Johann Friedrich Benzenberg

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Johann Friedrich Benzenberg , 1834, black and white illustration of the painting by Bodo von Hopfgarten , Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
Signature Johann Friedrich Benzenberg.PNG

Johann Friedrich Benzenberg (born May 5, 1777 in Schöller near Vohwinkel ( Duchy of Berg ), today part of Wuppertal ; †  June 8, 1846 in Düsseldorf - Bilk ( Kingdom of Prussia )) was a German physicist , geodesist and publicist .

Live and act

Old government building on Mühlenstrasse with observatory, photo Erwin Quedenfeldt in 1911
View from the Botanical Garden to Mühlenstrasse (representation of Benzenberg's first observatory, roof turret over the white gable in the center of the picture)

Benzenberg, son of the village pastor Heinrich Benzenberg (1744–1809), studied theology in Marburg from 1795 to 1797 , from September 1797 to Easter 1799 in Göttingen astronomy with Georg Christoph Lichtenberg and mathematics with Abraham Gotthelf Kästner . He received his doctorate in Duisburg in 1800. Maximilian IV. , Elector of Bavaria and Duke von Berg, appointed him professor of physics and astronomy at the Lyceum in Düsseldorf (today Maxhaus ) in 1805 . In addition, he was in charge of the land surveying of the Duchy and Grand Duchy of Berg , which he carried out from 1805 to 1810. In 1807 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

Benzenberg founded his own school for land surveyors, for which he also wrote the basic work Handbuch der angewandte Geometry (3 vols., Düsseldorf 1815). He also drafted a surveyor's order. Benzenberg dealt intensively with the construction of a cadastre ; the famous statement comes from him: “The main thing with the Cataster is that it is finished; Then, secondly, that it would be accurate. ”( About the Cataster , 1818) He also dealt with building prices, bought a house in the Breite Straße with the development of Carlstadt in 1808 , and sold it after it had been extended with a turret for his astronomical instruments, and in 1826 bought a house on Hohe Strasse in Düsseldorf.

On October 4, 1807, he married Johanna Charlotte Platzhoff (1789-1809), the daughter of Elberfeld silk manufacturer Friedrich Adolf Platzhoff (1764-1802), in Düsseldorf. As a result of the change of government in the Grand Duchy of Berg, he went to Switzerland in 1810, where he learned to appreciate the democratic form of government and recommended it as a model. After the fall of Napoleon , he turned to Paris , but later returned to Germany.

With political writings about Prince Hardenberg and King Friedrich Wilhelm III. he made himself unpopular with the Prussians. In his book Desires and Hopes of a Rhinelander , printed in Paris in 1815 , he spoke out in favor of constitutionalism : "Man wants a legal constitution, not just because of its worth, but because of its dignity ."

In 1843 he built a private observatory in Düsseldorf- Bilk , which he bequeathed to the city. He had previously used Ferdinand Orban's observatory in the Düsseldorf government building on Mühlenstrasse. On his death, he also bequeathed a sum of 5,000 thalers to the city of Düsseldorf, the interest of which was to be used to pay an astronomer at his observatory. Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt initially worked at Benzenberg's observatory, Benzenberg's assistant in 1845/1846, Franz Friedrich Ernst Brünnow from 1847 , and Karl Theodor Robert Luther from 1851 .

In physics , Benzenberg made a name for himself especially with his drop tests from the tower of Hamburg's Michaelis Church . The experiment from 1802 served to prove the rotation of the earth , which Vincenzo Viviani showed in 1661 with the experiment later called Foucault's pendulum . Benzenberg climbed the tower of the "Michel" and dropped lead bullets to the ground from a height of 76.30 meters. During the free fall of the spheres, which maintained their orbital speed around the earth, they did not hit the earth exactly perpendicular, but were slightly offset to the east on average. Benzenberg found an average deviation of nine millimeters from the plumb point. He undertook a similar attempt in 1803 in the temporarily closed shaft Zur alten Roßkunst of the Trappe colliery with a drop height of 42 Lachtern (~ 84 meters). The attempt in the shaft had the advantage that Benzenberg was able to shut off the disturbing draft there. The results were discussed by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers and Carl Friedrich Gauß . Gauss calculated the theoretically expected deflection to be 8.7 millimeters. Benzenberg's drop tests on the “Hamburger Michel” to prove the rotation of the earth were therefore successful.

During his short stay in Hamburg, Benzenberg, in collaboration with Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes, estimated the height of falling stars by observing them at different locations at the same time. The result of 90 to 110 km showed that shooting stars are phenomena above the earth's atmosphere, which was still uncertain at that time.

Johann Friedrich Benzenberg died on June 8, 1846 in Düsseldorf-Bilk. His grave is in the old Golzheim cemetery in Düsseldorf-Golzheim.

The Benzenberg secondary school in Düsseldorf was named after him. Streets have been named after him in several communities.

Works

  • 50 thaler shares . [Düsseldorf] [1833] ( digitized version )
  • Alphabetical index of the voting members of the evangelical community in Düsseldorf . [Düsseldorf] [1839]. ( Digitized version )
  • Alphabetical directory of those members of the Evangelical Community in Düsseldorf who are entitled to vote in the election of representatives . [Sl] [1839]. ( Digitized version )
  • The beginnings of arithmetic and geometry for the surveyors of the Grand Duchy of Berg . Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1810. ( digitized version )
  • The beginnings of arithmetic and geometry for the surveyors of the Grand Duchy of Berg . Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1818. ( digitized version )
  • Astronomy, physical geography, meteorology and geology: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's lecture 1797/1798 . Edited and commented by Hartmut Grosser, editors: Ulrich Joost and Alexander Neumann. Series: Lichtenberg Studies (edited by Stefan Brüdermann and Ulrich Joost); Vol. 13. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2004. ISBN 978-3-89244-816-7 .
  • Description of a simple travel barometer. In addition to instructions for easy calculation of mountain heights. Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1811. ( digitized version )
  • Letters written on a trip to Paris . Dortmund 1805 ( digitized version )
  • Letters written on a trip through Switzerland in 1810. Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1811. ( digitized version )
  • The cathedral in Cologne . Mallinckrodt, Dortmund 1810. ( digitized version )
  • About the sinking of the Prussian state debt . Severin, Düsseldorf 1829 ( digitized version )
  • The English national debt and the year 1862 . Wolf, [Düsseldorf] 1845. ( digitized version )
  • The Archbishop of Cologne . [Sl] 1838. ( digitized version )
  • Friedrich Wilhelm the Third . Brockhaus, Leipzig 1821 ( digitized version )
  • The community editions of the cities of Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Coblenz, Trier, Berlin and Paris . [Wolf], [Düsseldorf] 1833. ( digitized version )
  • The community editions of the cities of Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Barmen, Cologne, Bonn, Coblenz, Greuznach, Trier, Aachen, Munster, Minden, Arnsberg, Dortmund, Berlin, [...] . 2nd Edition. E. Weber, Bonn 1835. ( digitized version )
  • Instruction for land surveyors of all classes in the Grand Duchy of Berg . [Düsseldorf] [approx. 1806]. ( Digitized version )
  • Was Cönen really murdered? . 1823 digitized
  • News from Michael de Molinos . Bötticher, Düsseldorf 1844. ( digitized version )
  • Report on the opérations trigonométriques, faites ... pour l'arpentage générale du Grand-Duché de Berg dans l'année 1806 . [Stahl], [Düsseldorf] 1806. ( digitized version )
  • Rother's report on the main administration of the Prussian national debts since 1820. Weber, Bonn 1835 ( digitized version )
  • The art of arithmetic and geometry for the geometers of the Grand Duchy of Berg . Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1811. ( digitized version )
  • The repayment of the national debt of England and the year 1862. Schaub, Düsseldorf 1842. ( digitized version )
  • Letter to the king when handing over the community editions of the cities of Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Coblenz, Trier, Berlin and Paris . [Sl] 1833. ( digitized version )
  • Letter to the king when handing over the municipal editions of the cities of Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Barmen, Cologne, Bonn, Coblenz, Creuznach, Trier, Aachen, [...] . [Sl] 1835. ( digitized version )
  • The state constitutions of Germany . Bötticher, Düsseldorf 1845. ( digitized version )
  • About the stock trading of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn . [Düsseldorf] [1838]. ( Digitized version )
  • About the determination of the geographical longitude by shooting stars. Perthes, Hamburg 1802 ( digitized version )
  • About the grave monuments in the Düsseldorf churchyard . Wolf, Düsseldorf 1844. ( digitized version )
  • About the warm springs in Aachen . Jacob Anton Mayer , Aachen 1831. ( digitized version )
  • About the warm springs in Aachen . [Sl], 1831. ( digitized version )
  • About the cataster . 2 volumes. Bonn 1818
  • About trade and commerce, taxes and tariffs . Elberfeld 1819
  • About freedom of the press and censorship . Düsseldorf 1841. ( digitized version )
  • About the provincial constitution, with special consideration of Jülich, Cleve, Berg and Mark . 2 volumes. Hamm 1819-1822
  • About Prussia's budget and the new tax system . Leipzig 1820. ( digitized ), ( digitized )
  • Unification certificate of the Reformed and Lutheran congregations in Düsseldorf . [Düsseldorf?] 1840. ( digitized version )
  • Constitution, State Constitution , in: Conversations-Lexicon or General Hand-Encyclopedia for educated classes , 10th volume (appendix), Leipzig, FA Brockhaus 1819 (4th edition), pp. 811–824
  • The warm springs in Aachen . Wolf, Düsseldorf 1830 ( digitized edition )
  • How much does the railroad from Düsseldorf to Elberfeld cost the German mile with a single track? [Sl] 1838. ( digitized version )
  • What do I eat in Düsseldorf? Wolf, Düsseldorf 1830 ( digitized version )
  • To which people does astronomy owe its most discoveries? [Sl] [approx. 1802]. ( Digitized version )
  • How did the Lord's Supper of the Apostles John, the favorite disciple of Jesus, feel? Bötticher, Düsseldorf 1844. ( digitized version )
  • Wishes and hopes of a Rhinelander . Didot, Paris 1815. ( digitized version )
  • Wishes and hopes of a Rhinelander . [S. n.], Düsseldorf 1816. ( digitized version )
  • Where is the place of jurisdiction for a newspaper writer? Schultz & Wundermann, Hamm 1819 ( digitized version )
  • Experiment on the law of fall, the resistance of the air and the rotation of the earth . Dortmund 1804, 2nd edition Hamburg 1824. ( digitized version )
  • Handbook of Applied Geometry . 3 volumes. Düsseldorf 1810
  • Try over the rotation of the earth . Düsseldorf 1845. ( digitized version )
  • The shooting stars . Hamburg 1839. ( digitized version )

literature

  • Karl Christian Bruhns :  Benzenberg, Johann Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 348 f.
  • Heinz Gollwitzer :  Benzenberg, Johann Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 60 ( digitized version ).
  • Johann Friedrich Benzenberg estate . Holdings of the University and State Library Düsseldorf, signature: slg 50 / doc.
  • Julius Heyderhoff: Johann Friedrich Benzenberg - the first Rhenish liberal . Edition Lintz, Düsseldorf 1909
  • Julius Heyderhoff: The young Benzenberg. Friendship letters from a Rhenish natural scientist from Goethe's time . Edition Lintz, Düsseldorf 1927
  • Julius Heyderhoff (Ed.): Johann Friedrich Benzenberg. The Rhinelander and the Prussian. 1815-1823. Political letters from the beginning of the Prussian constitutional question . (= Rheinisches Archiv issue 7). F. Klopp, Bonn 1928
  • Carl Reinhertz: JF Benzenberg as a geodesist . In: Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen, 32nd year 1903, pp. 17–25, 52–57, 65–92
  • Harald Horst: The physicist and publicist Johann Friedrich Benzenberg - Binterim's "neighbor" in Bilk . In: The Bilker pastor Anton Josef Binterim, pastor and church historian in the re-established Archdiocese of Cologne. (= Libelli Rhenani; Vol. 10). Archbishop's Diocesan and Cathedral Library, Cologne 2005, pp. 209–306
  • Harald Lucht : Johann Friedrich Benzenberg. Childhood love in Bremen. His work for land surveying and land registry . In: Kurt Kröger (ed.): Trailblazer in German land surveying. Wittwer, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-87919-267-7 , pp. 55-73
  • Anton Vaillant: Johann Friedrich Benzenberg. A Rhenish geographer and political publicist . In: Analecta Coloniensia. Yearbook of the Diocesan and Cathedral Library in Cologne. Vol. 7/8. 2007/08. Archbishop's Diocesan and Cathedral Library, Cologne 2009, pp. 233–256
  • Anton Vaillant: The observatories of Mr. Benzenberg . In: The Bilker observatory. Düsseldorf, 53 (2007), issue 1, pp. 5-8

Web links

Commons : Johann Friedrich Benzenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Johann Friedrich Benzenberg  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Benzenberg family tree
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 36.
  3. ↑ The houses built in Carlstadt. The construction prices in Düsseldorf compared with the construction prices in Coblenz, Berlin and Paris , Johann Friedrich Benzenberg, Selbstverlag, 1837, p. 34
  4. ^ Desires and hopes of a Rhinelander , Firmin Didot, Paris 1815, p. 17 ( digitized version )
  5. ^ School chronicle of the Benzenberg secondary school
personal data
SURNAME Benzenberg, Johann Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1777
PLACE OF BIRTH Scholler
DATE OF DEATH June 8, 1846
Place of death Dusseldorf