Adam Olearius

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Adam Olearius, born Adam Ölschläger (24 September 1599 or 16 August 1603) in Aschersleben, was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He studied at Leipzig University from 1620, earning a Magister of Philosophy in 1627, and taught at the Old St. Nicholas School and the Thomas School, eventually becoming a philosophy faculty assistant. Supported for his studies by the Kleineren Fürstenstiftung, he later served Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp and became secretary to ambassadors attempting to build trade links with Russia and Persia.

In 1633 Olearius joined an embassy to Muscovy and Persia led by Philipp Crusius and Otto Bruggemann, aiming to make Friedrichstadt the terminus of an overland silk trade. The journey began in Gottorp and traveled through Hamburg, Lübeck, Riga, Dorpat, Reval, Narva, Ladoga, and Novgorod to Moscow (1633–1634). Some sources say they concluded a favorable treaty with Tsar Michael, but this is disputed. After returning to Gottorp in 1635, preparations for a second Persian expedition began. Olearius stayed on this time, while Bruggemann left for Austria; the second journey, started in 1635, was led by Bruggemann and Crusius, with travelers including Johan Albrecht de Mandelslo and Paul Fleming. They traveled to Moscow, then across the Caspian Sea by a self-built boat, and reached Shirvan and Isfahan in 1637, where they were received by Shah Safi. The mission failed largely due to the group’s behavior and a violent clash with Mughal-Osman Uzbek escorts; they left Isfahan in December 1637 without achieving diplomatic aims. Mandelslo continued to India, while the rest returned toward Europe. Olearius left the group in Reval, and Bruggemann was held responsible for the failure and executed in 1640; Crusius’s role was widely debated.

Back in Gottorp, Olearius became librarian to Duke Frederick and later keeper of the cabinet of curiosities (from 1649). He enriched the Gottorp library and cabinet, including purchasing the collection of Bernardus Paludanus in 1651. He joined the Fruitbearing Society in 1651, receiving the name Der Vielbemühete and the motto In der Fremde; his emblem was a Muscovite orange. As court mathematician, he gained fame in 1654 for constructing the Globe of Gottorf, a 3.01-meter-diameter globe later given to Peter the Great of Russia in 1713.

Olearius married Catharina, sister of Maria Müller (the wife of Crusius’s son), and they had three daughters and a son. In 1644 the Duke granted him land near Gottorf Castle, but in 1658 his estate was plundered during the Northern War. He died on 22 February 1671 at Gottorp and was buried in Trinity Church, Schleswig. A dispute over his estate followed, with his son Philipp Christian Olearius later arguing that much of his father’s extensive library had been improperly sold.

Olearius is best known for his travel writings describing the Muscovy and Persian journeys, especially Beschreibung der muscowitischen und persischen Reise (1647, with later enlarged editions). He also produced a Holstein chronicle, a cabinet catalogue, and translations of Persian literature into German, including Saadi’s Golistan. His works helped introduce Persian literature and culture to Germany, influencing readers across Europe, including Montesquieu, who relied on his accounts for color in Lettres Persanes. His translations and adaptations appeared in French, English, Dutch, and Italian. He also contributed to church reform by translating Low German into High German (published 1665) and published Oriental Travel Descriptions in 1669, together with other contemporary travel accounts.