Friedrich Christian Weber

Friedrich Christian Weber (date and place of birth unknown; † 1739?) Was a diplomat or 'secretarius' in the service of the Electorate of Hanover and appeared as envoy in 1714 at the court of Peter I in Russia . Weber's origin, education and life path is largely unknown; some things could be traced back to his diplomatic correspondence.

Life

Weber began his service for the embassy authority of the Electorate of Hanover in 1713. From 1714–1719 he stayed at the court of Peter I and made notes for his three-part work "The changed Russia". With the work he wanted to gain knowledge of the Expanding Russian history. The first volume appeared in 1721, the second and third parts appeared in 1739/40. All three parts contain a wealth of people, dates, facts and information of all kinds.

Where Weber got his information and materials from is unknown; possibly he had records from the Tsar's immediate surroundings and statements from those directly involved; perhaps he was an eyewitness himself.

In February 1719 Weber married Maria Louisa Dusterwaldt in St. Petersburg.

"The changed Russia"

The first part of the work comprises Weber's report on his diplomatic activities between 1714 and 1719 at the Peters court. He explains economy, population, art, religion, military and politics. Relationships with Asian neighbors and submissive peoples can also be found. Above all, it was important for Weber to describe the changes in Russia and not just cities, countries and rulers. The first part also contains other, interesting reports and documents of all kinds. The inserted images and maps, which are of different origins, types and purposes, are impressive. Some materials were first communicated by Weber.

The second part begins with the year 1721 and lasts until the death of Peter I in 1725. The third part begins with the accession of Catherine I and ends chronologically, not with regard to the texts, after the death of Peter II.

Weber's work is not actually a historiographical work, but belongs to the genre of the journal . It is a diary-like record of significant and incidental events and impressions. A sequence in terms of content and time cannot be identified; at Weber there is no system like in other diplomatic reports. The external form is also designed differently: a division into paragraphs, at the edge of the text there are keywords, names, dates. Sources are seldom named or often only where they are publicly known anyway.

Weber had to adhere to the specifications, since “The changed Russia” was a commissioned work. The work appeared anonymously.

literature

• Martin Klonowski: In the service of the House of Hanover. Friedrich Christian Weber as envoy to the Russian Empire and Sweden 1714–1739. Matthiesen Verlag, Husum 2005 (historical studies 485), ISBN 978-3-7868-1485-6
• Russian cultural history in diplomatic travel reports from four centuries , Wolfgang Geier, 208 p., 2004, ISBN 3-447-04840-9
• Memoires pour servir à l'histoire de l'empire Russien, sous le regne de Pierre le Grand 1725, Johnson & van Duren, Friedrich Christian Weber, Pëtr, { online at the Göttingen digitization center }
• The Changed Russia, in which the current constitution of the Spiritual and Secular Regiment; the war-state on land and sea; True state of Russian finances; the open Berg-Wercke; the established academies, arts, manufactures, issued ordinances, deals with the Asiatic descendants and vassals, along with the very latest news from these peoples, the incidents of Czarewitzen, and what else remarkable things happened in Russia, along with various other little known news in one bite 1720. are presented to the going JOURNAL, provided with an accurate country map and copper engravings . Nicolaus Förster, Frankfurt 1721 ( digitized version )

Web links

• Literature by and about Friedrich Christian Weber in the catalog of the German National Library