Johann Christoph Stelzhammer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Christoph Stelzhammer (born August 29, 1750 in Unterweißbach , † October 10, 1840 in Linz ) was an Austrian Catholic clergyman, physicist and university teacher.

Lithography by Georg Scheth (1838)

Life

As the son of Johann Paul Stelzhammer, Johann Christoph Stelzhammer was the administrator of the dominions of Sallaburg and Zellhof , and his wife Maria Eva Theres, nee. Baumbach, born. His nephew was Ferdinand von Stelzhammer (1797-1858), Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Justice.

After his parents moved to Linz in 1753, he grew up there and attended the Linz Lyceum , where he also began his studies. In 1768 he completed his dissertation in philosophy, which he dedicated to his parents' employer, Count Christoph von Salburg (1728–1774); this was also his godfather. In 1769 he entered the Jesuit order with St. Anna in Vienna , in which his brother Paul had been since 1764.

In 1771 he was accepted into the academic staff of the University of Vienna , where he was awarded the lower orders and the doctorate in philosophy.

He initially studied at the Latin School Leoben , then in Graz for another year of mathematics and was assigned to an astronomer as an assistant until he came to Laibach as a teacher of the first grammar class in 1773 , where he left, due to the abolition of the Jesuit order , after having one had received a small transfer fee without first getting higher orders .

He went to Linz and received the teaching position in the humanity class, which he kept for two years. He followed the advice of friends and went to Vienna to study theology there at the university, for which he held private tuition to make a living. After completing his studies, he wanted to obtain the theological doctorate in the previously prescribed manner, but the prelate Franz Stephan Rautenstrauch (1734–1785) had drafted a new study plan, which the Empress Maria Theresa had introduced immediately, after which he submitted to the new regulations and in 1783 was the first to receive a theological doctorate under the new regulation.

In 1776 the auxiliary bishop of Passau ordained him as a priest; Before attending the Vienna Ordinariate, he asked permission to stay in Vienna and work in the university library free of charge. His application was accepted and so he began to compile catalogs of the books left from the abolished monasteries. His hope that his unpaid job would be converted into paid one diminished after some personnel changes, so that he had to continue to give private tuition for a living for the next two years. Through his private lessons he began to be interested in physics and he attended the lectures by Franz Güssmann , which fascinated him so much that he decided to study physics. After completing his studies, he was employed as a professor of physics at the Klagenfurt Lyzeum in 1792 ; There he found a benevolent patron in the future Prince-Bishop of Linz, Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart , who spurred him on to study natural history.

In 1796 he accepted an invitation from the professor of mathematics, Georg Ignaz von Metzburg , to accompany him to western Galicia and to help him with the trigonometric mapping of the country; in November 1796 he returned to his teaching post in Klagenfurt. At this time his brother died, who had studied law after the abolition of the Jesuit order and was now employed as a councilor at the highest judicial office. In order to be close to the family again, Johann Christoph Stelzhammer asked to be transferred to Vienna and applied for a position at the Theresian Knight Academy , which he received with the prospect of the soon-to-be-vacated professorship in experimental physics and theology. After the academy opened, he first headed the department of legal candidates as prefect , but shortly afterwards took over the lectures on mining and mineralogy . In this position he redesigned the mineralogical hall and in 1798 undertook a trip to various Hungarian mining towns in order to equip the hall according to the demands of the time. After lecturing in these subjects for five years, he was appointed full professor at the Theresian Academy. In 1798, the Vienna University of Applied Sciences elected him dean of the theological faculty and later notary.

During the autumn break of 1800 he was called to the court of Ferdinand Karl von Österreich-Este in Wiener Neustadt to present Archduke Franz and Maximilian on the latest experiments in chemistry. Archduke Ferdinand later attended these lectures ; later he gave lectures on the whole of nature to Archduke Karl Ambrosius , later primate of Hungary.

After the position of curator at the combined physical and natural history cabinet, whose director was Andreas Stütz (1747-1806), became vacant in 1806 , Johann Christoph Stelzhammer applied as his successor and received this post on condition that he continued to read lectures at the Theresian Knight Academy ; he continued to give his lectures in physics even after the academy had passed to the priests of the pious schools. However, the cabinet was divided and he was given the management of the physical-astronomical cabinet and the astronomical tower in the Schweizerhof of the Hofburg , where the cabinet was moved in 1810 and Johann Christoph Stelzhammer was given an apartment on site at the same time. For two years in the cabinet he lectured to the entire imperial court on the winter evenings on the latest experiments in the study of nature, in which Emperor Franz II also took part. He later gave these lectures to Archduchesses Leopoldine and Clementine , in which Empress Maria Ludovika also took part. He also gave lectures on the theory of nature at the Polytechnic Institute, which was established in 1816, until the actual professor could take over. One of his assistants in the cabinet was Jakob Degen , who became famous for his flight attempts .

At the Theresian Knight Academy, the lectures that he had previously given were passed on to the priests of the pious schools and he only retained the supervision of the physical-astronomical cabinet after lecturing the Crown Prince Archduke Ferdinand on the latest in nature and Machine theory had held.

In 1816 he became vice director of theological studies and held this office until 1834; In 1826 he was elected rector of the University of Vienna and by the university consistory to the canon of St. Stephen .

In the last years of his life he devoted himself to editing the ecclesiastical topography of the Archduchy of Austria (1819–1840), which he founded and co-financed, on which he worked up to volume 18 despite his increasing blindness.

Johann Christoph Stelzhammer was buried in Linz and his long-time friend, the Linz Bishop Gregor Thomas Ziegler , had a memorial plaque erected in the Linz Cathedral .

Fonts (selection)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stelzhammer, Johann Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stelzhamer, Johann Christoph; Stelzhammer, Johann Christian; Stelzhammer, J. C
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Catholic clergyman and physicist
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH Unterweißbach
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1840
Place of death Linz