 Sprengel was the first to recognize that the function of flowers was to attract insects, and that nature favoured cross-pollination.Along with the work of Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter he set the foundations for the modern study of floral biology and anthecology although his work was not widely recognized until Charles Darwin examined and reconfirmed several of his observations.Sprengel was born in Brandenburg an der Havel in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.