Johann Heinrich von Denffer
Johann Heinrich von Denffer (* 1700 in Sturhof in Courland , today: Stūri , Blīdene municipality, Brocēni district , Latvia ; † December 13, 1770 in Frombork ), heir to Berghof, was a clergyman from Kurland , a pioneer in agricultural sciences and an alchemist .
Johann Heinrich is a common ancestor of all branches of the German-Baltic noble family Denffer that are still in bloom today . From 1717 he studied theology and natural sciences at the University of Königsberg . In 1725 he was introduced as a pastor in Blieden. In 1727 he moved to Kabillen and in 1730 to Frauenburg. In 1754 he took Johann Friedrich Müller as an adjunct , resigned the pastorate and withdrew from all official business in order to devote himself entirely to his scientific and literary work. According to contemporaries, Johann Heinrich, who owned the Kurland estates Weinschenken, Behrsemünde, Leiben and Berghof, is said to have deprived himself of part of his fortune through alchemy (see Recke / Napiersky in total)
Already in my time in Blieden, Denffer began my agricultural and scientific research , the results of which he describes in the “Discours” (see below). After a break he continued this work from 1730 in Frauenburg, where he also wrote all of his writings. Three printed works and one handwritten work have come down to us from his hand.
Printed works:
- Discours based on reason and experience, in which the true causes of fertility as well as the pseudo causes of the sterility of the earth are dealt with in order to defend the good cause of the divine blessing against the simple-minded accusers of it , Mitau 1740, 2nd edition Halle 1755
- Alchemist logic or the theory of reason of the parting artists, in order to correct the incomprehensible alchemists , Königsberg 1762 ( digitized in the digital library Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
- Reflections on the Comets on the occasion of the last star that appeared, Mitau and Leipzig 1770
Handwritten:
- Most submissive release of it, so at the last session of a royal. Commission in Angern, investigating the indicated flood , Mitau 1750
Johann Heinrich also made a large-scale map of Courland, which was praised as very precise at the time and is now considered lost, and dedicated to Duke Ernst Johann von Biron . “It surpassed not only in completeness and quantity of the indicated places, but also in correctness of their position, certainly all previous ones. Where may she have got to? ”(Recke / Napiersky).
literature
- Johann Friedrich von Recke ; Karl Eduard Napiersky : General encyclopedia of writers and scholars of the provinces of Livonia, Esthland and Courland , Mitau 1827
- Johann Friedrich von Recke; Karl Eduard Napiersky: General Lexicon of Writers and Scholars of the Provinces of Livonia, Ehstland and Courland - supplements and continuations , Mitau 1859
- Harald von Denffer: Foundation stone for a story of the von Denffer family. Genealogical and biographical notes , Batum 1906
- Ahmad von Denffer: Contributions to a story of the von Denffer family , Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2006,
ISBN 978-3-8334-7113-1 - Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Johann Heinrich von Denffer. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Denffer, Johann Heinrich von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-Baltic Protestant theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1700 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sturhof |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 13, 1770 |
| Place of death | Frauenburg |