Field of view (alchemist)
Sehfeld was an 18th century Austrian alchemist who pretended to be able to turn base metals into gold.
Sehfeld came from Upper Austria, has been involved with alchemy since his youth, was abroad for several years and returned to Austria in 1745/46. There he settled in the seaside resort of Rodaun near Vienna and pretended to be able to make gold, which he sold through his landlord, the pool attendant Friedrich, in Vienna. To protect himself, as a supposed paint manufacturer, he bought a letter of protection from Franz Stephan von Lothringen , Maria Theresa's husband . Soon, however, rumors about his alchemical activities made the rounds, which the authorities also became aware of. On the instructions of Maria Theresa, he was arrested despite a letter of protection, taken to the Timisoara fortress and whipped to find out his methods. Franz von Lothringen, who was interested in alchemy and had made inquiries, obtained from Maria Theresa the release of Sehfeld, who was placed under the supervision of two compatriots from Lorraine by Franz Stephan and otherwise could move relatively freely. Sehfeld used this to escape together with his guards, who also disappeared.
In this case, Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi later investigated , who handed it down in his Chymische Schriften (1761, Volume 2). The Friedrich family still had remnants of the tincture used, which was made from a sky-blue mineral (according to Justi Azurit , as it occurs e.g. in the Banat). Sehfeld treated it with an acid so that a brown-red powder ( copper (I) oxide ) remained. The writer Wilhelm Ludwig Wekhrlin also researched Rodaun in 1776 and gave the Viennese suspicion that Sehfeld had become a victim of the machinations of the influential and hostile alchemist Baron van Swieten , whose resentment stems from his own unsuccessful attempts.
You could hear von Sehfeld from Amsterdam and Halle, where he acted very carefully and kept a low profile, after which his trace is lost.
Gustav Meyrink takes up the story in his story The Strange Guest .
literature
- Karl Christoph Schmieder : History of Alchemy, Halle 1832, from p. 527
- Bruno Zimmel: The gold maker Sehfeld in Rodaun, Leoben green booklets / ed. from the Montanhistorisches Verein für Österreich Leoben 74, 1963
- Rudolf Werner Soukup: Chemistry in Austria. Mining, Alchemy and Early Chemistry: From the Beginnings to the End of the 18th Century, Contributions to the History of Science and Science Research, Vol. 7, Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar, 2007, p. 504ff (Der Alchemist von Rodaun und seine Banat copper ore)
Individual evidence
- ↑ According to Schmieder. But he also gained the trust of the commandant of Timisoara, Karl Leopold Baron von Engelshofen (1692–1772)
- ↑ According to Schmieder, according to others, two imperial officers
- ^ Weckherlin, Memories of Vienna 1786
- ^ Meyrink, The Strange Guest , Project Gutenberg
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Field of view |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Alchemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 18th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 18th century |