Johann Michael by Herbert

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Freiherr von Herbert's tombstone in the abandoned cemetery of Klagenfurt-Sankt Peter on the church wall

Johann Michael Freiherr von Herbert (born October 2, 1726 in Klagenfurt ; † September 4, 1806 ) was an Austrian industrial pioneer who founded Austria's first white lead factory in 1761.

Life

In autumn 1749 at the age of 23 Herbert married Maria Fux, daughter of the Viennese merchant Paul Fux. On May 22nd, 1750 he received the Carinthian Landstandschaft as the owner of the Niedertrixen Castle. From 1754 he held a council position in the state central office of Carinthia.

Empress Maria Theresa had called on her subjects to found industrial companies and lead the country into an economically secure future. Herbert, who held the state commercial department from 1754, took the first step in the same year to stimulate the economy and to accelerate industry by setting up a canvas factory with partners in Paternion to bring industrially produced goods to the market and the farmers To give the opportunity to grow more flax and hemp. However, the company had to be sold in 1758 with enormous losses. Meanwhile Herbert had also dropped the plan for a factory for ship ropes in Klagenfurt.

Towards the end of the 1950s, he made the decision to produce paints from domestic lead, the sale of which at that time left a lot to be desired. Their production would not only be associated with high added value, but also generate good sales, since such products had to be introduced up to now. Herbert traveled to Holland and England to study the production process and gain deeper insights. After returning to Klagenfurt, he started the first series of experiments in 1760. In order to have a suitable location available for a factory to be built, Austria's first white lead factory, Herbert acquired Ehrental Castle and Lordship on January 1, 1761.

In autumn 1762 the production facility went into full operation. At that time Herbert had his own lead mines, but since they were probably not very productive, from 1763 he obtained the raw material for his white lead production from Bleiberger mine owners. Nevertheless, he did not give up the plan to obtain lead from his own mining sites for a long time. So you met him in 1775 as a trade in Rubland. White lead was extracted in Klagenfurt using the Dutch method. For this purpose, the lead was heated in iron kettles, scooped out in a liquid state with pans and poured onto cold iron plates so that thin sheets of lead were formed. These were then cut into narrow strips, rolled up and placed in glazed jars filled with vinegar for fermentation, which in turn were placed in pits filled with manure. Herbert first used Styrian wine for the vinegar preparation, then a heavy wine from Veneto. Herbert was one of the founders of the Carinthian Agricultural Society on October 1, 1764, which strived for progress in the field of agriculture.

In 1763 the Klagenfurt entrepreneur bought a paper mill in St. Veit an der Glan, because he needed blue packing paper to wrap the white lead caps. In that year he sent printed offers to dealers and pharmacists for the first time. The increasing demand encouraged Herbert in 1765 to relocate the production facility and to build a two-story factory building near the city (at the beginning of today's Radetzkystraße), to which he added another wing as early as 1766. The pots were replaced by large, brick-built chambers into which water vapor, carbonic acid and acetic acid were introduced.

The products produced were divided into three types. The finest was the Kremser white, followed by lead white and lead sugar (popularly referred to as inheritance powder because of its creeping poisonous effect). The investments paid off, the factory made a profit of 6,000 guilders a year.

On the occasion of the passage through the imperial court in 1765, Empress Maria Theresia paid a visit to the Herbert factory with her husband and sons Josef and Leopold on July 12th, and two years later she raised the now 41-year-old factory owner in recognition of his services the baron class.

On April 24, 1781, the successful baron handed over the Klagenfurt factory to his eldest son, Franz Paul (1759–1811) .

Johann Michael Freiherr von Herbert passed away in 1806 at the age of 80. No fewer than 32 children came from two marriages, but the gender died out towards the end of the last century. The lead white factory in Klagenfurt came into the possession of the Bleiberger Mining Union in 1890.

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personal data
SURNAME Herbert, Johann Michael von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herbert, Johann Michael Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian entrepreneur (Austria)
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Klagenfurt
DATE OF DEATH September 4, 1806
Place of death Klagenfurt