svatopluk Presl and his brother Karel Bořivoj, whose botanical publications Bedřich Všemír Berchtold also financially supported. His main focus was on agricultural botany - in 1836, for example, he published a book together with other botanists: Ökonomisch-technische Flora Böhmens (Economic-technical flora of Bohemia). One of Berchtold`s most important publications of this kind is his 1842 treatise on potatoes in which he highlights the importance of this plant from a variety of perspectives: Potatoes. (Solanum tuberosum C. Bauh). Their history, characteristics, usefulness, harmfulness, culture, diseases, etc., with details of their industrial use [Die Kartoffeln. (Solanum tuberosum C. Bauh.) Deren Geschichte, Charakteristik, Nützlichkeit, Schädlichkeit, Kultur, Krankheitenetc., mitausführlichen Angaben ihrer industriellen Anwendung]. Many of the interesting natural history artefacts and plants that Count Berchtold collected during his lifetime are now stored in the National Museum in Prague. Some are part of the exhibition at Buchlov Castle which became his retreat in the last years of his life and where he died in 1876. 

 

References

Hanuš, J.: Národní museum a naše obrození. 1. díl. Praha 1921, s. 261–262.

Hanuš, J.: Národní museum a naše obrození. 2. díl. Praha 1923.

Hoffmannová, E.: J. S. Presl, K. B. Presl. Praha 1973.

Koleška, Z.: Berchtold Bedřich Všemír 25.10.1781–3.4.1876. In: Biografický slovník českých zemí 4. Praha 2006, s. 437─438. 

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