Carl Hermann Credner was born on October 1, 1841, in Gotha, Thüringen, Germany.

He was a geologist and author who played a major role in the development of the modern earth sciences. After his studies of mining, mineralogy and geology, the University of Göttingen awarded him a doctorate in 1864. From 1864 to 1868, he made extensive geological investigations in North and Central America, the results of which were published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft, and the Neues Jahrhuch für Mineralogie. In 1870, he was appointed professor of geology at the University of Leipzig, and in 1872, director of the Geological Survey of Saxony. The same year, his textbook entitled “Elemente der Geologie” (“Elements of Geology”) was published for the first time. Credner’s main areas of work focussed on the geological mapping of Saxony and paleontological studies about Stegocephalia as well as macroscopic and instrumental observations of earthquakes. In 1911, the “Hermann-Credner-Stiftung” (Hermann Credner Foundation) was founded in his honour.

In 1888, he married Emma Geller (1862–1914). He died on July 21, 1913, in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany.