Carl Christoph von Hoffmann

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Carl Christoph von Hoffmann and his second wife Friederike von Hoffmann, b. Alburg used Lüder, portrayed by Anton Graff (around 1780).

Carl Christoph Hoffmann , from 1786 von Hoffmann , (born August 6, 1735 in Powitzko , Lower Silesia , † January 9, 1801 in Berlin ) was a Prussian privy councilor and chancellor of Halle University .

Life

origin

Carl Christoph was the son of Georg Christoph Hoffmann (May 29, 1695 - October 25, 1764) and his wife Dorothea Johanne von Behnisch (February 6, 1712 - September 13, 1765 ), the economic governor of the Count's Hatzfeld estates of Trachenberg ).

Professional background

He was tutored by private tutors and introduced to the agricultural business at an early age. He attended school in Schweidnitz and from 1752 studied camera sciences at the university in Halle . His college friends in Halle included Karl Abraham von Zedlitz , who later became the Prussian Minister of Justice and Education.

In 1755, after completing his studies, he traveled through Europe and spent a few months in Italy . He did not return to his homeland until 1761 and became a royal Prussian official of the Liegnitz domain office . The turmoil of the Seven Years' War made his work very unfortunate. Shortly after the Treaty of Hubertusburg was concluded in 1763, Minister Ernst Wilhelm von Schlabrendorf gave him a new position as Chamber Councilor for Prince Heinrich of Prussia , the brother of Friedrich II , who also appointed him Chamber Director in 1772.

When King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia took office, Hoffmann was appointed Privy Councilor and Chancellor of the University in Halle on September 6, 1786. He was introduced to the dignity of the 4th Chancellor of Halle University by the current Prussian Minister Zedlitz, his former fellow student in Halle, on June 2, 1787. An office that he held until January 1, 1791. Already on October 24, 1786 Carl Christoph and his brothers Balthasar Sigismund (1740-1811) and Friedrich Gottlob (1744-1808) were raised to the nobility of the Kingdom of Prussia as von Hoffmann with a diploma .

Under his chancellorship, the Hortus medicus , the university's botanical garden , which he also understood as an economic garden, was expanded considerably. Since there was no money for property purchases, the Halle observatory was built on the highest point of the site . As an architect, through Minister Zedlitz, he won Carl Gotthard Langhans , the builder of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The observatory is considered to be the oldest building erected by the University of Halle and is an important testimony to classical architecture in Halle. In addition, the purchase of a natural history cabinet, a collection by Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Goldhagen , was initially housed in the New Residence .

In 1790 he asked for his departure because of increasing illnesses, which he was granted with honorable expressions by a cabinet letter dated December 31, 1790. Carl Christoph von Hoffmann died on January 9, 1801 at the age of 65 in Berlin while undergoing medical treatment. After his will, drawn up in 1792, he decided to use part of his fortune to found a free school for poor children. Hoffmann was an honorary member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1786 to 1793 .

Marriages

Carl Christoph von Hoffmann married Therese Auguste in Halle in 1772, the widow of the late war council Lüder , general tenant of the royal domain office in Giebichenstein . She also inherited the rich estates of Dieskau (now part of Kabelsketal ) and Lochau from her father. His wife died just a year later, her son from his first marriage received Gut Lochau in his will and Carl Christoph received Dieskau. A year later he married Friederike Auguste, the sister of his late wife. Both marriages were without children. The extensive inheritance fell to a pastor's daughter from Eilsdorf in his will .

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personal data
SURNAME Hoffmann, Carl Christoph von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hoffmann, Carl Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian privy councilor and chancellor of the University of Halle
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1735
PLACE OF BIRTH Powidzko , Lower Silesia
DATE OF DEATH January 9, 1801
Place of death Berlin