On the 250th anniversary of A. von Humboldt and the 190th anniversary of his expedition to Russia

Abstract

The article is devoted to the 250 th  anniversary of Alexander von Humboldt, Honorary Member of the Russian Mineralogical Society, and the 190 th  anniversary of his travel to the Urals, Western Siberia and Altai. For the first time, the paper presents archival documents related to the visit of A. von Humboldt, G. Rose, and Ch. Ehrenberg to the Mining Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg and donating a mineralogical collection (252 samples) assembled during the expedition to Russia in 1829 to the Mining Museum. Scientific works, the discovery of new minerals, and the establishment of strong scientific and cultural ties between the oldest educational institutions in Berlin, Freiberg, and St. Petersburg were the important results of this trip. For several decades, the scientific results of the expedition were published in the journal of the Mining Cadet Corps — the Gornyi Zhurnal. The tradition of donation and exchange of collections connected the history of the Mining Museum and many natural science museums in Europe.