Professor Johann Jacob von Baier (✝︎)

Johann Jacob Baier was born in Jena as the second son to Johann Wilhelm Baier (the elder), a member of the regional church council and senior court chaplain, and his wife, Anna Catharina Musaeu, on 14 June 1677.

He was married to Juliana Maria Barbara Buchinger, with whom he had two children, Anna Catharina (1703) and Ferdinand Jacob (1707). Their son also became a physician and later the seventh President of the Leopoldina.

His spouse in a second marriage was Sophie Magdalena Schoenen, with whom he had no children.

Johann Jacob von Baier died in Altdorf on 14 July 1735.

Johann Jacob von Baier first studied medicine at the University of Jena and later transferred to the University of Halle. After graduating, he set off on a journey through Saxony, Prussia and the Baltics (Livonia). In 1700, he returned to Jena, where he earned his Master of Philosophy and his M.D.
After a short stay in Halle, he moved to his hometown Nuremberg in 1701, where he settled as practising physician. In Nuremberg, he joined the Collegium Medicum. His work as a physician began when the plague broke out in the free imperial city.

Baier was then appointed city physician of Regensburg. He only held this position for a short time as he accepted an offer to become a professor for medicine at the University of Altdorf in 1704. He held his inaugural speech on 2 May 1704. During his time at the university, he was elected dean eight times and rector twice.

Baier focused on various areas of science: In addition to plants and minerals, he also studied and collected fossils. He also used plants from the university’s botanical garden for pharmaceutical studies. Integrating his work into the botanical garden was a great boost for it.

Baier also provided a petrography study of the Nuremberg region. His work formed the basis for geological research in Franconia. Baier’s first geological work “Oryctographia Norica”, which was published in Nuremberg in 1708, contains a basic description and study of minerals and fossils of the region along with illustrations. This work also laid the foundation for research of the Jurassic fauna.

Johann Jacob von Baier received numerous awards for his work: He became a member of the Leopoldina in 1708. He was also appointed imperial personal physician and was made a nobleman. He was given the right to bear the title “count palatine”.

In 1730, Johann Jacob Baier was elected fifth President of the Leopoldina, succeeding Lukas Schröck. He chose the byname Eugenianus I. Under his presidency, the academy moved from Augsburg to Altdorf, where Baier served as professor at the University of Altdorf belonging to the free imperial city of Nuremberg.

During his presidency, he was also responsible for the establishment of the academy-owned library, which included the natural history collection, in Nuremberg on 17 September 1731. The city of Nuremberg initially leased a room in the former St. Catherine's convent to the academy to store its collection. The academy also acquired two bookcases to store the books. At that time, the collection comprised 38 volumes and a few natural items, but it quickly grew. Three years later, in May 1734, the collection had already grown to 200 volumes, so the library was moved again – this time to a private house in Nuremberg.