David Ruetschmann

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Frater a Sancto Cajetano (1726–1796)
Bust of Cajetano “Im Tode” from the skull collection Franz Joseph Gall in the Rollett Museum

David Ruetschmann also Rutschmann alias Frater David a Sancto Cajetano (born October 5, 1726 in Lembach , † February 4, 1796 in Vienna ) was an Augustinian monk , mathematician , clockmaker and mechanic.

Life

David Ruetschmann was born on October 5, 1726 as the son of a carpenter in Lembach, County Fürstenberg , in the Black Forest . From the age of twelve he learned the carpentry and joinery trade .

After the apprenticeship , in which he was able to acquire some mathematical knowledge, he went on a journey at the age of 20 and came to Vienna in 1746, where he initially worked as a carpenter in a suburb. In 1753 he entered the barefoot monastery of the Augustinians in Mariabrunn , where he professed on March 22, 1754 and takes the name of Frater David a Sancto Cajetano . In 1760 he moved to the Augustinian Barfüßer court monastery in Vienna .

For over five years he attended lectures in philosophy, mathematics and mechanics at the University of Vienna , the latter with Joseph Walcher .

Cajetano died on February 4, 1796 in the Viennese court monastery and was buried in the Mätzleinsdorf cemetery outside Vienna.

plant

Astronomical clocks

In 1760, Frater Cajetano began to work on an astronomical art clock , which he completed on March 21, 1769. The clock has two dials, 32 hands and 20 other moving parts. A wealth of calendar and astronomical data can be read with it, such as moon phases, planetary orbits, signs of the zodiac, earth axis position and much more. The watch is now in the watch museum in Vienna . In 1781 watchmaker Josef Ruetschmann (Cajetano's nephew) moved to Vienna. On behalf of Joseph von Schwarzenberg , he built an astronomical grandfather clock based on Cajetano's designs and templates, which is still owned by the Schwarzenberg family today.

Hofburg Vienna: Green Salon with the grandfather clock based on the design by Father Cajetan

In 1790, Cajetano designed a third astronomical grandfather clock. It was built by the watchmaker Ignatz Berlinger and dated 1793 in literature. The clock is owned by the Republic of Austria and is on the premises of the Federal President in the Vienna Hofburg .

Big repairs

In August 1769 he began repairing the Herzan clock , according to tradition a work by the Augsburg clockmaker Christof Schenner. After a year of repair work Frater Cajetano leads the Vienna Civil arsenal of the imperial family (Empress Maria Theresa , Emperor Joseph II and Leopold II before) the clock.

In 1774, Frater Cajetano restarted a machine by Johann Georg Nessfell , which represented the Copernican view of the world . He made a pendulum regulator for the clock in St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Honors

In 1773 Johann Baptist Wenzel Bergl frescoed the ceiling of the monastery library and portrayed him with an armillary sphere . The former monastery library of the Vienna Court Monastery has been the public reading room (Augustinian reading room) of the national library since 1829 .

A sandstone bust was unveiled in 1996 in his birthplace, Lembach.

Fonts

In the 90s he mainly deals with the theoretical processing of his wheel building ( epicyclic gear ). Three theoretical papers have appeared on this.

  • New wheel building or the resolution of the task of how a continuous movement can be carried out by a wheel train; Heubner; Vienna 1791
  • Practical guidance for artists, all astronomical periods through usable, never before seen, completely new gears. Inevitably to be carried out precisely with ease from heaven, together with an extension of the theory of the new wheel building by Fr. David a S. Cajetano, Augustiner Baarfüsser in the kk Hofkloster; Vienna and Leipzig 1793.
  • New wheel building with improvements and additions by Fr. David a S. Cajetano, Augustiner Baarfüsser in the kk Hofkloster; Vienna and Leipzig 1793.

literature

Web links

Commons : David Ruetschmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ C. Dietzschold: David a S. Cajetano (David Rutschmann) ; The Cornelius Nepos the watchmaker; Krems 1910; P. 41f.
  2. ↑ Augustinian Hermits AEIOU - Austria Lexicon
  3. ↑ Practical Guide for ... Digital Library - Munich Digitization Center
personal data
SURNAME Ruetschmann, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brother David a Sancto Cajetano; Rutschmann, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Augustinian monk, mathematician, watchmaker and mechanic
DATE OF BIRTH October 5, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Lembach
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1796
Place of death Vienna