Johann Georg Stuwer

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Johann Georg Stuwer , actually Johannes Stubenrauch (born August 2, 1732 in Oberliezheim ; † January 4, 1802 in Vienna ) was an Austrian pyrotechnician and balloonist .

Fireworkers

The Stuwerviertel around 1830 (colored), top right the Fireworks Square
The Fireworks Square in the Prater around 1783

Johann Georg Stuwer worked as a fireworker in Germany at a young age - presumably in Ingolstadt. In 1773 he moved to Vienna. Following the example of the Italian Peter Paul Girandolini, who had been staging fireworks in the Vienna Prater since 1771 , he wanted to show his art here too. In 1773 he received the privilege of holding fireworks from Maria Theresa's officials . A meadow was assigned to him as a place to the north of the future exhibition street, which was soon called the fireworks meadow . Stuwer erected a large wooden scaffolding on which he could attach his pyrotechnic articles, and several stands.

From then on Stuwer called himself "kk privileged art and air fireworks". On May 27, 1774, he set off his first fireworks display, entitled "Des Confucius Luftgebräu". The weather was bad; a problem from which Stuwer often suffered in the years that followed.

In the following years a regular competition developed between the " German fireworks " Stuwers and the " Welschen fireworks " Girandolini. Stuwer usually had the public's favor on his side, not least because he held the Friday, which was always the most favorable at the time, while Girandolini held on the less favorable Sunday. Both competitors had their following; the journal Memoirs from Vienna reports:

“There are two of them [fireworks] in Vienna: the German one and the wälsche. Every artist has his followers. This appendix consists of journalists, art judges and combatants. Both parties are so bitter on each other, and argue with so much anger, as if it was worth the effort. "

Other fireworkers also tried their luck in the Prater, but had little success against Stuwer and Girandolini.

Contemporary reports show that Stuwer's pyrotechnicians were able to “conjure up” slogans, figural scenes and even landscape views with the help of their “fireworks machines” against the black of the night sky. The spectacle lasted about 45 minutes and consisted of several "fronts" and then the so-called "main decoration". A huge cannonade ended each performance. Replicas of historical battles using fireworks were particularly popular. Stuwer particularly impressed his audience with the enormous volume. A contemporary report reported:

"At this end he had ready: 200 bombs , 100 murder strikes, 80  cannon strikes , 150  cartoons , 300 rounds of peloton fire , 48 cords, 600 rockets, and 3 charged batteries ."

The Viennese found out about the upcoming fireworks from a uniformed crier who was walking through the streets of Vienna accompanied by a drummer and some fireworks assistants. The admission price for Stuwer's fireworks in 1775 was 1 gulden 40  kreuzers in the “noble gallery”, 1  gulden in the “second gallery” and 20 kreuzers in the “third gallery”. Children up to nine years of age had free entry as long as they were accompanied by their parents. Because of the possibility of rainy weather, the visitor received a “return ticket” in addition to the entrance ticket, which was valid for the day to which the fireworks display might have to be postponed.

Stuwer got rich through his events. With an audience of up to 25,000 people, he took in up to 6,000 guilders per fireworks in good weather. As a successful businessman, however, he did not only live from his events. He sold self-produced pyrotechnic articles that could be used by customers for private fireworks. The articles had names such as hand buffers , Chinese trees , raquettes , running brilliant suns and double contraband cylinders . During production, however, Stuwer's laboratory was blown up twice, the first time in the summer of 1774 and the second time on October 22, 1785.

Balloonists

Very free representation of Stuwer's airship, 1784

On July 6th, 1784 Johann Georg Stuwer succeeded in climbing his fireworks site with a hot air tethered balloon developed by himself , which marked the beginning of manned aviation in Austria . The balloon rose to a height of "approximately 30 to 40 fathoms" (50 to 75 meters) on the tether. The balloon did not have the familiar spherical shape, but the shape of a lying cylinder with a length of 12 meters and a width of 4 meters. Instead of a basket, Stuwer had a "large wooden ship" attached. In addition to Stuwer, his son Kaspar, his assistants Michael Schmalz and Johann Hiller, and the architect Daniel Hakmillner were on board. 15,000 spectators followed the spectacle. After the successful ascent, the balloon was pulled down again and the evening ended with the allegorical fireworks "Monument of honor to the invention of Mr. Montgolfier".

Stuwer performed several other balloon ascents in front of a paying audience. During the third ascent on August 2, 1784, the tether broke, so that the balloon floated over the Danube and only came to the ground there. Nobody was injured, and on that day Stuwer unintentionally carried out the first free run of an Austrian balloon.

death

Stuwer hosted fireworks for the last time on September 29, 1799 and died three years later, on January 4, 1802 at the age of 70 in the Grünsteidlisches Haus in Leopoldstadt (today: Große Sperlgasse 4 / Karmelitergasse 2); he was buried in the Sankt Marxer Friedhof .

In 1898 the Stuwerstraße in Leopoldstadt was named after him, and subsequently also the Stuwerviertel , a residential area that was built on Stuwer's former fireworks site.

progeny

Stuwer made his son from his second marriage, Kaspar Stuwer, his successor, who then also organized the Stuwer fireworks for 20 years. After his death on February 10, 1819, his son Anton, born in 1804, was still a minor. A certain Franz Müller, "professor of the art of drawing at the kk engineering academy", became a guardian and received the license to set off the fireworks. He was successful with the audience, but after his last event on September 6, 1821, he handed over the fireworks to Anton Stuwer.

According to contemporary reports, Anton Stuwer developed "the fireworks to great flaming splendor, it reached - we would like to say - the Viennese pyrotechnics at their peak". On May 7, 1833, however, there was an accident when part of the facility exploded during fireworks as a result of arson. The spectacular event was captured by the painter Johann Josef Schindler in a picture that is now in the Belvedere Gallery . On January 5, 1858, Anton Stuwer accidentally shot himself while looking for an alleged burglar in the bushes in front of his house. The hammer of his shotgun got stuck in the branches and triggered the weapon.

After his death, his son of the same name, Anton Stuwer (the younger, born September 2, 1830), took over the fireworks business and ran it for 18 years. In the course of preparations for the world exhibition , however, in 1871 the fireworks frame and the stands had to be removed by order of the authorities. Anton Stuwer received only 60 guilders as compensation, but with the promise to be allocated a new place in the Prater after the world exhibition. He waited unsuccessfully for this promise. His son-in-law Hermann Weissenbach set up a new fireworks site on the floodplain of the Danube. On September 10, 1876, Stuwer held his last fireworks display in this square, then left Austria and worked for the Russian artillery in St. Petersburg for the next few years . Anton Stuwer died on July 15, 1905, and Hermann Weissenbach in 1906, which brought this fireworks dynasty to an end.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Georg Stuwer on www.oeaw.ac.at, accessed on May 3, 2013
  2. ↑ The “Stuwerische Luftmaschine” at www.oeaw.ac.at, accessed on May 3, 2013
  3. ↑ "The end of the Stuwer fireworks on May 7th, 1833"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at digital.belvedere.at, accessed on May 3, 2013@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / digital.belvedere.at  
personal data
SURNAME Stuwer, Johann Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stubenrauch, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberliezheim
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 1802
Place of death Vienna