Alphons Stübel

Moritz Alphons Stübel (26 July 1835 – 10 November 1904) was a German geologist and vulcanologist who was a native of Leipzig.

He studied chemistry and mineralogy at the University of Leipzig. With geologist Wilhelm Reiss (1838-1908), he conducted geological and volcanological research in the Andes (Colombia and Ecuador) from 1868 to 1874. Afterwards the two geologists continued their research in Peru and Brazil, with Reiss returning to Germany in 1876 and Stübel continuing his travels throughout the continent (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia), returning to Germany in August 1877.

In South America he also made astronomical measurements and performed meteorological, ethnographical zoological and archaeological research. Scientific material collected in South America was later preserved at the Museum of Comparative Cultures in Leipzig. In addition, Stübel took numerous photographs and created sketches of the places he visited. Many of the butterflies collected by Stübel were new species. They were described by the German entomologists Gustav Weymer and Peter Maassen.

Stübel at the Portal of the Sun, Tiahuanaco (1877).

Stübel also made a lesser known contribution to the study of the Middle East. In the years 1858, 1882 and 1890 he traveled mainly in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt. He collected about 600 large-size photographs on these journeys and at other occasions. This collection came via his nephew Bruno Stübel to Jena University. They form the core of the "Alphons-Stübel Collection of Early Photographs of the Middle East 1850-1890".

Selected published works

• Geschichte und Beschreibung der vulkanischen Ausbrüche bei Santorin von der ältesten Zeit bis auf die Gegenwart, (History and description of volcanic eruptions at Santorini from the earliest times to the present), Bassermann, Heidelberg 1868
• Skizzen aus Ecuador, (Sketches from Ecuador), Asher & Co., Berlin 1886
• Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú, (The ruins of Tiahuanaco in the highlands of ancient Peru) - with Friedrich Max Uhle; Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892
• Die Vulkanberge von Ecuador, (The volcanic mountains of Ecuador), Asher & Co., Berlin 1897
• Karte der Vulkanberge Anatisana, Chacana, Sincholagua, Quinlindaña, Cotopaxi, Rumiñahui und Pasocha), (Map of the volcanic mountains: Anatisana, Chacana, Sincholagua, Quinlindaña, Cotopaxi, Rumiñahui and Pasocha), Leipzig 1903
• Martinique und St. Vincent, (Martinique and Saint Vincent), Leipzig 1903
• Rückblick auf die Ausbruchsperiode des Mont Pelé auf Martinique 1902 bis 1903 vom theoretischen Gesichtspunkte, (Looking back on the outbreak period of Mount Pelée in Martinique from 1902 to 1903 from theoretical considerations), Leipzig 1904.^[1]

Selected publications

• Babett Forster, Fotografien als Sammlungsobjecte im 19. Jahrhundert: Die Alphons-Stuebel-Sammlung frueher Orientfotografien, Weimar: VDG 2013.
• Stefan Heidemann, "Der Orient im Blick - Die grossen Photostudios des 19. Jahrhunderts" Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenlaendischen gesellschaft 149 (1999), pp. 377–384.

References

• America Exotica (translated biography)
• The Life and Work of Alphons Stübel and Wilhelm Reiss (translated from Spanish)
• Alphons-Stübel Collection of Early Photographs of the Middle East 1850-1890 at Jena University