Karl Gustav Adalbert von Weissenbach

Karl Gustav Adalbert von Weissenbach (born December 8, 1797 in Dresden , † July 27, 1846 in Kösen ) was a Saxon secret councilor , mountain master and mineralogist .

Live and act

Weissenbach comes from the Upper Saxon noble family Weißenbach . His father, Legation Councilor in Dresden, owned an extensive mineral collection based on the Werner system. This and thorough training at home meant that he began studying mining at the Freiberg Mining Academy as early as 1813 . Here he quickly developed into a favorite student of Abraham Gottlob Werner . At the age of 18 he was already involved in the geognostic study of Saxony alongside famous geologists . From 1817 to 1820 he also completed a law degree in Leipzig . He then went back to Freiberg, where he was ministerial inspector and academy inspector . He was responsible for the collections, including Werner's mineral collection, about which he compiled a catalog. August Breithaupt and Wilhelm von Haidinger were among his assistants.

In 1824 he switched to practical work and was appointed miner for the Johanngeorgenstadt Mining Authority , but resigned from this position a year later to accompany the Saxon chief miner August von Herder on a technical and scientific journey through Germany, the Netherlands and France. After his return in 1826 he was appointed Bergmeister of the Freiberg Mining Authority. He held this position until 1836. The idea of ​​releasing the pit water from the Freiberg mountain area through the Rothschönberger Stolln into the Triebisch goes back to him after plans for an even deeper tunnel for drainage into the Elbe near Meißen failed due to cost reasons.

For health reasons he then went to Dresden. There he took on minor tasks and finally in 1840 became a Privy Councilor. The Department of Commerce and Industry in the Ministry of the Interior was subordinate to him. He organized a trade exhibition and was instrumental in the reorganization of the measurement and weight system in Saxony. For these activities he was awarded the Saxon Order of Civil Merit and the Prussian Red Eagle Order III. Class excellent.

Weissenbach also distinguished himself as a mineralogist. In 1831, on the basis of Gustav Rose's analyzes, he described the mineral Freibergite under the names "Weißgiltigerz" or "True Freyberger Weißgiltigerz" for the first time as an independent mineral. Gustav Adolf Kenngott then gave this mineral its final name in 1853 based on its type locality.

Weissenbach married Ludolfine Freiin von Seckendorf-Gudent (* 1805) in 1827 . Of the five children, only two daughters Meta (* 1838) and Anna (* 1843) survived him; his sons died before him.

Works (selection)

• Saxony's mining industry viewed from an economic perspective . Craz et al. Gerlach, Freiberg 1833 ( digitized version ).
• Images of strange gait conditions from the Saxon Ore Mountains . Voss, Leipzig 1836 ( digitized version ).
• About corridor formations preferably from Saxony. A fragment . In: Bernhard Cotta (Ed.): Gait studies . Freiberg 1850, p. 1–76 ( digitized version ).

literature

• CGA from Weissenbach . In: Berg- und Hüttenmännische Zeitung . 5th year, no. 32 . Engelhardt, Freiberg 1846, p. 681-684 .
• Karl Gustav Adalbert von Weißenbach . In: New Nekrolog der Deutschen . 24th year, 1846, first part. Voigt, Weimar 1848, p. 479-482 ( digitized version ).
• Friedrich Steger : Karl Gustav Adelbert von Weissenbach . In: Supplementary Conversation Lexicon . tape 2 . Romberg, Leipzig 1847, p. 79-80 ( digitized version ).
• C. Schiffner: From the life of old Freiberg mountain students . E. Maukisch, Freiberg 1935, p. 29f.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Bergakademie zu Freiberg. To commemorate the celebration of Werner's centenary on September 25, 1850 . Engelhardt, Freiberg 1850, p. 14 ( digitized version ).
2. ^ New general German nobility lexicon . tape 9 : Stone house - Zwierlein . Leipzig 1870, p. 509 ( digitized version ).