Dr. Friedrich August von Alberti (1795-1878) was a paleontologist who defined the strata of the Triasic period.
He grew up in Stuttgart and went to the Military School there. After the Military School he went to Rottweil, a little village outside of Stuttgart. He learned the salt processing system and became a Salinen (salt) technician, and was quickly promoted to Salineninspektor (salt supervisor). In 1823 he had an idea to drill for salt in Rottenmunster. 8 months later the team had success and found salt. What made this unique was nobody would think of finding salt in that location.
Von Alberti bought a house and lived in Rottenmunster from 1829 to 1853. While there he worked as manager for two salt companies. Afer he retired he moved to Heilbronn. He took a position as advisor, salt techician, and geologist. He had excellent skills in understanding sandstone and kallstone. He discovered that if you find the two combinations of these stones together, you will always find salt. He wrote books on his experiences of looking and drilling for salt.
He invented the method of mining salt by pumping water in the mine and then when the water and salt mixture rise to the surface, he would allow the water to evaporate and then he would collect the salt.
The Eberhard Karls university of Tübingen gave Friedrich August von Alberti a Honorary Doctorate for his achievements in the salt mining industry. The city named a street in his name in honor of him.
Von Alberti was very well thought of and popular. People liked him for his personality, his happiness, and the fact that he was very open and honest to everyone. After he died his family stayed in Rottweil. Today the town has many ancestors of him still living there as is evidenced by the Alberti name still present today.
