The New International Encyclopædia/Dechen, Heinrich von

​DECHEN, dā′ᴋ𝑒n, Heinrich von (1800–89). A German geologist and engineer, born in Berlin. He studied for some time at the university of ​that city, but soon devoted himself to practical mining, and subsequently held a number of important Government positions. In 1834 he was made professor of mining engineering in Berlin, and in 1841 director of mines at Bonn. Besides a number of valuable geological maps, Dechen’s published works include: Geognostische Umrisse der Rheinlande zwischen Basel und Mainz (2 vols., 1825); Geognostische Beschreibung des Siebengebirges (1852); and Die nutzbaren Mineralien und Gebirgsarten im Deutschen Reich, nebst einer physiographischen und geognostischen Uebersicht des Gebietes (1873). He was also for many years editor of the Archiv für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Bergbau- und Hüttenkunde. His investigations of the geological structure of the Rhineland and Westphalia formed his chief contribution to science.

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