Friedrich August von Alberti

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

Alberti grew up in Stuttgart and Rottweil. He learned about salt and became a salt technician. In 1823, he had an idea to drill for salt in Rottenmünster and, after eight months, they found salt where no one expected it. He also studied old Roman ruins in Rottweil and shared what he found between 1833 and 1837.

Later, Alberti worked managing salt companies and, after retiring, became an advisor in Heilbronn. He was very good at finding salt by looking at sandstone and limestone. He even created 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 for his friendly and honest nature. After he died, his family stayed in Rottweil, where a street is named after him. In Bad Friedrichshall, a school also carries his name, the Friedrich-von-Alberti-Gymnasium.