Hermann Theodor Breithaupt

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Hermann Theodor Breithaupt (born April 27, 1820 in Freiberg ; † September 21, 1885 ibid) was a German geologist , engineer and patriot .

The son of the academy inspector and professor at the Bergakademie Freiberg August Breithaupt and his wife Agnes Ulrike, the sister of the metallurgist Kurt Alexander Winkler , was matriculated at the Bergakademie Freiberg from 1838 to 1840 after attending the Rochlitzer School and high school, where he enrolled joined the Corps Montania and the Corps Franconia . After working as a shift supervisor in Freiberg mining , Breithaupt was appointed to the local mining office . In 1843 the technician Breithaupt saw his new task in the emerging railway system and worked as a surveyor on the construction of the railway line from Werdau to Crimmitschau . After the completion of the railway, Breithaupt got a job as a technical councilor in Zwickau . In 1847, Breithaupt married Clementine Braun, a merchant's daughter from Freiberg.

Breithaupt was a passionate patriot and supporter of the pre-March movement . As a speaker he appeared at numerous events for the creation of a unified German state. In 1848 he was one of the leading figures in the March Revolution in Saxony . Because of his appeal and the participation in the struggles of the Alemannia fraternity , with which he was very connected, during the Dresden May uprising of 1849, Breithaupt, as well as Friedrich Wilhelm Gottschalk and Gustav Anton Zeuner , were tried. The sentence pronounced against him for attempted inducement to high treason was set for 20 years in a first-degree prison and reduced to a second-degree sentence by a pardon by Friedrich August II .

After Breithaupt was called in to comb wool together with murderers in the Waldheim prison , protests by well-known personalities halved the sentence and allowed him to work as a writer. During this time he worked on the new edition of Johann Gottfried Flügel's Complete English-German and German-English Dictionary and several scientific publications. Finally, through the efforts of the Belgian King Leopold I , the Prince Consort Albert and Prince Heinrich XX. von Reuss-Greiz a complete acquittal.

Share of more than 1000 Marks of the Erzgebirge Steinkohlen-Actien-Verein from June 1st, 1885 signed by Breithaupt

For the former March revolutionary Breithaupt, however, there were no professional prospects in Saxony. His position as head of a silver mine in Schapbach , Baden, was short-lived and he was expelled from the country. Breithaupt, who was about to emigrate to America, accepted an offer to take over the management of several mines in the Sierra Almagrera . When the cholera epidemic broke out in the Andalusian province of Almería, he fell ill in 1855 and lost his wife. Because of this loss, he left Spain after his recovery in 1856 and returned to his hometown. In the same year, Breithaupt followed a call from the Serbian Prince Alexander I to reorganize mining in Serbia. In 1857 he was married to Ida Becker, a pharmacist's daughter from Schöftland, Switzerland . During the time when Breithaupt exercised the highest level of supervision over the Serbian mining industry, he was able to help the mining industry to flourish. However, the country was soon ruled by political grievances and Breithaupt, instead of being able to devote himself to his actual task, had to fight more with personal hostility, envy, nepotism and other obstacles.

For this reason it was not difficult for him to accept a position as manager of several mines and smelters in San Javier near Murcia in 1860 . After 6 years of activity, Breithaupt moved to northern Portugal , where he managed the construction of a mine and led the company to great success.

The unification of the empire in 1871 moved him to return to Germany, as he now saw his dream of a united fatherland come true. He was involved in many different ways in his hometown Freiberg, was a city councilor, justice of the peace and head of the trade association. Breithaupt was appointed to the board of directors of the Erzgebirge Steinkohlen-Aktien-Verein founded by his father .

The discoverer of germanium, Clemens Winkler , was his cousin.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} List of personalities relevant to chemistry by the TU Freiberg , accessed on June 29, 2016.
2. ↑ Königliche Bergacademie zu Freiberg (ed.): Yearbook for the miner and smelter to the year 1839 , p. 213. Freiberg: Gerlachische Buchdruckerei.
3. ^ Corps list of Corps Montania Freiberg in supplementary volume to Part 1 Corps Montania Freiberg / Saxony 1798 - 1935
4. ^ Corps list Corps Franconia in Freiberg, Saxony, March 5, 1838 to October 27, 1935, and Corps Franconia Fribergensis in Aachen since November 28, 1953, as of the summer semester 1985, p. 1, no. 12
5. ↑ Königliche Bergacademie zu Freiberg (ed.): Calendar for the Saxon mountain and hut man to the year 1843 , p. 151. Dresden: BG Teubner'sche Buchdruckerei.