Christian Zacharias Koch
Christian Zacharias Koch (* 17th century, probably in or near Clausthal ; † 18th century, probably in or near Straßberg ) was a mountain director in Straßberg. In the first half of the 18th century he had a decisive influence on the development of the Straßberg mining industry and its water management. Large parts of the Lower Harz pond and ditch system were created under his leadership .
Live and act
Koch was from 1687 Markscheider in Clausthal, where he performed for the local mining surveying and mapping work. Among other things, from 1699 the Neue Rehberger Graben was built according to its measurements. As a Markscheider he was Bernhard Ripking's teacher . In 1708 he traveled to Saxony and Bohemia, after which he wrote a report on the pond construction there.
In 1712 Koch took over the post of mine director in Straßberg. There he continued the work of Georg Christoff von Utterodt and further developed mining and water management in the style of Upper Harz mining. The heyday of the Strassberg silver mining falls in the Koch era.
The Glückauf pit (formerly Trust in God ), which was sunk to a depth of 60 m under von Utterodt before 1712 , was expanded under Koch and was the first pit in the Lower Harz to reach a depth of over 200 meters at 216 m. In 1713 he had the first two blast furnaces built in the silver industry. The improvements in mining and smelting technology introduced under Koch's leadership attracted worldwide attention.
Under his leadership, u. a. the two largest ponds of the Lower Harz with a total storage volume of around 800,000 m³, the Glasebacher pond in 1716 and the Frankenteich in 1724. He had the Schindelbruch artificial ditch extended into the catchment area of the rivers Lude and Thyra . Because of the resistance of the citizens of Stolberg , construction was initially carried out without the permission of the Count and the trench was completed from 1726 to 1736, apart from the Ludenrösche , the connecting piece to the Schindelbruch artificial trench. The Rösche was not excavated until 1745, with which the Unterharzer pond and ditch system was completed.
Koch was also involved in the social sector. He had an orphanage built and supported the relatives of unfortunate miners. In addition, he ran the training of miners by founding a mountain school, abolished the 12-hour shift and introduced the 8-hour shift.
He finished his work in 1755, which also ended the most important operating phase of the Straßberg silver ore mining. In the same year he handed over the manuscript of his work Bergwerks-Tractätchen - about mighty corridors, ... to the Counts zu Stolberg Christian Ludewig and Friedrich Bodo , about whose whereabouts nothing is known. It is probably a revision of his text Bergwerks-Haus zu Straßberg from 1740 . In 1810 a selection of the work was published and edited by Johann Gottfried Keßler . In the intelligence paper of the Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung the volume is described as being considerably reduced in value due to the way it was edited.
Koch was regarded as unselfishly working and sometimes met with little understanding with his new ideas. He left behind a daughter who lived in poverty after the death of her father until Prince Albrecht zu Anhalt-Bernburg approved an annuity .
Others
The Kochsberg , a small elevation in the Strasbourg urban area, was named after Christian Zacharias Koch. The Langen-Luden-Breitensteiner Graben was also called Kochs-Graben at Keßler's suggestion .
Works
- Christian Zacharias Koch: From the mine household to Strassberg. Edited in excerpts and with notes by Johann Gottfried Keßler . 1st edition. Hendel, Hall 1810.
- Christian Zacharias Koch: Des Markscheider Koch's report on those points that were given to him on his trip to the Saxon Ore Mountains to make inquiries about it (= news and descriptions of Saxon mines, as well as mining art in general ). 1st edition. [Freiberg] 1708 (preserved as a manuscript).
literature
- Wilhelm Meyer (Ed.): The Manuscripts in Göttingen, Volume 2, Nachdr. D. Edition Berlin 1893 . Olms, Hildesheim 1810, ISBN 3-487-06914-8 (therein: BL 1−23 documents concerning the mine in Strassberg by Bergdirector Ch. Z. Koch and Oberamtmann Dietrichs 1740–1747).
- Hans-Heinrich Hillegeist, Wilfried Ließmann (Hrsg.): Technology transfer and emigration in the area of the Harz mining industry: proceedings of the 8th mining history workshop of the Harz association for history and antiquity e. V. 1st edition. Lukas, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-931836-56-8 . , Excerpt on Google books
- Wilfried Ließmann: 'Historical mining in the Harz . 3. Edition. Springer, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-540-31328-1 . , Excerpt on Google books
- Albrecht Hoffmann: Ripking, Bernhard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , p. 644 ( digitized version ).
- Zentralblatt für Mineralogie: Petrography, technical mineralogy, geochemistry and deposit science , part 2 excerpt
- Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geoswissenschaften, Volumes 1–5, excerpt
- Hamburg Central and East German Research: Cultural and Economic Studies in Relation to All of Germany , Volume 3, Excerpt
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Koch, Christian Zacharias |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German mining director in Straßberg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | unsure: Clausthal |
| DATE OF DEATH | 18th century |
| Place of death | uncertain: Straßberg |