Johann Natterer was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 and explorer.

In 1817, Emperor Franz II

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...

financed an expedition to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 on the occasion of the wedding of his daughter Archduchess Leopoldina to the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 crown prince, Dom Pedro of Alcantara (who was later to become Emperor of Brazil). Natterer was the zoologist on the expedition and was accompanied by other naturalists

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 including Johann Baptist von Spix

Johann Baptist von Spix

Dr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix was a German naturalist.Spix was born in Höchstadt, Middle Franconia, as the seventh of eleven children. His boyhood home is the site of the Spix Museum , opened to the public in 2004...

 and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was a German botanist and explorer.Martius was born at Erlangen, where he graduated M.D. in 1814, publishing as his thesis a critical catalogue of plants in the botanic garden of the university...

. Johann Natterer remained in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 for 18 years, until 1835, returning to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 with a large collection of specimens, including new species such as the South American Lungfish

South American lungfish

The South American lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon, Paraguay, and lower Paraná River basins in South America. Notable as an obligate air-breather, it is the sole member of its family Lepidosirenidae...

, which he gave to the Imperial Natural-Science Cabinet (K.k. Naturaliencabinet), the predecessor of the Naturhistorisches Museum

Naturhistorisches Museum

The Naturhistorisches Museum Wien or NHMW is a large museum located in Vienna, Austria.The collections displayed cover , and the museum has a website providing an overview as a video virtual tour....

.

Natterer did not publish an account of his travels, and his notebooks and diary were destroyed in the Hofburg fire

Hofburg fire

The term "Hofburg fire"refers to any of several major fires that burned in the Hofburg of Vienna, Austria. The Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government since 1279....

 of 1848 during the Vienna Revolution; however, his specimen collections of 60,000 insects were a part of the "Brazilian museum" in the "Harrach' house" and escaped the fire.

A number of animals are named after Johann Natterer, including Natterer's Slaty Antshrike and Natterer's Bat

Natterer's bat

Natterer's bat is a European bat with pale wings. It has brown fur, also seen on the leg wing membrane, tending to white on its underside...

.

Family and early life

Johann Natterer was born on November 9, 1787, as a son of the animal-zoologist Joseph Natterer Sr. and of Maria Anna Theresia Schober (his mother) the daughter of a master baker from Laxenburg

Laxenburg

Laxenburg is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, near Vienna.- History :The place is well-known for its castle, Schloss Laxenburg, which, beside Schönbrunn, was the most important summer seat of the Habsburg dynasty....

.
He had a brother (Joseph Natterer, 1776–1852).Joseph Natterer senior of Austria last mounted Falkner had been.
When Emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 Franz I dissolved the falconry (Falknerei) in Laxenburg, he bought the collection of Joseph Natterer Sr. This contained numerous domestic birds, mammals, and
insects, and Franz I assigned it the further support and the development of the collection.

The collection was brought in 1794 to Vienna and included into the Tiercabinet with the k.k physical-astronomical as well as the Kunstcabinet.
The collection was made accessible soon for the public, however without scientific or didactical value. Joseph Natterer Sr. introduced both his sons likewise into the collection and brought to the art of preparing Ausbalgens and chase. His oldest son, Joseph, began his career as a freiwilliger aid and terminated as first Kustos, Johann became in 1808 freiwilliger coworkers.

First, Johann Natterer had attended the Piaristen school; however in 1794, he transferred into the normal school and completed high school (gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

) there.
From 1802 to 1803, Johann Natterer attended the material academy and heard scientific lectures at the university.