August von Herder


August von Herder was a German geologist, mineralogist and Saxon chief minister.

Biography

Von Herder was the second son of poet Johann Gottfried Herder and his wife Marie Karoline.
In 1795, after Herder spent a year in French-speaking Switzerland with his brother Wilhelm, he began studying at the University of Jena. In 1796 he moved to Göttingen and began writing at Abraham's Bergakademie in Freiberg. In Freiberg, he was one of the founders of the Erzgebirge team of the Mountains. In 1802 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Wittenberg.
Von Herder later worked in the mining service in the Saxon region. In 1811, he submitted plans for improving mining in Poland, which had developed together with Friedrich von Zedtwitz. On account of this, von Herder was awarded baron status in 1816.
Von Herder developed proposals to revive mining in the Saxony area. In 1819, he was appointed deputy captain and chief minister. Under von Herder, Saxon mining flourished again with the introduction of new machines. In 1827, von Herder published a 'Calendar for the Saxon Miner and Hutner'.