Anton David Steiger

Memorial plaque in Wiener Neustadt

Anton David Steiger (born February 2, 1755 in Pöttsching ; † January 30, 1832 in Wiener Neustadt ) was an Austrian mineralogist and mining pioneer .

Life

Anton David Steiger was first scribe for the dominions of Gerasdorf, Saubersdorf and Krumbach and was also in the service of Prince Joseph Franz Palffy , who made it possible for him to study at the Bergakademie Schemnitz (today Banská Štiavnica ). Through the mediation of the geologist Ignaz Edler von Born, he was recommended to Emperor Josef II and from 1785 toured the monarchy on an imperial order to explore suitable coal seams , ore mines, etc.

He achieved considerable prosperity and in 1788 leased the Seebenstein Castle in southern Lower Austria, which was owned by Count Joseph von Pergen and had not been inhabited for a long time . He saved the castle, which was already neglected at that time, from decay and furnished it with historical furniture, armor, weapons and a considerable collection of minerals.

Anton David Steiger was an enthusiastic supporter of the romanticism of knights and founded the Wildenstein knighthood on blue earth in 1790 with like-minded people under his knight name "Hainz am Stain der Wilde" , with Seebenstein Castle serving as the headquarters. Among other things, the brother of Emperor Franz I , Archduke Johann, as high and grand master belonged to this knightly union . This group of men made a lot of talk in the first decades of the 19th century and even aroused the curiosity of the monarch, Franz I, who paid Anton David Steiger a visit to the castle in Seebenstein in 1811.

In 1792 Anton David Steiger took over the office of economic council in the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. In 1812 he was given the title "Edler von Amstein". His coat of arms consisted of a two-part shield, with the upper part split once. In field 1 there was a capricorn , in field 2 there was a crowned lion in blue with a hammer in each paw. In the lower part there was a silver mountain with an entrance to a mine and an air shaft.

The fact that his knighthood not only included the emperor's brother, but also Freemasons and Jacobins frequented the castle in Seebenstein, aroused suspicion among the emperor's advisors and especially with the state chancellor, Prince Metternich . In 1823, Steiger had to dissolve the Wildenstein knighthood on blue earth by order of the then regional president, Augustin Reichmann Freiherrn von Hochkirchen . A year later, in 1824, Imperial Count Johann Karl von Pergen sold Seebenstein Castle to Prince Johann von Liechtenstein and Steiger had to leave his beloved castle. Steiger left all furnishings and in particular his extensive mineralogical collections to the Prince of Liechtenstein.

Steiger applied for his permanent retirement and spent the last seven years of his life in Wiener Neustadt.

He was buried in the now abandoned Sankt Ulrich cemetery in Wiener Neustadt. The following inscription adorned his tombstone:

Anton David Steiger Ritter von Amstein, born February 2 (1) 755, died January 30 (1) 832. For him, whose heart broke in the urge to do justice and loyalty, weeps after his love and pain after tears.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Steiger, Edler von Amstein, Anton David . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 38th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1879, pp. 15–19 ( digitized version ).
• M. Martischnig:  Steiger von Amstein Anton David. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 13, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2007–2010, ISBN 978-3-7001-6963-5 , p. 145.