Friedrich August von Alberti

Friedrich August von Alberti (September 4, 1795 – September 12, 1878) was a German geologist. He discovered important facts about layers of rock from long ago. In 1834, he showed that three special rock layers in Northern Europe were actually one big group. These layers are called the 'Trias.' They are made of red bed sandstones, limestones called Muschelkalk, and black shales. Alberti learned this by studying the fossils in the rocks.

Alberti grew up in Stuttgart and Rottweil. He learned about salt and became a salt technician. In 1823, he thought of drilling for salt in Rottenmünster. After eight months, they found salt where no one expected it. He also studied old Roman ruins in Rottweil and shared his findings between 1833 and 1837.

Later, Alberti worked for salt companies. After retiring, he became an advisor in Heilbronn. He was very good at finding salt by looking at sandstone and limestone. He even made a new way to mine salt by pumping water into mines. For his work, he received an honorary doctorate from the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen.

People liked Alberti because he was friendly and honest. After he died, his family stayed in Rottweil. A street there is named after him. In Bad Friedrichshall, a school is named after him, the Friedrich-von-Alberti-Gymnasium.