Education
He studied geology, botany and zoology at the Universities of Berlin and Königsberg, graduating in 1888 with the thesis Untersuchungen über semaeostome und rhizostome Medusen.
biologist Botanist explorer university professor Zoologist
He studied geology, botany and zoology at the Universities of Berlin and Königsberg, graduating in 1888 with the thesis Untersuchungen über semaeostome und rhizostome Medusen.
In 1889-1890 he conducted research of jellyfish at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples. In 1892-1893 he participated in a Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin-sponsored expedition to West Greenland under the leadership of Erich von Drygalski (1865–1949). Afterwards he worked for a few years at the Institute of Zoology in Kiel.
In 1898-1899 he took part in the Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition aboard the steamship "Valdivia".
From an abundant yield of deep-sea marine fauna collected on the expedition, Vanhöffen was tasked with processing medusa species. Led by Erich von Drygalski, the expedition endured periods of hardship due to the "Gauss" being trapped in Antarctic ice for several months.
Vanhoffen Bluff (Coordinates: 53°0′South 73°21′East) was named in his honor.
From August 1901 to November 1903 he was a member of the Deutschen Südpolar-Expedition aboard the research vessel "Gauss".