Caspar Schmalkalden

Caspar Schmalkalden (c. 1616 – 1673) was a German traveler who journeyed through South America and Asia as a soldier in Dutch service. After returning in 1652, Schmalkalden wrote a travelogue comprising nearly 500 handwritten pages, recording geographical, ethnological, and biological observations of the flora and fauna of the regions he visited. Although the exact background of his travels remains unknown, Schmalkalden's report is one of several similar 17th-century travelogues. While it revealed no new discoveries from a European perspective, his notes remain a valuable addition to contemporary historical sources.

Life

Origin

Caspar Schmalkalden's exact year of birth is unknown. When he joined the Dutch army, he was about twenty-five years old, suggesting he was born around 1617 or shortly before. His father, Liborius Schmalkalden, was mayor of the small town of Friedrichroda on the edge of the Thuringian Forest. The earliest surviving register of souls from the Protestant parish of St. Blasius in Friedrichroda, dating from 1632, contains the first mention of Caspar. The register also lists his mother, Magdalena Schmalkalden, and his siblings: two brothers, Christophorus and Liborius, and four sisters, Anna, Dorothea, Martha, and Susanna.

First voyage: Brazil and Chile (1642–1645)

Crossing to Brazil

It is not known how Caspar Schmalkalden came to serve as a soldier in the Dutch West India Company. To advance their overseas expansion, the Dutch relied on sailors, soldiers, surgeons, and other skilled workers from other countries. Schmalkalden mentions a comrade from Scotland and a commander from Courland on his first voyage.