Johann Carl von Sothen

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Johann Carl von Sothen (1873)

Johann Carl (Karl) Sothen , later Johann Carl Freiherr von Sothen (born May 15, 1823 in Vienna , † June 10, 1881 at Cobenzl ) was an Austrian wholesaler and banker.

Life

The Sisi Chapel built by order of Sothen

Sothen was the son of a tailor and later tobacconists born and lottery Kollek aunts. He started in his father's business in the 1st district of Vienna, Innere Stadt . In the 1840s he ran a shop in the Palais Collalto , where he dealt with the trading of playing cards and tickets. He earned his fortune by distributing tickets for the poor lottery, buying and selling government bond tickets as well as bonds, gold and silver coins and playing realities (e.g. Tivoli , Theater an der Wien ). He introduced the promess game in Vienna, which was later imitated by others, and founded a bank and exchange house on Wiener Graben . A promesse was a bond on a hypothetical profit.

In public he presented himself as a benefactor, for example by setting up a foundation for the benefit of wounded warriors in the Austrian army. On the other hand, because of his stinginess, he was considered an exploiter by his workers. In 1849 he acquired the Am Himmel estate on Pfaffenberg and in 1855 the former lordship of Cobenzl on Reisenberg . On the occasion of the marriage of the imperial couple Elisabeth and Franz Joseph I on April 24, 1854, he had the Sisi chapel built by the builder Josef Kastan on the Pfaffenberg until 1856 according to the plans of the architect Johann Garben , also as a future grave site for him and his wife. In 1867 he acquired the Krapfenwaldl , where he expanded the inn and had an annual Annenfest held.

death

On June 10, 1881, Sothen was shot at Cobenzl by his forester Eduard Hüttler (also Hietler, Hiedler, Hittler), whom he had recently dismissed due to wage disputes and who with his partner Juliane Paschinger and their four children had left the door. Sothen was buried in the crypt of the Sisi chapel, where his wife Franziska "Fanny" Freiin von Sothen found her final resting place in 1903. Later, the order of nuns, To the Poor Child of Jesus , inherited the family's property. After Sothen's burial, the chapel wall was scribbled: Here, in this beautiful tomb, lies the greatest villain, or Here in this tomb lies a great villain, show it down, otherwise he will wake up again . According to the police, 20,000 people are said to have followed the hearse, who among other things sang songs of mockery of the deceased.

Awards (selection)

  • Golden Cross of Merit with the crown
  • Great gold medal for science and the arts
  • Large gold Salvator Medal from the City of Vienna
  • 1871: Elevation to the Meiningen baron class by the Duke of Saxony-Meiningen
  • Appointment as a console by the Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

reception

Sothen's life story was literarily processed in 2017 in the novel Am Himmel by Anna-Elisabeth Mayer . The sources used were, among other things, Viennese newspaper reports on the trial against Eduard Hüttler on 18/19. July 1881. In addition to the course of the trial, the prehistory of the crime is told. Hüttler was sentenced to death by hanging, but pardoned by the emperor to twelve years in prison.

In 2019, Bettina Balàka processed his story in the novel The Pigeons of Brno , in which she contrasts the millionaire with the pigeon fancier Berta. While Sothens was alive, it was rumored that he had enriched himself through repeated lottery fraud. The drawing of the lottery numbers took place in Brno , and a horse-drawn carriage brought the numbers to Vienna. It was still possible to place a tip until the carriage arrived. Sothen is said to have used this by having the numbers sent to him by carrier pigeons.

Previously, in 2014, Balàka published Unter Menschen, a novel from a dog's perspective, which ends in Vienna Am Himmel and touches on the case of Sothen.

Novels

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann Carl von Sothen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g J. Mentschl:  Sothen, Johann Carl Frh. Von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 12, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2001–2005, ISBN 3-7001-3580-7 , p. 433.
  2. ↑ a b c d Felix Czeike (Ed.): Sothen, Johann Karl (Frh. V.). In:  Historisches Lexikon Wien . Volume 5, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-218-00547-7 , p. 253 ( digitized version , entry in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna).
  3. ↑ Georg Gaugusch: The Lord of Heaven - Johann Carl Freiherr von Sothen. In: Adler. Journal of Genealogy and Heraldry. 2012, accessed August 25, 2019 .
  4. ^ A b c Constantin von Wurzbach : Sothen, Johann Karl . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 36th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1878, p. 34 ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ a b c Peter Pisa: The greedy millionaire from Cobenzl. In: Kurier.at . December 16, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2019 .
  6. ^ Cobenzl in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  7. ↑ a b In the sky: The story. Retrieved August 25, 2019 .
  8. ^ Krapfenwaldl in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
  9. ↑ a b c Siegfried Weyr / Wolfgang Schulz: To the death of Sothens. In: Döblinger Extrablatt. October 2014, accessed August 25, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Anna-Elisabeth Mayer: In the sky. In: Literaturhaus Wien . September 12, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2019 .
  11. ^ A b Paula Pfoser: A novel with a real core: The cruel Lottobaron of Vienna. In: ORF.at . August 24, 2019, accessed August 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Sothen, Johann Carl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sothen, Johann Karl von; Sothen, Johann Carl Freiherr von; Sothen, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian wholesaler and banker
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1881
Place of death Cobenzl