Johann Achamer

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Johann Achamer (also Achammer , actually Aichhammer ; * December 27, 1650 in Innsbruck ; † December 9, 1712 in Vienna ) was an Austrian metal and bell caster who mainly worked in Vienna. He created the Josephine Bell in 1711 .

Foundry in Vienna

Achamer came from a family of dyers. In 1678 he set up a “stucco and bell foundry” (stucco = cannon) in Vienna on the Wendelstatt in the parish of St. Ulrich .

The address corresponds roughly to Burggasse 55 in today's 7th district of Vienna, Neubau . Stuckgasse , which was laid out in 1809 and named after the former house sign "Zum Goldenen Stuck" , also ends at this corner . Sometimes Schwabengasse - today's Siebensterngasse - is also given, it is on the same block, parallel to Burggasse and at the other end of Stuckgasse. A sometimes incorrectly assumed casting site in Leopoldstadt results from the fact that due to the weight and size of the bell, only the Rotenturm gate facing Leopoldstadt and the bridge in front of it were large and strong enough to bring the bell into the city and that is why the bell has been pulled halfway across the city.

Achamergasse , named after him in 1903, was previously part of Exnergasse from 1862 ; it was in the 18th district until 1905 and has since been in the 9th district, Alsergrund .

Josephinian bell

The Josephine Bell or Old Pummerin in the belfry of the south tower in St. Stephen's Cathedral

The Bishop of Vienna Franz Ferdinand von Rummel and the City of Vienna under Mayor Johann Franz Wenighoffer signed a contract with Achamer on December 18, 1710 to cast a flawless bell of around 304 quintals (17,024 kg) and four pull bottles . He had already received 330 quintals (18,480 kg) of broken material and the magistrate guaranteed him 40 quintals (2,240 kg) of Schlackenwerther tin. He also had to undertake to help both with the transport and with the winding of the bell. He also had to give the magistrate an account of the amount of metal used, commit himself to be liable with all his belongings for any fire damage to neighboring houses and to repair defects that occur on the bell within two years at his own expense. In return, he received 10 guilders per hundredweight for the pull bottles and 7 guilders per hundredweight of bell weight, half of which immediately, the other half after completion. In addition, 100 ducats as a bonus, because Achamer had argued that with the 7 guilders per hundredweight he would have lost 1014 guilders and 45 kreuzers . The total cost of the bell was 19,500 guilders. The handle was manufactured by another company.

The preparatory work began soon. Six day laborers dug a pit in 16 days and a bricklayer worked together with two day laborers 12,000 bricks and four fathom stones into a casting furnace. On July 21, 1711, the successful casting of the Josephinian bell - later called Pummerin - took place in the presence of high-ranking personalities. On a low loader, probably designed by Achamer, she was pulled by 200 people (since horses were out of the question because of the uneven tightening) over the glacis to the Danube bank, along this to the Fischertor at the red tower and from there to Stephansplatz.

The Latin dedication on the lower edge of the bell said: "The ore of the Turkish cannons, from which they raged against Vienna for 2 moons in 1683 , until they were knocked out by Carl Duke of Lorraine and the allied Christian princes, was made by Johann Achammer, imperial stucco caster, transformed into this instrument of more than 30,000 pounds consecrated to the service of God with art and with luck. "

Other works

  • 1694 - Two bells for the Laxenburg parish church
  • 1705 - Prandtnerin in the parish church "Maria Himmelfahrt auf dem Berge" in Oberndorf / Raabs an der Thaya ; Diameter: 1.22 m; Motifs: Cross, S. Maria, S. Josef, S. Georg; Inscription: “Johann Achamer Kays. St. in Wienn gma 1705 "( Kays. =" Kaiserlich "; St. =" Stuckgießer ") and" Johann Simon Prandtner, former dean and pastor of Raps "
    (A measuring bell with the motifs cross and S. Maria and the inscription: "Joh. Achamer gm in Pressburg, 1705")
  • A bell in the Rodaun parish church

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Hans Mück: Sources on the history of the Alsergrund district , Verein f. Story d. City of Vienna, 1978, p. 14.
  2. ^ A b Hans Rotter: New building: a home book of the 7th Viennese district , Deutscher Verlag für Jugend und Volk, 1925, p. 149.
  3. ↑ Elfriede Faber: New building: History of the 7th Viennese district and its old places , Edition Vienna, 1995, ISBN 3-85058-065-2 , p. 80.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Mayer: New building , youth a. Volk Verl.-Ges., 1983, v. 7, p. 59.
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Czerny, Ingrid Kastel: Vienna: II. To IX. and XX. District , A. Schroll, ISBN 3-7031-0680-8 , p. 318.
  6. ↑ Ignaz de Luca: Topography of Vienna- First Volume , In Commission bey Thad. Noble v. Schmidbauer and? Omy, am Graben zu Blaue Krone, Vienna 1794, p. 420 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  7. ↑ Joseph von Hormayr: Wien, seine Geschicke und Denkbarenkeit , Härter, 1824, p. 87 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  8. ↑ Conversion from: Wolfgang Trapp : Small Handbook of Measures, Numbers, Weights and Time Calculation , Komet MA-Service und Verlagsgesellschaft, Frechen 1998, ISBN 3-89836-198-5 , p. 241: Vienna trading pound: 560.012 g; 100 pounds = 1 quintal (~ 56 kg).
  9. ↑ Gerhard Robert Walter von Coeckelberghe-Dützele , Anton Köhler (ed.): Curiosities and Memorabilia Lexicon of Vienna: an instructive and entertaining reference and reading book in anecdotal, artistic, biographical, historical, legendary, picturesque, romantic u. topographic relationship, Volume II, Realis, 1846, p. 262: "Pummerin (Die)", ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  10. ↑ Herbert Rauch Höphffner (former mayor of Laxenburg): The parish church of Laxenburg - Part II: Sanctuary and cultural property - A piece of parish history in: Kulturverein Alt-Laxenburg (ed.): Kulturstein , issue no.40, February 1998.
  11. ↑ Art History Institute of the Imperial and Royal Central Commission for Monument Preservation, Max Dvořák (Ed.), Hans Tietze, Josef Bayer: Austrian Art Topography. Volume VI. The monuments of the political district Waidhofen ad Thaya in Lower Austria , Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1911, p. 87 (PDF-p. 95) ( online version at archive.org).
personal data
SURNAME Achamer, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aichhammer, Johann; Achammer, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bell founder in Vienna, who created the old Pummerin in 1711
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1650
PLACE OF BIRTH innsbruck
DATE OF DEATH December 9, 1712
Place of death Vienna