Therese made a substantial contribution to plant and animal geography. She engaged in scientific practice for more than 30 years, foreshadowing the vigor of science in the 20th century. Her interests in
geology,
botany,
anthropology and
zoology required her to attain tutors, since women at the time were not allowed to study at universities. Women were finally allowed into universities in 1903, when Theresa's father, Prince Regent Luitpold, legalized their admission. In 1871, at the age of 21, she started a series of journeys, first to Italy and Greece, then throughout Europe and North Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. In 1888, she visited Brazil, and, in 1893, North America and Mexico. A tour of South America followed in 1898. Before visiting a country, she studied the history of the land and its people, the local language and literature. She would usually travel with a group of people who served her, including a lady-in-waiting, and usually chose to travel incognito. She wrote a number of books about these excursions in which she described the natural history of the places she visited. Her early works were published under the pseudonym "Th. v. Bayer".
Expedition to Brazil Therese arrived on the mouth of the
Amazon River on the 25 June 1888. In the company of a servant trained in
taxidermy, a lady in waiting, and a
Kavalier for her protection, she travelled 1000 miles upriver to
Manaus. From there they traveled up the
Rio Negro. Along the way, Therese collected plants and animals, such as monkeys, birds, snakes, and butterflies. She hired a
creole guide who spoke 15 Indigenous languages and, with his help, bargained for ethnological artifacts. She collected weapons, such as spears, darts with iron tips, wooden arrows, but also pottery and utensils. She then traveled down the coast to
Rio de Janeiro, with a considerable collection that included live animals. A railway trip through the high mountains of the
Campos country followed, where she acquired a sizable collection of mineral specimens and visited the Academy of Mines in
Ouro Preto. The collection of artefacts was continued throughout her trip along the Rio Santa Maria. Where she could, she visited local museums and botanical gardens, studying the collections of the
National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in great detail. In Rio de Janeiro she also met with
Princess Imperial of Brazil Isabel, who had sponsored scientific expeditions and helped to establish collections that publicised Brazilian gems, minerals, plants, flowers, birds, butterflies and insects. After Therese returned to Bavaria, it took her nine years to compile an analysis of the Brazilian collection. Her publication
Meine Reise in die Brasilianischen Tropen (
My Trip to the Brazilian Tropics), an illustrated travel journal of botanical, geological, and zoological information, was published in 1897.
Engagement with Munich's academic institutions In 1892, Therese became the first woman to be given honorary membership in the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The same year, she became an honorary member of the Munich Geographical Society. In 1897, she became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Munich (
LMU Munich). She was also a corresponding member of the Berlin Entomological Society and her collection of anthropological materials from South America became part of the collection of the
State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. == Later years ==