Friedrich Wilhelm von Spiegel zum Desenberg

Friedrich Wilhelm von Spiegel zum Desenberg (born May 14, 1775 at Canstein Castle , † April 13, 1807 in Olpe ) was mining captain in the mining office of the Duchy of Westphalia .

Life

He came from the von Spiegel family . His father Theodor Hermann von Spiegel (1712–1779) had been Landdrost since 1758 and thus the highest representative of the Cologne state in its Westphalian outskirts . The mother was Adolfine (born von Landsberg). One of the brothers was Ferdinand August von Spiegel (1764–1835), who later became Archbishop of Cologne. One half-brother was Franz Wilhelm von Spiegel , also Landdrost, Canon and Minister of the Electorate of Cologne. He himself later married Maria von Weichs .

Friedrich Wilhelm von Spiegel studied at the Bergakademie in Freiberg . After his return to the Duchy of Westphalia, he joined the electoral mining administration. He was named a mountain ridge in 1801 . Because of the dementia and technical incompetence of mining captain Friedrich Joseph von Boeselager, von Spiegel was de facto at the head of the mining authority. He supported his brother's plans to reform mining in the duchy.

Von Spiegel remained an official of the mining administration even after the Duchy of Westphalia passed to Hessen-Darmstadt . After Boeselager's death in 1805 he took over the post of miner captain.

In 1806 he complained about the "lack of good mining administration." Only a few officials are competent, the personnel provided for in the mountain regulations are not available and they are poorly paid. For him there was a conflict of interest between the mining entrepreneurs' short-term profit-making and the state's sustainability goals. For example, he complained about overexploitation of the Eckenfeld mine. For him, state interests took precedence over private business goals.

In his reform project he orientated himself on the model of Prussia. First of all, an efficient mining administration should be created. This should effectively control the companies. The professional training of miners in mountain schools , as well as the establishment of a miners' fund and the employment of a mountain surgeon was also important to him.

He wanted to develop the union of the copper mine Eintracht between Borntosten and Leitmar , which was essentially founded by his brother in 1803, into a model company. He wanted to prove that it was possible to set up a modern business in the Catholic Duchy as well as in the Prussian areas. In fact, the mine was organized according to the Prussian model.

Until his untimely death, there was hardly any time from Spiegel to implement his plans for reform. In Niedernfeld the Friedrich Mirror tunnel was named after him.

literature

• Wilfried Reininghaus / Reinhard Köhne: Mining, smelting and hammer works in the Duchy of Westphalia in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Münster, 2008 p. 118f. 306 312
• Wilfried Reininghaus: The Canstein House of Mining and Mining. An example of noble entrepreneurship in the early modern era. In: Stefan Brüggerhoff u. a. (Ed.): Mining and industrial history. Documentation and research. Industrial archeology and museum. Festschrift for Rainer Slotta for his 60th birthday. Munich, 2006 pp. 211, 219

Web links

• Estate in the Westphalian State Archives in Münster