August Heinrich Gruner

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View from the earlier Gruner hereditary burial of the town church of Johanngeorgenstadt

August Heinrich Gruner (born January 2, 1761 in Johanngeorgenstadt ; † June 27, 1848 there ) was a German local politician and mineralogist.

Life

Gruner was the son of a glazier and learned the trade of a glazier himself . He completed his apprenticeship with a master's degree and initially helped his father in the business. He soon developed into a merchant and in 1797 took over the post of postmaster and later also the city judge in his hometown. Through this activity he had personal contact with numerous guests who stopped at the post office he managed on the market square of Johanngeorgenstadt, mostly on a trip to or from Karlsbad for a cure . This is how he got to know Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , who had come to appreciate Gruner's knowledge in the field of mineralogy . As can be seen from his letter to the mineral dealer David Knoll in Karlsbad on May 26, 1821, Goethe had Gruner procure several minerals from Bohemia .

In the wars of liberation Johanngeorgenstadt suffered a lot due to the cost of supplying troops passing through and the violence of marauding soldiers. It is only thanks to the courageous intercession of the postmaster and city judge August Heinrich Gruner that in September 1813 the former Saxon General Thielemann, who had changed to Russian services, did not set the mining town on fire. This fact was one of the reasons why Gruner was elected mayor of his hometown in 1818. He worked as a postmaster until he was 70 in 1831, then he retired.

In 1824 Gruner acquired the vitriol and sulfur works Handwerken Hoffnung on the Erzengler Mountains in response to a claim for 4,000 thalers against the merchant Friedrich Nicolai , which he took up again and ran at a great loss. In 1828 he sold it including the associated treasure trove for the same amount to his four children Amalie Augusta Priem in Wildenthal, Eduard Emil Gruner in Leipzig, Liddy Emilie Gruner and Milka Nathalia Gruner.

Gruner left the daughter Milka Nathalia (Natalie) Dörffel (1810-1888). The Gruner family's hereditary burial still existed in the Johanngeorgenstadt cemetery until the end of the 20th century.