Grave of German scientist Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, the first scientist to accurately measure the distance to a star is being demolished in Kaliningrad, Russia.
Moscow: The grave of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, the first scientist to accurately measure the distance to a star, and the graves of at least ten other important scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries are being destroyed.
According to a petition spreading electronically through emails and social media, Kaliningrad, Russia, is currently allowing the filling-over of the grave sites of German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel and other well known scholars of the University of Koenigsberg. Multistory luxury housing units are to be constructed on top of the cemetery known in German as the “Alter Neurossgaerter Friedhof”, informally called “Gelehrtenfriedhof” or the “Scholars Cemetery”. Headstones were pushed into an adjoining ravine in the 1980’s, but the actual graves of these well known persons are said to remain below the fill now being dumped and graded.
After its defeat in World War II, Germany lost all of its provinces east of the Oder-Neise Rivers. The administration of northern East Prussia was transferred to the Soviet Union by the Potsdam Agreement in 1945, and the provincial capital, Koenigsberg, was renamed to Kaliningrad. Since then, the Soviet Union routinely destroyed Prussian and German cultural sites throughout Kaliningrad and former East Prussia. Further destruction and neglect by the current Russian government continues to take a toll on the history and cultural heritage of East Prussia. The Scholars Cemetery is another ongoing example.
The Scholars Cemetery is a globally significant heritage site. Prominent scientists and scholars were buried in this cemetery. These individuals made great contributions to our world. Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel was the first person to accurately determine the distance from Earth to a star using parallax. He also developed the Bessel Functions, mathematical equations still used in quantum physics. Other important men buried in the Scholars Cemetery include:
August Busch (1804-1855) – Director of the Koenigsberg astronomical Observatory
August Werther (1815-1869) – Professor of chemistry
Karl Wagner (1827-1871) – Professor of medicine, prominent surgeon
Theodor Hippel (1741-1796) – Mayor and chief president of Koenigsberg, poet, writer, friend and disciple of German philosopher Immanuel Kant
Robert Caspary (1818-1887) – Famous botanist and director of the Koenigsberg botanical garden
Loizou Koehler (1820-1886) – Composer, musician, music teacher, author of textbooks still in use
Lers Karl (1802-1878) – Professor of philology, linguist
Homer Franz Neumann (1798-1895) – Physicist, co-founder of the Koenigsberg Physics and Mathematics School, founder of theoretical physics
Friedrich Richelot (1808-1875) – Professor of mathematics and physics, director of Koenigsberg mathematical seminar
Johann Rosenkrantz (1805-1879) – Philosopher and writer, one of the brightest students of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
