Heinrich Wagnereck (Alchemist)
Heinrich Wagnereck (also Heinrich Wangnereck ; † 1683 in Enns ) was a German alchemist of the 17th century who pretended to be able to transform base metals into gold and to be a baron. He was active from about 1680 to 1683.
Wagnereck was the nephew of the Jesuit theology professor in Dillingen Heinrich Wangnereck (1595–1664). Like him he came from the middle class. He performed his first transmutation in front of a large audience in Prague in 1680. He also worked in Frankfurt, Ischl and Moravia in 1682, where he suffered from heart problems (dropsy). A doctor in Brno cured him temporarily and he went to Vienna, where he set up a goldmaker's business, but then fell ill again and died on the way home to Passau.
The alchemical historian of alchemy Karl Christoph Schmieder counted him, along with Sehfeld , Setonius , Irenäus Philalethes and Laskaris, to the real adepts and thus at least to those who were very good at deceiving their audience.
literature
- Karl Christoph Schmieder: History of Alchemy. Halle 1832, p. 439ff.
Individual evidence
- ↑ v. Schulte : Wagnereck, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 590. Schmieder gives 1614 to 1684 as dates of life.
- ^ Schmieder, Geschichte der Alchemie 1839, p. 601
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wagnereck, Heinrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wangnereck, Heinrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German alchemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1683 |
| Place of death | Enns |