Hans Merensky
Hans Merensky (born March 16, 1871 in Botshabelo , Transvaal , † October 21, 1952 ) was a German-born South African geologist, prospector and philanthropist. He discovered some of the world's most important raw material deposits of diamonds, gold, platinum, chromium, copper and phosphate in South Africa.
Life
Hans Merensky was born as the son of Alexander Merensky in the Botshabelo mission station of the Berlin Mission Society , near Middelburg in the Transvaal. He developed an interest in minerals early on , which later became his passion. In 1882, when he was 11 years old, his parents moved with him to Berlin, where he finished school. After his military service, he worked for a year in the Upper Silesian coal mining industry. Then Merensky began studying mountain sciences and geology at the Technical University of Wroclaw . After another internship in Saar coal mining, he continued his studies at the Bergakademie Berlin with the aim of later working as a mountain trainee. However, he passed the examination to become a mountain assessor . He did his doctorate at the Bergakademie Berlin. Then he began to work for the Prussian Mining Authority in the Wroclaw Oberbergamt .
In 1904 he went to South Africa to conduct some geological surveys in the Transvaal. A short time later he discovered tin near Pretoria. He reported this discovery to the mining company Premier Diamond Mine regarding possible mining prospects. During his first time in South Africa, Hans Merensky prospected for several mining companies, including Friedländer & Co., who sent him to Madagascar to investigate an alleged gold find at Anosivola , which however turned out to be false. He quit his job in Germany and moved to Johannesburg , where he became a successful consulting geologist.
In 1909 he visited the diamond fields of German South West Africa and made the controversial prediction that diamonds could be found on the west coast and south of the Orange . In 1914 Merensky lost all his fortune because of the war and was interned in the Fort Napier camp near Pietermaritzburg , as he was formally a German reserve officer. During these financially difficult years he enjoyed the support of Sir George Albu .
In 1924 he made the first platinum discovery in an alluvial deposit on the Maandagshoek farm in Lydenburg district, so that his financial situation could improve. While searching for the primary platinum deposit, he discovered a dunite pipe . A little later he found the Merensky Reef named after him . In 1926 he found diamonds at Alexander Bay . Merensky then sold his mining interests for £ 1,250,000 and founded Phosphate Development Corporation Ltd. ( FOSKOR ) to direct the production of phosphates at Phalaborwa .
With part of the money he bought the Rodenwalde estate in Mecklenburg from Henning von Bülow in 1930 , which he had the well-known architect Werner Cords-Parchim expanded into a modern large estate. In his last years he lived on his farm Westfalia , near Duiwelskloof in the Transvaal, where he received national celebrities and foreign dignitaries with great hospitality.
He allocated the greater part of his fortune to the Hans Merensky Trust to ensure that his projects in agriculture, horticulture and forestry would continue on the Westfalia-Gut after his death. He also founded the Hans Merensky Library at the University of Pretoria .
Discovered deposits
- Alexander Bay , Namaqualand : richest deposits of alluvial diamonds
- Lydenburg , Rustenburg and Potgietersrus : huge platinum and chrome deposits , today the largest platinum mines in the world
- Phalaborwa , Transvaal Lowveld : Phosphate and copper deposits
- Free State : Gold
- Hunting pleasure near Pietersburg : the world's largest chrome deposits
Movie
The life of Hans Merensky was filmed in 2003 as a two-part television film with Tim Bergmann in the title role under the title The White African .
literature
- Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa , vol. 7. Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery, Cape Town 1972
- Eberhard Machens : Platinum, gold and diamonds. The adventure of Hans Merensky's discoveries . 2009, ISBN 978-3-510-65257-0 ( publisher information with reviews and table of contents )
- Eberhard Machens: Hans Merensky - geologist and patron. Platinum, gold and diamonds in Africa . Schweizerbart, 2011, ISBN 978-3-510-65269-3 ( publisher information with reviews and table of contents )
- Claus Priesner: Merensky, Hans. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 131 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Hans Merensky in the catalog of the German National Library
- Hans Merensky website (en)
- Der weisse Afrikaner (2004) (TV) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b s2a3: Merensky, Hans . on www.s2a3.org.za (English)
- ↑ a b Merensky, Hans . on www.deutsche-biographie.de (English)
- ^ "Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Discovery of the Platiniferous Merensky Reef"
- ↑ Uwe Julius Uwe Julius: Rodenwalde. Former storage building in Rodenwalde. Retrieved February 4, 2010 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merensky, Hans |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | South African geologist, prospector, environmentalist and philanthropist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Botshabelo , Transvaal |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1952 |