Christian Jakob August von Berstett

Christian Jakob August Freiherr von Berstett (born July 6, 1773 in Gerstheim Palace in Gerstheim ; † December 10, 1860 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a major and numismatist .

Life

He was a son of Phillip Jakob Reinhard von Berstett, from the noble family von Berstett his mother was Caroline Christina Leopoldine Freiin von Dettlingen. He had a brother, Wilhelm Ludwig Leopold Reinhard Freiherr von Berstett and a sister, Carolina Eleonore Franziska Luise Freiin von Berstett (1771-1791).

Berstett studied at the University of Strasbourg . In 1788 he attended the artillery school in Strasbourg at the same time. After Berstett Castle was destroyed and the Strasbourg city regiment was overthrown in the Revolution , he and his parents left their homeland. He then took part with his brother in the 1792 emigre campaign in Champagne. In 1794, against his inclination, he attended the University of Tübingen to study law. After the French invasion in 1796, he finally gave up his studies. Together with 30 fellow students he left the university and entered the K. u. K. Archduke Johann's dragoon regiment. From now on he was present as a knight at almost every theater of war at that time. He was in Regensburg in 1809 when he learned from a captured Frenchman that Napoleon was staying nearby. Without hesitation, he rode within 50 paces of this and fired his pistol, but had to flee at the same time because riders were harassing him. He could therefore not perceive the hit, it is said that Napoleon was hit in the foot. In the battle of Aspern he was able to prove himself further and was promoted to Rittmeister by Archduke Karl. In 1813 he fought in the Schwarzenberg army in Saxony and Bohemia, for which the King of Prussia awarded him the Order of St. John. In 1816 he took a leave of absence and was appointed K. u. K. Chamberlain appointed. In 1819 he returned to the regiment after staying in Frankfurt with his brother and in Alsace, but in 1822 he submitted his departure because of "very weak eyes". He received the major title and a little later, when he returned to Karlsruhe, from King Ludwig XVIII. the Knight's Cross of the St. Ludwig Military Merit Order and a little later that of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, this was followed the next year by the Commander's Cross.

On May 13, 1828, he married the mayor's daughter Julie Mayer (1804–1888) in Steinbach . He lived first in Kirchzarten, then in Freiburg, then in Mahlberg . Although he became an honorary citizen in Mahlberg and had two sons, Ludwig and Ferdinand Otto Tancred, he moved back to Freiburg in 1846. His first son Ludwig died at the age of 7 in a boarding school.

In Freiburg, in his house on Karlsplatz, he dealt in detail with his hobby, which he had been practicing since his youth: numismatics. He had amassed a collection of 8,000 coins. He published numerous treatises on numismatics, some of which are still valid today . In the course of the Baden Revolution in 1848, 30 irregulars broke into his house and looted it. Although he had managed to save the most valuable pieces, the loss was considerable. So he decided to sell the rest of his collection. The Grand Ducal Coin Cabinet acquired 154 Baden coins for 305 guilders.

Tomb v. Berstetts in the old cemetery of Freiburg

His grave is in the old cemetery in Freiburg . It was created by the sculptor Gustav Adolf Knittel .

Fonts (selection)

• An attempt at a coin history of Alsace. Emmerling, Freiburg im Breisgau 1840, ( digitized ).
• Addendum as a supplement and correction to the attempt at a coin history in Alsace. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1844, ( digitized version ).
• Coin history of the Zähringen-Baden Princely House and the cities and landscapes united under its scepter. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1846, ( digitized ).

literature

• Franz Josef Gemmert: August Freiherr von Berstett, the founder of the Upper Rhine coin history. In: Badische Heimat . Year 39, Issue 1, 1959, pp. 13-15.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Franz Josef Gemmert: August Freiherr von Berstett, the founder of the Upper Rhine coinage. In: Badische Heimat. Year 39, Issue 1, 1959, pp. 13–15, here p. 14.