Background
The son of a farmer, Dahl studied at the universities of Leipzig, Freiburg, Berlin and Kiel.
The son of a farmer, Dahl studied at the universities of Leipzig, Freiburg, Berlin and Kiel.
His dissertation (1884) was on "Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Baus und der Funktion der Insektenbeine". He became a Privatdozent in 1887. With a habilitation thesis "Ueber die Cytheriden der westlichen Ostsee".
Around this time he traveled to the Baltic states and (1896–1897) to the Bismarck Archipelago near New Guinea.
He was also interested in biogeography. Dahl remained in Berlin until he retired and his type collection is held in this museum.
Although he described many animal groups, Dahl concentrated on spiders. He was also interested in biogeography and animal behaviour.
She also published several works on spiders.
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.