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Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck.
With Eduard Brückner, he coauthored Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter, a work in which the two scientists identified the four ice ages of the European Pleistocene (Gunz glaciation, Mindel, Riss glaciation, Würm); these being named after the river valleys that were the first indication of each glaciation. A to Z of Marine Scientists by Barbara Charton
In 1886, he married the sister of the successful regional writer Ludwig Ganghofer.
In Vienna, he taught the Polish geographer Eugeniusz Romer and Ukrainian geographer Stepan Rudnytsky, who led the ethnographic efforts at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920).
Penck arranged for the posthumous publication of his son's work Der Morphologische Analyse in 1924. However he did not take any stance for or against his son's theories on geomorphology.
In 1928, Penck taught as a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley led by Carl O. Sauer.
Albrecht Penck was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1905, elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1908, elected an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1909, and awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1914.
In memory of Penck, the painter and sculptor Ralf Winkler adopted the nom de plume A. R. Penck in 1966.
Death
In 1945, Penck died in Prague.
Legacy
The glacier of Penckbreen in Wedel Jarlsberg Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard is named after him. Since 1958 the "Albrecht-Penck-Medaille" is awarded by the Deutsche Quartärvereinigung for accomplishments associated with Quaternary science. Penck, Friedrich Karl Albrecht Deutsche Biographie
Criticism; political geography
While Penck's physical geography is highly regarded, his forays into political geography after 1914 have been criticized. During World War I he supported German expansionism, helping to develop the existing concept of Lebensraum (living space: territory necessary for a nation state, specifically for its prosperity and security).Penck, A. "Über politische Grenzen. Rede zum Antritt des Rektorates der Königlichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin gehalten" (Dr. d. Norddeutschen Buchdr. u. Verlagsanst., 1917) pp. 32 This led the American geographer Davis to write: "He used to be liked as much as admired, but during the war some of his statements have lessened the esteem formerly felt for him: into that matter we do not enter farther here".Davis, W. M. "The Penck Festband: a review" (Geographical Review 10 (4): 249-261, 1920) After World War I Penck continued to develop and promote Lebensraum concepts. This thinking was seized upon by German nationalism of the period. For instance, the annexation by Germany of the Reichsgau Wartheland after the 1939 invasion of Poland was justified using Penck's concept of kulturboden (or "German soil").Driever, S. L. "Review of: Hitler's Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich ed. by Paolo Giaccaria and Claudio Minca" (Historical Geography, 46(1), 319-321, 2018)
Works
(2025). 9781465424631, Dk Publishing. ISBN 9781465424631
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Categories: 1858 Births, 1945 Deaths, German Geographers, German Geomorphologists, 19th-century German Geologists, German Climatologists, Quaternary Geologists, Members Of The Royal Swedish Academy Of Sciences, Foreign Associates Of The National Academy Of Sciences, Recipients Of The Pour Le Mérite, Academic Staff Of The Humboldt University Of Berlin, Academic Staff Of The University Of Vienna, Scientists From Leipzig, International Members Of The American Philosophical Society, Recipients Of The Cothenius Medal
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