Franz Plazid de Schumacher in Himmelrich

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FranzPlazid de Schumacher in Himmelrich. His hand rests on a book, the cover of which is decorated with the family crest.

Franz Plazid de Schumacher im Himmelrich (born November 27, 1725 in Lucerne ; † April 18, 1793 ibid), married to Elisabeth Pfyffer von Altishofen, comes from the Lucerne patrician family Schumacher of the same name . Like his son Franz Xaver later , he was a typical representative of the educated ancien régimes . He was a councilor and officer, worked as a scientist and architect and is considered a pioneer in aviation. He maintained contacts and a. to Franz Ludwig Pfyffer von Wyher and Charles François Exchaquet, into whose family his granddaughter married.

Live and act

Statesman and military

Franz Plazid Schumacher entered the service of the King of Sardinia-Piedmont as an officer in the Lucerne Regiment Keller in 1742 and then rose to the post of aristocratic statesman as a member of the then most influential family in Lucerne . He was a minor councilor, chief witness, delegate of the Diet and federal governor in Locarno. He was also in command of the relief army sent from Uri to the Livinental .

emigration

Around the middle of the 18th century, a bitter party struggle raged among the ruling families of Lucerne ( Der Schumacher-Meyer-Handel ), in which Franz Plazid Schumacher was also involved. In 1763 he had to leave Lucerne because of this. He moved with his family to Italy, where he studied mathematical sciences at the University of Bologna. He made various telescopes and was in 1770 by Duke Franz III. appointed by Modena in an autograph personal letter to ducal engineer-captain.

Architect and astronomer

The Himmelrich mansion with an observatory on the roof and the chapel consecrated by Nuncio Caprara.

When the Schumacher family won the upper hand against Joseph Rudolf Valentin Meyer in the Lucerne fights , Franz Plazid was able to return home. In 1772, with a feeling of satisfaction and according to his own plans (he was a gentleman architect), he built a noble residence with a spacious garden and flanking outbuildings. The house chapel was personally blessed by Nuncio Giovanni Battista Caprara , which underlines the importance of the Schumacher family in church circles. On this seat with an observatory, called "Himmelrich", Franz Plazid Schumacher and his son Franz Xaver devoted himself to astronomy. During the passage of Mercury on May 4, 1786, for example, he reported to the editorial staff of the Zürcher monthly Nachrichten :

“.... From this it follows that to observe the passage an achromatic telescope, which enlarges the sun disk over two feet and a seconds clock directed to the meridian , that the immersion was already over when the sun rose over the mountains , however the conjunction could be observed in length by 6 h 6 m 21 s and the emmersion in length by 9 h 3 m 21 s. ”He casually mentioned that “ the sun never had as many spots as this time ” and that the polar height of Lucerne was 46 ° 47 'and that of St. Urban is 47 ° 13'.

Experiments with montgolfing

In 1784 Franz Plazid Schumacher took part in the balloon tests of his son Franz Xaver . Some members of the Society of Men to Protect were also involved . The Montgolfières were splendidly decorated and had animals on board. The ascent above Lake Lucerne always attracted a large crowd. Franz Plazid and Franz Xaver observed the experiments from their observatory with telescopes, made calculations and described the behavior of balloons and living beings. When one of these Montgolfiers fell on fire as a result of a gust of wind from a height of almost 500 meters, the government issued a ban on such dangerous experiments, because the burning balloon envelope could have crashed over the city, which was largely made of wooden houses.

End of life

In the same year (1784) Franz Plazid Schumacher transferred the Himmelrichsitz to his son, to whom he left everything else. He withdrew and only occupied himself with his hobbies.

swell

  • Family files, Lucerne State Archive (StALU, FamA): Schumacher private archive (PA 669 and 1211) .

literature

  • E. Bühler-von Moos: Dr. iur. Franz Bühler-von Moos (in Himmelrich): on the 60th year of death. State Archives Lucerne, Lucerne 1985.
  • H. Schumacher: Outline of a family story . Lucerne 1935/1936.
  • R. Schumacher: Montgolfieren over the Lucerne bay, Franz Plazid and Franz Xaver Schumacher - forgotten flight pioneers. Lucerne house calendar Meyer-Brattig, 1997.
  • R. Schumacher: The Himmelrich Schumacher and their time - two typical representatives of the educated ancien régime. Central and university library as well as Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 1995/2008.
  • R. Schumacher: Short biographies of some representatives of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family. Central and University Library as well as Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2010.
  • R. Schumacher: The Lucerne patrician family Schumacher. Central and University Library as well as Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2010.
  • R. Schumacher: Male portraits of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family. Central and University Library, Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marc Weidmann: Exchaquet, Charles-François. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ^ Maria Anna Josepha (1777-1818) with Charles Exchaquet (1772-1818)
  3. ↑ Among the 7000 coats of arms of the former students at the University of Bologna, the family coat of arms of Franz Plazid Schumacher should also be found in Palazzo Archiginnasio
  4. ↑ He was not the only Lucerne man who dealt with astronomy. An ancestor of a related family, Johann Baptist Cysat , was one of the first to discover sunspots. A ring mountain range of the moon is named after him.
personal data
SURNAME Schumacher im Himmelrich, Franz Plazid de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss scientist and statesman
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1725
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1793
Place of death Lucerne