Peter Hartenbeck
Peter Hartenbeck Spanish: Pedro Ardebeco (* around 1550 in Schwäbisch Gmünd ; † April 20, 1616 in Hall in Tirol ) was a coin engraver (die cutter) and medalist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods .
Life
Hartenbeck was born around 1550 in the Catholic Free Imperial City of Schwäbisch Gmünd, which was loyal to the emperor. As with almost all coin engravers of the time, it can be assumed that he completed his training as a goldsmith or silversmith. Due to the Catholic environment there were (and are) numerous goldsmiths in his hometown.
Activity for the Spanish king
Later he moved to the rich Fugger and trading city of Augsburg. Here he was recruited by a high-ranking delegation from abroad in June 1584: No one less than the Spanish King Philip II , ruler of a world empire that was at the height of his power at the time, wanted to have a new invention from the German-speaking area: giant mill-like machines powered by water power - the first ever coin-minting machines.
Hartenbeck was recruited because he was one of the first to master a new type of engraving technique that had become necessary for this. The most powerful of these machines (so-called roller embossing mills ) was located in Hall in Tirol near Innsbruck. For this reason, another machine intended for Spain was to be built there in Tyrol and transferred to the Iberian Peninsula - together with the selected technicians and coin-makers around Hartenbeck, who were sent along with the "assembly".
In October 1584, the two and a half ton machine set off on the long and dangerous journey to Spain. It went from Tyrol with pack horses in the middle of winter over the Alps, through the northern Italian lowlands, from the port city of Genoa by galley over the Mediterranean to Nice and Barcelona and from there with ten covered wagons inland through Spain. During the entire journey, they had to fight their way through rough terrain, plague zones, storms, intrigue and bandit areas. The troop dramatically lost two men. After eight months, the convoy finally reached its destination Segovia in central Spain.
The Münzer from Swabia and Tyrol installed the hydropower-powered roller minting mill there in a converted mill on the river and produced the first modern machine-minted coins of the entire Spanish empire there. Hartenbeck was responsible for the engraving, he cut the motifs on the embossing rollers. Mainly 2, 4 and the famous 8 reales pieces were minted. These coins, also known as “Spanish thalers”, were generally a kind of global reserve currency at the time.
After the Spanish King Philip II personally visited his most modern mint in Segovia, machine production started at full speed. Silver was delivered and minted from the Spanish overseas colonies, especially from Peru and Mexico. The Münzer and the roller mill were a great success for the empire; the Segovia mint became a technical model for almost all other Spanish mints.
Activity in Tyrol
After ten years, Hartenbeck was the only one of his ten comrades who had moved into the distance to return. In 1595 he was appointed the official coin engraver of the renowned Hall in Tirol mint. Here he mainly made thalers (and multiple thalers) for Archduke Ferdinand II , Emperor Rudolf II and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Archduke Maximilian III. on. Some medals for the imperial victories in Hungary against the Turks in the " Long Turkish War " (1593–1606) also come from his hand.
The die cutter was married three times; of the offspring, only his daughter Margaretha from his second marriage was supposed to survive.
He worked in the Hall mint until his death in 1616. Today there is a modern coin museum with a fully functional reconstruction of such a roller minting mill. Hall in Tirol applied for its mint (the “birthplace” of the taler) and its old town in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hartenbeck's old workplace in Segovia is entitled “Oldest still existing industrial building in Spain”. After the renovation work was completed in 2012, the old mint will also include a minting museum and a cultural center. The complex is an integral part of the old town of Segovia, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
Hartenbeck is one of the most artistically outstanding, most influential and technically advanced coin engravers of his time.
literature
- Andreas Udo Fitzel: Peter Hartenbeck (around 1550–1616): From a brave Swabian from Gmünd, wonder machines, adventurous journeys and thousands upon thousands of silver coins, Einhornverlag, Schwäbisch Gmünd 2007. ISBN 978-3-936373-32-5
- Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom et al .: El real Ingenio de la Moneda de Segovia: maravilla tecnológica del siglo XVI . Segovia, Fundación Juanelo Turriano, 2006. ISBN 978-84-920755-3-9
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinz Moser: The Hall in Tirol mint in the 15th and 16th centuries and its relationship with Spain.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hartenbeck, Peter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ardebeco, Pedro; Hartepegue, Pedro |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German coin engraver (die cutter) and medalist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1550 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schwäbisch Gmünd |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 20, 1616 |
| Place of death | Hall in Tirol |