Franz Xaver de Schumacher in Himmelrich
Franz Xaver de Schumacher im Himmelrich (* May 2, 1755 in Lucerne ; † 1808 ? In Venice ), married to Maria Anna von Fleckenstein, comes from the Lucerne patrician family Schumacher of the same name . Like his father Franz Plazid de Schumacher in Himmelrich, he was a typical representative of the educated Ancien Régimes . Like his father, 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 from whose family his son-in-law also came.
Live and act
emigration
Around the middle of the 18th century, a bitter party struggle raged among the ruling families of Lucerne ( Schumacher-Meyer trade ). The father of Franz Xaver was also involved in this. The family therefore had to leave Lucerne in 1763 and moved to Italy, where the father studied mathematics at the University of Bologna. Franz Xaver was given a job by his father as a personal page for the ruling duke. In 1768 Franz Plazid enrolled him at the University of Bologna in the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences. His sister became a canon in the noble monastery of St. Matthias in Bologna.
When Franz Plazid Schumacher received the news in Italy that he had been rehabilitated, he returned to Lucerne, while Franz Xaver stayed until 1773 to complete his studies at the natural science faculty of the University of Modena with a dissertation . In 1774 the Duke appointed him Chamberlain and Knight of the Golden Key. The Lucerne government had willingly issued the necessary certificate of aristocratic origin. The Himmelrich-Schumacher from then on carried the nobility title “de” .
Return to Lucerne
In Lucerne, Franz Xaver went through the state career of a patrician and in 1782 became Federal Governor of Wil in the prince-abbot of St. Gallen and in 1794 he was the builder of Lucerne. In addition to physics, mathematics and meteorology , he dealt with architecture . He had inspired his father in building the Himmelrich House, which he built in 1772 after his return from exile. It can also be assumed that he also influenced Josef Pankraz von Grüebler in Wil, who built the baron house opposite the governor's seat in 1795.
Aviation pioneer
Franz Xaver de Schumacher constructed telescopes at the Himmelrich manor , made astronomical and meteorological observations and built the city's first lightning rod . In 1784 he let magnificently decorated Montgolfièren with animals on board soar over Lake Lucerne , which always gave a folk festival and attracted large crowds. Franz Xaver and his father observed the experiments from the in-house observatory with telescopes. The two made calculations and described the behavior of the balloon and living beings. When one of these spheroidal missiles, measuring 6 by 7 meters, 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 - the burning balloon envelope could also have crashed over the city, which was largely made of wooden houses.
Elevation plan of the city of Lucerne
Franz Xaver de Schumacher made a number of facade drawings and copperplate engravings , for example a view of the Himmelrich manor in 1783 with the paternal alliance coat of arms in the foreground, one showing the Ibenmoos and Knutwil baths, one view of the city of Lucerne and one of the ducal palace in Modena. He also created a facade drawing for the Pfyffer von Wyher house on Lucerne's Mühleplatz. His main artistic work, however, which testifies to skilful architectural fine art, is the splendid elevation plan of the city of Lucerne, created in years of painstaking detailed work, which was praised throughout Switzerland in 1792 for its richness and accuracy.
Revolutionary years
After the death of his father in 1793, Franz Xaver distanced himself from the tradition of his family and played a leading role in the Progressive Party. When Napoleon's army invaded Switzerland in 1798 and Lucerne hoped to avert the danger by abolishing the aristocratic constitution , Franz Xaver was standing as brigade captain on the Bernese border. But then he entered the service of the French, who set up a navy for Lake Lucerne. They transferred command of the largest ship to Franz Xaver Schumacher. The flotilla dominated the whole lake and occasionally got into combat with the inhabitants of the bank who were hostile to the French. Franz Xaver was wounded in the process. In his report to Masséna , General Lecourbe also mentioned Franz Xaver Schumacher by name, who “maneuvered with incomparable skill” and whose “well-fed and well-directed fire contributed not a little to the success” .
fail
Franz Xaver had made no friends with his French-friendly attitude, and Helvetic did not thank him either. When the government canceled a loan, he went bankrupt. In 1800 he was still involved in the marriage of his daughter to Charles Exchaquet from an old Vaudois family, then he disappeared. In 1803 he was imprisoned in the Temple in Paris . The reason is not known. In 1803 Exchaquet paid his father-in-law's faithful and in 1805 he was rehabilitated. But it wasn't until 1808 that we heard from him again, this time from Italy, where he presumably died that same year.
Mother, daughter and wife were no longer in Lucerne. They sold the "Himmelrich" to a wealthy family of doctors and moved to Lausanne. Before that they swore that no member of a Lucerne patrician family should ever live in this house. Little did they suspect that the new owners were developing ever closer family ties with the Schumacher family and that they were keeping an honorable memory of the Lords of Heaven.
See also
swell
- Family files, Lucerne State Archive (StALU, FamA): Schumacher private archive (PA 669 and 1211) .
literature
- Elisabeth Bühler-von Moos: Dr. iur. Franz Bühler-von Moos (in Himmelrich): on the 60th year of death. Lucerne 1985.
- Hans Schumacher: Outline of a family history of the formerly regimental branch of the Schumacher of Lucerne. Lucerne 1935–1937.
- Renato Schumacher: Montgolfier over the Lucerne Bay, Franz Plazid and Franz Xaver Schumacher - forgotten flight pioneers. Lucerne house calendar Meyer-Brattig, Lucerne 1997.
- Renato Schumacher: The Himmelrich Schumacher and their time - two typical representatives of the educated ancien régime. Lucerne 1995/2008.
- Renato Schumacher: Short biographies of some representatives of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family. Lucerne 2010.
- Renato Schumacher: The Lucerne patrician family Schumacher. Lucerne 2010.
- Renato Schumacher: Male portraits of the Lucerne patrician Schumacher family. Lucerne 2005.
Web links
- Markus Lischer: Schumacher [from]. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Website of the Lucerne family (of) Schumacher
Individual evidence
- ^ Martin Weidmann: Exchaquet, Charles-François. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- ^ Obituary by Josef Pankraz Grüebler on wilnet.ch , accessed on January 15, 2013.
- ↑ Das Baronenhaus on wilnet.ch , accessed on January 15, 2013.
- ↑ State Archives Lucerne: Elevation plan of the city of Lucerne ( memento of the original from February 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Remarks
- ↑ Charles Exchaquet (1772-1818)
- ↑ The idea to go to Italy came from his mother, her uncle and grandfather (son of the papal guard commander Franz Pfyffer von Altishofen), who both studied in Parma and lived in Italy for a few years.
- ↑ Maria Anna Josepha (1777-1826)
- ^ Interventions by Schultheiss Vinzenz Rüttimann and Landammann Louis Auguste Philippe Graf d'Affry were unsuccessful.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schumacher im Himmelrich, Franz Xaver de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss aviation pioneer and statesman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 2, 1755 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lucerne |
| DATE OF DEATH | uncertain: June 1808 |
| Place of death | Lucerne |