Leopold Welzl from Wellenheim

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Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1843
Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim
watercolor by Anton Hähnisch (1844)
Welzl v. Wellenheim coat of arms from the nobility diploma dated February 1, 1808
Welzl von Wellenheim Medal in silver and copper

Leopold Johann Welzl , from 1808 Welzl von Wellenheim (born November 15, 1773 in Hroby , Bohemia , † February 19, 1848 in Vienna ) was an Austrian k.k. Councilor and coin and medal collector ( numismatist ) in Vienna. He owned the largest private numismatic collection in Vienna and probably in the entire German Empire .

Life

Welzl used himself in the tax regulation business in Bohemia in his earliest youth with such success that he was awarded a medal of grace as a reward. In 1789, at the age of 16, he was employed by the then Lower Austrian state property accounting department , then by the court building accounting department, in 1790 by the unified Bohemian-Austrian court chancellery , by the court chamber and ministerial bank deputation, and in 1796 by the council of state . He advanced to the rank of kk state and conference council draftsman and court secretary and always worked entirely in the hands of the conducting state and conference minister Leopold Graf Kolowrat-Krakovský , in which service he was used for the most important and most secret state affairs. Due to his excellent state services, he was raised to the hereditary hereditary nobility with the name "Welzl von Wellenheim" on February 1, 1808 in Vienna . Later Welzl von Wellenheim was councilor at the Imperial Chamber of Commerce and advisor in the postal system, when he was retired on November 3, 1835.

He was an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts in Padua , a full member of the Museum for Upper Austria and Salzburg and the Society of Antiques of the North in Copenhagen . He left behind an essay on coins from the county of Gorizia and, as a manuscript, a comprehensive treatise on Friesach coins.

During his lifetime a medal was struck in his honor, which is mentioned for the first time in literature in 1824. This private medal has a diameter of 25 mm and is made of silver and copper. The obverse shows the words WELZL | in three lines in a wreath of oak branches, which are held together by a ribbon DE | WELLENHEIM, on the back you can see the Welzl von Wellenheim's coat of arms.

For 40 years he collected with science, taste and rare luck, especially since, as a long-time advisor for the postal system, he was in influential relations with the provinces of Austria-Hungary and abroad, so that his universal collection was the largest and most numerous that would probably not be a private individual in Vienna at that time . According to the purchase agreement of February 4, 1843, Welzl von Wellenheim sold his entire collection of coins and medals, all coin boxes, books, statues , cut stones, rings and seals to his son Wilhelm Welzl von Wellenheim for 57,340 guilders .

Wilhelm Welzl von Wellenheim had this collection auctioned in several stages in Vienna between 1845 and 1847, for which an auction catalog was published in two volumes ( directory of the coin and medal collection of the imperial royal councilor and member of several learned societies, Mr. Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim, together with an index of valuable numismatic, archaeological and other books , Volume 1, Verlag JP Sollinger, Vienna 1844; Volume 2, Verlag Bermann, Vienna 1845). The directory of the collection was created by Achilles Postolakkas (Greek part) and Franz Vincenz Eitl (Roman part). The first volume describes 16,767 ancient coins, the second volume lists coins and medals from the Middle Ages and modern times, namely 12,428 numbers and 184 coins without numbers in the first section, then 15,818 numbers in the second section. A first public auction began on February 10, 1845 in Vienna, another on January 7, 1846, the auction of his Greek coins on February 15, 1847, and that of his Roman coins on October 18, 1847.

Welzl von Wellenheim was married to Sofie Mußbrock (* July 4, 1777 in Vienna; † July 12, 1826 ibid) and had from this marriage the two sons Wilhelm Johann Michael (1799-1858) and Cajus Augustus (1806-1888).

Fonts (selection)

  • Work manuscripts, etc. a. on the systematics of coins, notes on heraldry, lists of Roman and Byzantine coins , Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Münzkabinett) ( catalog entry ).
  • Coins of the county of Görz In: New magazine of the Ferdinandeum for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Vol. 5, Innsbruck 1839, pp. 52-89 ( digitized version ).
  • Directory of the kaiserl's coin and medal collection. royal Councilor and member of several learned societies, Mr. Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim: Catalog de la grande collection de monnaies et médailles de Mr. Léopold Welzl de Wellenheim. Contenant les medailles antiques, grecques et romains. Vol. 1 , Vienna 1844.
  • Directory of the kaiserl's coin and medal collection. royal Councilor and member of several learned societies, Mr. Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim: Catalog de la grande collection de monnaies et médailles de Mr. Léopold Welzl de Wellenheim. Along with an index of valuable numismatic, archaeological and other books. Vol. 2, Abth. 1. , Vienna 1844 ( digitized version ).
  • Directory of the kaiserl's coin and medal collection. royal Councilor and member of several learned societies, Mr. Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim: Catalog dè la grande collection de monnaies et mèdailles de Mr. Léopold Welzl de Wellenheim. Vol. 2, Section 2. , Vienna 1845 ( digitized version ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Description of coat of arms in: Genealogical pocket book of the knight and noble families , Volume 1, Verlag Buschak u. Irrgang, Brünn 1870, p. 449.
  2. ^ Josef Neumann: Description of the previously known Bohemian private coins and medals , third section, Prague 1870, p. 686 ff, illustration of the medal on panel LXXIV ( digitized version ).
  3. ^ Report on the Museum Francisco-Carolinum , Volume 9, Linz 1847, p. 88 ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Anton Mayer: History of intellectual culture in Lower Austria from the earliest times to the present , Verlag Seidel, 1878.
  5. ^ Karl F. v. Frank: Status surveys a. Acts of grace for the German Empire and the Austrian Hereditary Lands , Volume 5, Senftenberg 1974, p. 202.
  6. ^ Joseph Appel: Appel's Repertory on Coin Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times , Volume 3, Part 2, Vienna 1824, p. 1204 ( digitized version ).
  7. ↑ Joseph Bergmann: Care of numismatics in Austria by private individuals, primarily in Vienna until 1862 , fourth department, Vienna 1863, p. 54 ( digitized version ).
  8. ^ Joseph Neumann: Description of the most famous copper coins , 5 volume, Prague 1868, p. 70 ff. ( Digitized version ).
  9. ↑ Yearbook for Numismatics and Monetary History , Volumes 48–49, Bavarian Numismatic Society, 2001, p. 368 ( excerpt ).
  10. ^ Auction advertisement in: Allgemeine Zeitung München , 1845, p. 1272 ( digitized version ).
  11. ↑ Genealogical paperback of noble houses in Austria , Volume 3, Verlag O. Maas' Söhne, 1908/09, p. 574 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Welzl von Wellenheim, Leopold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Welzl, Leopold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian court official and numismatist
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH Hroby , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1848
Place of death Vienna