Ernst von Weber

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernst von Weber

Ernst von Weber (born February 7, 1830 in Dresden , † January 4, 1902 in Rome ) was a German travel writer , advocate of German colonization and fighter against animal experiments .

Life

Ernst von Weber was born in Dresden in 1830. After studying at the Bergakademie Freiberg and at the University of Berlin , he became a farmer and then from 1851 undertook several years of travel for his further training, which took him to southern Europe, the Middle East , North Africa and America. From 1871 to 1875 Weber stayed in South Africa .

After his return from Africa, Weber campaigned in his homeland for the acquisition of colonies by the newly founded German Empire , initially using his voluminous memories of the years in Africa (1878) with great success as a journalist. This also explains why Ernst von Weber was listed as an honorary member of the Society for German Colonization at the beginning of the 1890s .

In the following years Weber devoted himself above all to the outlawing of scientific animal experiments (then: vivisection ) and for this purpose founded the International Association for Combating Scientific Animal Torture in his home town of Dresden in 1879 , whose membership increased from 565 registered members within a few months (March 1st 1880) grew to 6000 members (beginning of 1881). The better-known members included Johanna von Puttkamer , the Hanoverian military pastor Richard Knoche and the composer Franz Liszt . As president of the association, which from then on became the center of the movement against animal experiments in the German Reich, Weber achieved far-reaching social and political effects over many years, thanks to his own writings, lectures and publishing activities. Individual leaflets of the association reached a circulation of half a million copies. In addition to like-minded fellow campaigners such as Marie Espérance von Schwartz or Ernst Grysanowski , he was able to win over the composer Richard Wagner for his animal welfare cause. This is evidenced today by an open letter with which Wagner publicly and effectively supported his Saxon compatriot.

Ernst von Weber was married to Hilma Christina Wall (* October 8, 1853, † December 4, 1908) since 1888. The grave is located in the Trinity Cemetery in Dresden.

Honors

The grave of Ernst von Weber, Trinitatisfriedhof , Dresden

Fonts

  • Four years in Africa . 2 vols., Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878
  • The expansion of the German economic area and the foundation of overseas German states . Twietmeyer, Leipzig 1879
  • The torture chambers of science . Voigt, Berlin a. Leipzig 1879 (8th, extended edition 1879)
  • The struggle for independence of the Low German farmers in South Africa . Berlin 1881 (lecture)

literature

  • Richard Wagner: Open letter to Ernst von Weber, author of the "Torture Chambers of Science" . International Association for Combating Scientific Animal Torture, Dresden 1879.
  • Adolf Hinrichsen: The literary Germany , 2nd edition, Berlin et al. 1891 (DBA I 1335,286f).
  • German Biographical Archive (DBA I 1335, 285-287; II 1369, 278-279), Saur, Munich 1982 ff.

Web links

Commons : Ernst von Weber  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Ernst von Weber  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The information in Hinrichsen 1891, E. v. Weber is the son of the king. Saxon. "Privy councilor and president of the state consistory [Carl Gottlieb] v. W." (1773–1849) seems implausible.
  2. ↑ A. Hinrichsen 1891
  3. ↑ Hubert Brettschneider: The dispute over vivisection in the 19th century. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1962, p. 61.
  4. ↑ R. Wagner 1879
  5. ↑ Entry on Find a grave.com
personal data
SURNAME Weber, Ernst von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German travel writer and animal rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 1902
Place of death Rome