1677-1686. Blue route: In the service of God
In 1677 Steensen was appointed bishop and sent as apostolic vicar to northern Germany and Scandinavia. He served in Hanover from 1677-1680, in Münster from 1680-1683, in Hamburg from 1683-1685, and in Schwerin in 1686. These various postings involving untiring…
1659-1664. Green route: the trip to the Netherlands
In the winter of 1659-60 when the Karl Gustav Wars between Denmark and Sweden had ended, Niels Steensen embarked on his first journey abroad. He travelled by way of Rostock to Amsterdam to study. Amsterdam was a great centre of…
1668-1670. Purple route: A geological odyssey
This picture by Jeremias Roth von Rothenfels (1729) depicts the famous mining town of Kremnica in present day Slovakia. It shows the castle (top left) and mint (bottom left). On December 8, 1667, the same day that Steensen received the…
1664-1666. Yellow route: To Florence by way of Paris
In September 1664 Niels Steensen left Copenhagen again and arrived two months later in Paris. He was the guest of the prominent French academician, Melchisédech Thévenot, and met the French intelligentsia. In Paris Steensen held his famous lecture on the…
