R. Brendel « Aspidium » Botanical Didactic Model XIXe

ROBERT BRENDEL (1821 – 1898)

Robert Brendel founded the R. Brendel company in Breslau (currently Wroclaw in Poland). He opened in 1866 a factory producing models of anatomy, mineralogy and mainly botanical models designed for teaching. Botanical models are enlargements of plants and flowers. They were made of papier mâché, wood, cotton, bamboo, glass beads, feathers and gelatin ….
From the beginning of the company, Robert Brendel surrounds himself with qualified craftsmen and scientists. He benefited from the theoretical advice of a pharmacist, Dr. Carl Leopold Lohmeyer, and botanical advice from Professor Ferdinand Cohn, Director of the Institute of Plant Physiology at the University of Breslau.
Throughout the life of the company, collaboration with various renowned scientists, precision and quality of execution have been a permanent concern of the founders father and son, which has earned the company to be internationally recognized

His son Reinhold (1861-1927) collaborates with his father in the development of the company and succeeds him. He deepened his knowledge of botany, established in 1898 in Grunewald near Berlin and the models produced then show a quality that reaches an unparalleled level.

The models were sold via illustrated catalogs, either by mail order or via a network of resellers (in Italy the Paravia firm) and were awarded with numerous awards and medals.