Journey to Brazil in the years 1815 to 1817

Two hundred years ago, he undertook his pioneering expedition: Maximilian Prinz zu Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867) was one of the first naturalists to travel to Brazil - and he was also the first to write an expedition report about it, which was eagerly awaited in the educated Europe of the time: Reise nach Brasilien in den Jahren 1815 bis 1817 (Journey to Brazil in the Years 1815 to 1817) became a gem of German travel literature and was immediately translated into French and English in 1822.

Inspired and encouraged by Alexander von Humboldt, who had not traveled to Brazil himself, the ethnologist, zoologist and naturalist Prinz zu Wied-Neuwied reached Rio de Janeiro in July 1815 - in order to travel from the Brazilian capital of the time "the still completely unknown or rather not yet described east coast" to the more northerly São Salvador de Bahia within two years; The expedition made detours from the river mouths into the interior of the coastal lowlands, which at that time were still covered by closed rainforests. In the princely castle Monrepos in Neuwied, after the return, the sensational work for the natural research of the time was created, which captivates by the quality of its illustrations, in which also many contemporary artists have contributed.

Journey to Brazil in the years 1815 to 1817
Maximilian Prince of Wied-Neuwied, Matthias Glaubrecht (2015).
Publisher: Die Andere Bibliothek
ISBN 978-3-8477-0017-3, 608 pages