Meinicke worked at the gymnasium in
Prenzlau starting in September 1825. Here, he initially worked as a collaborator, from 1829 as a subrector, and from 1833 as a conrector. In 1838, he was appointed a professor and served as the director from 1846 to Easter 1852, as the previous director, Schultze, was ill. From 1852 until his retirement in Easter 1868, he was the director of this institution. Afterward, he lived in Dresden until his death. His main subjects of instruction were primarily geography and history, as well as Greek in the higher classes and, at times, Latin in the middle levels, and in the Tertia, natural sciences and French. In his long teaching career, he was considered diligent and conscientious but also strict. He was involved in implementing the system of Realklassen (real classes), and the number of students was later nearly doubled. Meinicke had made a name for himself as a geographer in scientific circles. Through his work, he came into contact with other scientists, including Carl Ritter and the brothers
Alexander and
Wilhelm von Humboldt, with whom he corresponded, as well as Leopold von Buch, who visited him at his home. His main work,
Die Südseevölker und das Christentum (The South Sea Peoples and Christianity), was published in 1844. After taking over the directorate, he had hardly any time to write further works. It wasn't until after his retirement that he published his last major work,
Die Inseln des großen Ozeans (The Islands of the Great Ocean). He also authored a geography textbook for upper classes and a guidebook for lower classes. He delivered numerous lectures at the Verein für Erdkunde zu Dresden (Association for Geography in Dresden). On a personal level, Meinicke was rather unpopular among those who did not know him well, as he appeared to them as heartless, cold, and stern. He was considered one of the most thorough experts on the
Polynesian island world, even though he had never traveled there. == Works ==