Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach (born on 12th of June, 1871 in Nürnberg, died on 18th of December, 1952 in Erlangen) was a German paleontologist best remembered for his expedition to Egypt, during which the discovery of the first known remains of Spinosaurus was made.

[1] Many of the fossils discovered by Stromer were destroyed during World War II, leaving today’s scientists only a few photographs of the previously existing specimens to rely on.

Ernst Stromer had an aristocratic standing in German society (the "Freiherr" in his name roughly equals "baron" in English); his father had been the mayor in his home city of Nuremberg, and his ancestors had been lawyers, courtiers, scientists, architects, and other leaders.

Ernst Stromer was married to Elisabeth Rennebaum (1886-1977) in 1920 and had three sons (Ulman, Wolfgang, and Gerhart), all of whom served in the German army during World War II .

After checking into the hotel in Cairo, Stromer found a letter of welcome waiting for him at the post office from the director of the Geological Survey of Egypt.

Stromer visited the office of George Steindorff, a reputable German Egyptologist, as a matter of courtesy and to plan the future expedition.

Stromer's 1910 journals from Wadi el Natrun reveal that he worked all through the day, hiking for miles, climbing hills, and hammering pieces of rock from outcroppings throughout the valley.

On 18 February 1911, Stromer began his long trip back to Germany where he would describe his finds including the large spinosaurid, Spinosaurus aegypticus, and the carcharodontosaurid, Carcharodontosaurus saharicus.

In 1944, towards the end of World War II, the vast majority of Stromer's fossil collection—including the only known (though incomplete) skeletons of Spinosaurus and Aegyptosaurus—was destroyed when the museum in which it was held in Munich was bombed by the British Royal Air Force during a raid.