FRONT: Sea Lily

Wilhelm Bölsche (1861 - 1939) was a German author, editor & publicist. He studied philosophy, art history and archaeology in Bonn and moved 1885 to Berlin. In Berlin-Friedrichshagen he became a central figure in the „Friedrichshagener Dichterkreis“, a poets society. Despite that most of his work cover natural history topics Boelsche was not a naturalist but a person who popularized natural matter as a layperson to an unaware public. Nevertheless his publishing of "Das Liebesleben in der Natur“(The Love Life in Nature) in 1898 was the key for creating modern fact books in Germany. Boelsche also initiated the first german folk high school, the “Freie Hochschule Berlin” in 1902 and was an important instigator for the “Lebensreformbewegung” (Reform Movement of Life) in Germany. Boelsche edited the most important cultural history review of the day, „Freie Bühne“ (Free Stage) and popularized his free-thinking monism knowledge - especially the innovating school of Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel in dozens of self-edited books and series released by „Kosmos-Verlag“ in Stuttgart/Germany.

In compliment to his work, Boelsche was the name giver to a mountain ridge in the „Riesengebirge“ (Krkonoše Mountains), to an island in Spitsbergen, to a Berlin school (Realschule Bölsche – Oberschule), and to many streets in German towns, including the „Bölschestrasse“ in his former living district Berlin-Friedrichshagen. Even an asteroid was named after him – „1998 FC127“ now bearing the name 17821 Bölsche moving between Mars and Jupiter towards the sun.