Hans Tscherte

Hans Tschertte's coat of arms by Albrecht Dürer, 1522

Hans Tscherte , also Tschertte († before September 27, 1552 in Vienna ) was an Austrian architect and fortress builder. He made a decisive contribution to the defense of Vienna in 1529 during the first Turkish siege .

Life

Hans Tscherte is very likely from Brno , where he owned a house from 1508 to 1527. His name is a corruption of the Czech name Čert , which means “wild man” or “devil”. Tscherte was first mentioned in a document in 1486, when he was matriculated at the University of Vienna . He had lived in Vienna since 1509 and bought a house at 15 Tuchlauben in 1512.

Tscherte worked in various public functions. He was a council member from 1515–20 and 1522, citizen hospital master 1518–20, bridge master 1527–29 and master builder of the Lower Austrian provinces 1528–52.

Tscherte was a member of the committee for advising on countermeasures against the Turks as early as 1522. During the siege in 1529, as an expert in fortress construction, he made a significant contribution to the defense against the Turks, working together with the mayor of the time, Wolfgang Treu . After the siege, he played a decisive role in the construction of the new city fortifications (1531). From 1534 he was involved in the renovation and expansion of the Hofburg . He also worked on behalf of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in Wiener Neustadt , Prague , Raab , Komorn and Breslau .

Hans Tscherte was in contact with Albrecht Dürer , who drew his coat of arms in 1522, and the humanist Willibald Pirckheimer . From 1524 Tscherte publicly declared himself a Lutheran. He was married three times, his daughter Susanne married the court painter Jakob Seisenegger .

The German mathematician Heinrich Schreiber , called Henricus Grammateus, dedicated the first printed German book with 76 pages on algebra, Ayn new kunstlich Buech which certainly and nimble learns according to the common rule Detre / welschen practic / rules falsi and a number of rules Cosse “Dem noble farsighted weysen Johannsen Tschertte ainer of the senate of Vienna and hospital master there / my favorable dear lord ... give to Vienna in Austria every year after our selimacher's trained. MDXViii. “(Coss is the German name for algebra at the time.) On the back of the title page of the book is the coat of arms of Tschertte.

In 1940 Tscherttegasse (with two tons) in Vienna- Meidling was named after him.

literature

• Karl Weiß:  Tscherte, Hans . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 38, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, pp. 716-718.
• Felix Czeike: Historical Lexicon Vienna Vol. 5 . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997
• Wolfgang Kaunzner: "On the Algebra of Heinrich Schreyber" in "Heinrich Schreyber from Erfurt, called Grammateus. Festschrift for the 500th birthday", edited by Manfred Weidauer, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Munich 1996, pages 25-64.