Otto Volger

Georg Heinrich Otto Volger (January 30, 1822 - October 18, 1897) was a German geologist who was born in Lüneburg. He studied natural history at the University of Göttingen, and later was a professor of natural history at the University of Zurich (1851-1856). From 1856-1860, he taught geology at the Senckenberg Museum, and from 1859-1881 taught geology and mineralogy at the Freie Deutsche Hochstift in Frankfurt-am-Main. Also, after his graduation from Göttingen he was teacher of natural history in the Muri monastery in Aargau.

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Volger made several contributions in the fields of mineralogy and crystallography. He was particularly interested in earthquakes. He did extensive study of earthquakes in Switzerland; researching their origins, periodicity, meteorological and environmental factors, as well as the spread and expansion of the quakes. Volger advocated the theory of neptunism. Independent of geologist Robert Mallet (1810-1881), he created his own neptunistic theory of wave propagation of earthquakes. Volger believed that most earthquakes in Switzerland were subsidence quakes caused by collapse of layers of hollow strata in the Earth.

In 1863, Volger purchased the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe {1749-1832), and meticulously restored the house to the condition left by Goethe's father.

References

• This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.