Biography

German merchant and collector. Born in Brandenburg an der Havel into an ancient family of merchants, Carl Uhde established himself as a German merchant in London soon after losing his father when he was 17 and married an Englishwoman, Eliza Hinrich, with whom he had four children. For 13 years he lived in Mexico, from 1823 to 1835, acquiring an enormous collection of Central and South American archaeological objects, books, minerals, animals, birds and plants. These were housed in the small purpose-built museum on his estate in Handschusheim, to which he retired in 1836. After his death, his collection was broken up and distributed to various museums and universities, the botanical collections going to the herbaria in Berlin and Halle.

Biography

German merchant and collector. Born in Brandenburg an der Havel into an ancient family of merchants, Carl Uhde established himself as a German merchant in London soon after losing his father when he was 17 and married an Englishwoman, Eliza Hinrich, with whom he had four children. For 13 years he lived in Mexico, from 1823 to 1835, acquiring an enormous collection of Central and South American archaeological objects, books, minerals, animals, birds and plants. These were housed in the small purpose-built museum on his estate in Handschusheim, to which he retired in 1836. After his death, his collection was broken up and distributed to various museums and universities, the botanical collections going to the herbaria in Berlin and Halle.