Renatus Karl von Senckenberg

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Portrait of Renatus Karl von Senckenberg 1767

Renatus Leopold Christian Karl von Senckenberg (born May 23, 1751 in Vienna , † October 19, 1800 in Gießen ) was a German lawyer , historian and founder .

Life

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Renatus Karl was born on May 23, 1751 in Vienna as the son of Heinrich Christian von Senckenberg and his second wife Sophie Elisabeth, née von Palm. His upbringing was strictly Protestant. His father took over his instruction at an early age by, among other things, writing a "Preliminary Introduction to Legal Scholarship" for him and initiating him into studying historical documents. In 1766 his father received a canon position for him at Lübeck Cathedral .

After his father's death, Senckenberg went to Göttingen University in 1768 and studied law and history here, as he did later in Strasbourg . In 1772 he then worked for his practical training at the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Wetzlar , but had to take a break for some time in order to work in Frankfurt at the establishment of the foundation of his deceased uncle Johann Christian, who had assigned the senior supervision of the family. In 1774 he traveled to Italy, felt strongly stimulated by the artistic and historical impressions of this country, and was accepted into the society of the Accademia dell'Arcadia in Rome . In 1775 he joined the Hessian government as an assessor in Giessen . A trip to Vienna in 1778 was fatal for him. He came under the suspicion that Duke Albrecht of Bavaria's waiver of 1429 from the papers left by his father had communicated to the Electoral Palatinate court and had thereby seriously damaged Austria's interest in the Bavarian succession; after a long imprisonment he was banished from Austria and returned to Giessen; it was not until 1792 that Franz II repealed the exile decree.

On many trips, Senckenberg sought contact with the greats of German science and poetry of the time. In 1780 he became a councilor, but resigned his position in 1784 and from then on lived in Giessen as a private citizen. Probably inspired by the example of his uncle Heinrich Christian, he bequeathed the rich book treasures that he and his father had collected to the Giessen university library and also left the university with his house and 10,000 guilders for use in the library. Like his father's, his numerous writings deal with areas of history, politics, and law. Particularly noteworthy is the biography of his father, published in 1782, and the continuation of Häberlin's history of the empire from vol. 21-27 (1790-98). He was also active as a poet: in 1785 he had the work "Carmina varia selecta latina et graeca" and in 1787 the "History of a Christian" printed under the pseudonym Polydor Nemaeus (his Arcadia name) (both only for his circle of friends). In 1796 the dramatic poem Charlotte Corday was published , which was banned by the Viennese censors. Renatus Karl died on October 19, 1800, his only daughter had already preceded him. With the death of his brother Karl (born 1760), who had entered the Sardinian army but had already left as captain in 1787 and died childless in 1842, this branch of the Senckenberg family went out.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Prange : Directory of the Canon. In: Ders .: Bishop and Cathedral Chapter of Lübeck: Hochstift, Principality and Region 1160–1937. Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild 2014 ISBN 978-3-7950-5215-7 , p. 416 No. 393
personal data
SURNAME Senckenberg, Renatus Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Senckenberg, Renatus Leopold Christian Karl von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer, writer and founder
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1800
Place of death to water