Salomon Müller – ein unterschätzter deutscher Naturforscher.

Salomon Müller’s (1804-1863) life took what was undoubtedly a surprising, almost novelistic turn for his family when, not even 20 years old, he met Heinrich Boie (1794-1827) and Heinrich Macklot (1799-1832) at his parents’ inn in Heidelberg. This fateful encounter led him to start working as a taxidermist at the Rijksmuseum Leiden a short time later, and as early as 1825 he left for Java with the second group of the Natuurkundige Commissie, where they arrived in June 1826. With the prospect of this career, which did not come naturally to him, Müller took private lessons in Latin and also attended seminars in Zoology at Heidelberg University, although he was never officially enrolled. The two future friends Boie and Macklot will have primarily noticed the small zoological collection of stuffed animals in the guest house of his parents. And so it was Müller’s skills as a hunter and taxidermist that got him the job in the second group. Inthisfunctionhewill alsohaveworkedprimarily in the first phase of the expedition on Java, although it may be assumed that he eagerly followed the scientificwork of the othertwo. The first and probably decisive break in this development was Boie’s death in September 1827. Thus the head and scientific leader of the group was no longer present. Despite the by no means complete data situation – many documents will have been lost – it is already evident on the continuation of the voyage of discovery via Ambon (March/April 1828) to New Guinea (end of May to August 1828) how Müller grew into the function of scientist at a literally unbelievable pace. Thisis documented by his handwritten records preserved in the Museum Naturalis (Leiden) and accessible in the online archive of the Natuurkundige Commissie. Of these hundreds of taxonomic descriptions of often still completely unknown species of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, the handwritten notes on one horned toad and one rear-fanged snake are presented here as a representative example. Parallel to the handwritten notes, especially the diaries of Pieter van Oort (1804-1834) represent an indispensable treasure trove for accompanying data on the individual stages. Unfortunately, this source fell silent a few months before van Oort’s death in Sumatra in September 1834, so that we have little first-hand data material from the phase in which Müller himself was officially entrusted with the leadership of the group. After his return to the Netherlands as the sole survivor of the first two groups, Müller played a decisive role in documenting the sensational results of the expedition in the three-volume work „Verhandelingen“ (1837-44), the first volume of which, „Land- en Volkenkunde”, he was solely responsible for, and the third volume, “Zoologie”, he co-authored with Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884). Soon after his arrival in his old homeland, Müller was awarded a doctorate in Heidelberg, a process that will be illustrated here with the help of original documents.After the dissolution of the Natuurkundige Commissie in April 1850, Müller moved first to Heidelberg, where he married Amalie Wilhelmine Rummer, and then movedwith herto Freiburg. Unfortunately, little is known about the last phase of his life (1850-1863), although recently examined documents from Freiburg reveal much that is worth knowing. Thus, Müller had not only two legitimate children, but also a daughter from the time on Java, whom he had apparently brought with him to Europe and placed her in a kind of boarding school. It demandsthe highest admiration - and the author of this article absolutely and happily includes himself here -, when one considers the life path of this man: from the son of an inn owner,to a taxidermistto an important, versatile experienced natural scientist with an œuvre that isstill not adequately appreciated today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]