Berlin, Germany/berlin302
Previous | Home | NextMarggraf worked in his father's apothecary 1738-1753 (Apotheke zum Bären; which Klaproth purchased in 1780) before he moved to the Berlin Academy. At this earlier address he isolated elemental zinc. At the Dorotheenstraße Academy he conducted a number of experiments related to the elements: he distinguished between "cubic" and "prismatic" saltpetre (sodium and potassium, respectively) by the color of their flame tests (yellow and blue, respectively). At the Academy of Sciences he also distinguished alum from lime (aluminum from calcium) by showing that only lime could be used to prepare gypsum (calcium sulfate). The plaque tells us: "Andreas Sigismund Marggraf. Discoverer of sugar in beets. Lived and worked in this building. Born Berlin 3 March 1709. Died Berlin 7 August 1782." Photograph, courtesy, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
