About Johann Heinrich von Thünen

Johann Heinrich von Thünen was born on June 24, 1783 at Canarienhausen Manor (near Jever, Lower Saxony). He died on September 22, 1850 at Tellow by Teterow in Mecklenburg.

Agricultural Scientist, National Economist, Social Reformer

Von Thünen started his agricultural training in 1799. Beginning in 1803, he studied national economy in Goettingen. He bought Tellow Manor in Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1809. There he occupied himself with the rational organization of the business of his estate and with studies of national economics. In 1826, the first part of his main work, “The isolated state in relation to agriculture and national economics: studies on the influence of grain prices, the richness of soil and the yields from crop farming ,” with the central thesis being von Thünen’s concentric model of optimal agricultural land use (Resource Cycles).

Among the pioneering achievements by von Thünen are the development of theories on agricultural and forestry production, location and spatial structures (von Thünen’s resource cycles) with according impulses for economic geography and regional science. At the same time as he developed his groundbreaking theories, he also drafted basic guidelines for running a farm. He created a systematic explanation for the level of wages, interest and land rents as well as the distribution of this income in a national economy (marginal productivity theory), and a derivation of the basic principles for optimal forestry.

In 1830 he was granted an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock for his scientific achievements. Von Thünen was successfully able to combine his knowledge of mathematical theory with practical experiences from his model farm.