Georg Ludwig Hartig (September 2, 1764 – February 2, 1837) was a German forester. Along with Heinrich Cotta he helped establish scientific forestry in Prussia, serving as the chief forester from 1811 and giving lectures on forestry at the University of Berlin from 1838 where he served as a professor. He established the goals of sustainable forestry and wrote several influential textbook for foresters.
Hartig was born at Gladenbach, in present-day Hesse, to Friedrich Christian (1734–1815) and Sophie Catherine née Venator (1736–1812) After obtaining a practical knowledge of forestry from his uncle Karl Ludwig Hartig at Harzburg, he studied from 1781 to 1783 at the University of Giessen, which had commenced a course of instruction in forestry just a few years earlier, in 1778.[1]
In 1786, Hartig was appointed as Manager of Forests for the Prince of Solms-Braunfels at Hungen, in the Wetterau, Hesse. While in this position, he founded a school for the teaching of forestry, one of the first dedicated schools of forestry in Europe.
After a decade in Hungen, in 1797, he received an appointment as Inspector of Forests to the Prince of Orange-Nassau, to succeed the position of Friedrich Ludwig von Witzleben, and moved to Dillenburg, continuing his school of forestry there. Attendance increased considerably in Dillenburg. On the dissolution of the principality by Napoleon I of France in 1805 he lost his position.
In 1806, Hartig went to Stuttgart as Chief Inspector of Forests. Five years later, in 1811, he was called to Berlin in a similar capacity. There he reestablished his school once again, succeeding in connecting it with the University of Berlin. Along with Heinrich Cotta he began to establish forestry as a scientific discipline in Prussia. He wrote several textbooks on forestry.[2]
Hartig received an appointment as Honorary Professor at the University of Berlin in 1830. He died at Berlin on 2 February 1837.
Hartig recognized ecological interactions as being important in forest conservation and wrote about matters such as soil variations, plant sociology, and the damage caused by leaf litter removal. He conducted experiments to study the growth and production of wood, the heat produced by different woods, and their methods to enhance the durability of wood. He was concerned about the efficiency of heating and fireplaces. In his 1791 work on the taxation of forests he defined sustainability as being possible only if “future generations derive at least as many benefits from it as the current generation.”
Hartig married Theodora in 1787. She was the daughter of Jakob Christian Klipstein (1715–86) of Darmstadt. They had 9 sons and 4 daughters. His son Theodor Hartig (1805–1880) and grandson Robert Hartig (1839–1901) also were distinguished for their contributions to the study of forestry.