As one of the foremost scientists of the time, the Zurich-born botanist Hans Schinz travelled throughout the colony of German South-West Africa, now known as Namibia, from 1884 to 1886. During his expeditions, which covered the length and breadth of the country, he was an enthusiastic collector of many botanical, ethnographical, zoological and mineral samples. He described his experiences in vivid detail in letters to his family and colleagues in Zurich and Berlin. The extensive collections, with which he returned to Switzerland, and his subsequent research fostered his rapid career progression: in 1893 Hans Schinz became the director of the Zurich Botanical Gardens and in 1895 the Professor of Systematic Botany at the University of Zurich.