[8] During the year he stayed in Hofwil, he attended classes on planting, preparation of the soil, fertilizer treatment, breeding, the mechanization of agriculture and veterinary medicine.

[9] In 1819, he enrolled into the "Landwirtschaftliche Akademie" (agricultural academy) in Hohenheim near Stuttgart in 1818, where the cultivation of forests was a primary field of education.

[11] He stayed in Hohenheim until 1821, following which he accompanied Theodor von Speyr, a merchant in his father's service, on a journey to London, Liverpool, and Dover in England, and Calais and Paris in France.

He achieved large financial gains with his firm "Frères Merian" in by-passing the Napoleonic Continental System.

Today, he is remembered mainly for founding the Christoph Merian Stiftung (Christoph Merian Foundation - CMS), a highly visible non-profit entity that continues to support social, cultural, ecological and economic projects to the benefit of the general population in the Basel region to this day.

[3] His father, Christoph Merian Senior, was a merchant who started with handling raw cotton, later with shipping/transport, banking and various speculative businesses.