Early years Born in Kirchheimbolanden, Palatinate, Neumayer was the fifth child of notary Georg and his wife Theresia, née Kirchner. He went to the Frankenthal gymnasium as well as schools in Speyer and Kaiserlautern before he went to study geophysics and hydrography at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Bavaria in 1849; and becoming much interested in polar exploration, continued his studies in terrestrial magnetism, oceanography, navigation, and nautical astronomy. To obtain practical experience he made a voyage to South America on the Hamburg barque Louise, and after his return gave a series of lectures at Hamburg on Maury's theories of the ocean, and recent improvements in navigation. He then decided to go to Australia, shipped as a sailor before the mast, and arrived at Sydney in 1852.
Early years Born in Kirchheimbolanden, Palatinate, Neumayer was the fifth child of notary Georg and his wife Theresia née Kirchner. He went to the Frankenthal gymnasium as well as schools in Speyer and Kaiserlautern before he went to study geophysics and hydrography at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Bavaria in 1849; and becoming much interested in polar exploration, continued his studies in terrestrial magnetism oceanography, navigation, and nautical astronomy. To obtain practical experience he made a voyage to South America on the Hamburg barque Louise, and after his return gave a series of lectures at Hamburg on Maury's theories of the ocean, and recent improvements in navigation. He then decided to go to Australia, shipped as a sailor before the mast, and arrived at Sydney in 1852.