Georg Septimus Andreas von Praun

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Georg Septimus Andreas von Praun (born August 4, 1701 in Vienna ; † April 30, 1786 in Braunschweig ) was a German statesman, archivist , librarian , historian and numismatist .

Life

Youth and education

He was the eldest son of the lawyer and imperial councilor Tobias Sebastian von Praun († 1710) and his wife Anna Marie, b. by Fabrice († 1737). After the early death of his father, he moved with his mother and five siblings to Regensburg and later to Weißenburg in Bavaria . Von Praun studied law and history at the University of Altdorf since 1721 . The historian and numismatist Johann David Köhler was one of his academic teachers . He left Altdorf in August 1723 and continued his training with a long trip to Paris via Strasbourg . After his return he entered the service of Prince Albrecht Ernst II of Oettingen in April 1725 as a government assessor . The relationship between this prince and Duke Ludwig Rudolf von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , whose wife Christine Luise was Albrecht Ernst's sister, led von Praun to Blankenburg at the beginning of 1727 . At the Blankenburg court he was appointed chamberlain by Duke Ludwig Rudolf and in 1728 he was appointed real councilor in the chancellery. He received the supervision of the princely library, which he rearranged and cataloged.

Activity in Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig

After the death of Duke August Wilhelm in 1731, the younger brother Duke Ludwig Rudolf took over the government of the entire Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . Von Praun moved to the residential town of Wolfenbüttel , where he became assessor at the court court and civil servant in the office in mid-1731. In April 1736 he was appointed a secret councilor and in January 1749 vice chancellor. Since November 1746 he was responsible for the reorganization of all archives in the state, including the main archive, today's Wolfenbüttel State Archive , and the Braunschweig City Archive as successor to Anton Ulrich von Erath . Von Praun campaigned for the security, order and utilization of the country's archives. In November 1751 he was also given overall supervision of the ducal library, today's Herzog August Bibliothek . When Duke Karl I assumed the supreme guardianship of heir Wilhelm V of Holland in 1751, von Praun also had to run this business, which lasted until 1766, at times in Dillenburg . In addition, in 1758, after the death of Duke Ernst August II. Constantin , who left behind two sons and a widow, Duchess Anna Amalia , daughter of Duke Charles I of Braunschweig, he was appointed head of Weimar's guardianship .

In 1761, Wolfenbüttel was conquered by French troops during the Seven Years' War . Von Praun was held hostage by the French until July 1764, where he was held in Göttingen, Rheinfels and Metz. He used the imprisonment time for literary work. In January 1765 he was appointed Real Privy Council , Chancellery and Consistorial President. On May 7, 1770, he introduced Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as librarian in the ducal library, although apparently there was no closer relationship between the two. After Schrader von Schliestedt's death , he was appointed first minister in his place on July 23, 1773, and at the same time president of the war college. He changed his place of residence to the new residential city of Braunschweig. A resignation from the very old von Praun in 1783 was rejected by the ruling Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand , but he was granted relief. Von Praun died in Braunschweig on April 30, 1786 at the age of 85 and was buried in Braunschweig Cathedral on May 5 .

family

Von Praun was married twice. With his first wife Friederike Luise, geb. von Brandenstein († 1745) he had eight sons and four daughters. In 1746 he married her sister Dorothea Marie Anna Eleonore von Brandenstein († 1791), from which marriage two daughters emerged. Only two sons survived the father, the later privy councilor Carl von Praun and the later chief forest master August Ernst von Praun († 1806). The von Praun family lived in Braunschweig until 1962.

Fonts (selection)

Von Praun was interested in many things, with a focus on researching the history of Braunschweig and the state constitution. Few of his works were printed; Many of his manuscripts are in the Wolfenbüttel State Archives. He kept diaries about court life in Blankenburg and about his French hostage.

  • Notes from the Sigillis Pedestribus, which, no less than the Sigilla Equestria, can only be held by people of high rank or nobility .
  • Bibliotheca Brunsvico-Luneburgensis scriptores rerum Brunsvico-Luneburgensium justo materiarum ordine dispositos exhibens. 1744.
  • Thorough news of German coinage.
  • Latest patriotic literature.
  • Complete Braunschweigisches-Lüneburgisches Siegel-Cabinet. 2nd edition, 1789. ( Digitale-sammlungen.de )

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Death register of the Brunswick Cathedral St. Blasii (G III 2: 308); Information from the Braunschweig City Archives from January 12, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Praun, Georg Septimus Andreas von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German statesman, archivist, librarian, historian and numismatist
DATE OF BIRTH August 4, 1701
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1786
Place of death Braunschweig