Peter Christian Tayssen

Peter Christian Tayssen (also Thayssen , Theisen or Teyssen ) was a German or Norwegian alchemist and swindler whose work is certainly occupied for only a short period in the 1770s. Like various other people during this time, he too moved with his statements and activities in the border area of Freemasonry , Rosicrucianism , mysticism and occultism and used the gullibility and fascination of individual representatives of the nobility for hermetic topics for his own benefit.

Life

Few highlights are known of Tayssen's biography. He himself stated that he did alchemical research in Norway for seven years and spent 3,000 thalers on it. He also mentioned an eight-month stay in Venice and a station in Dresden . According to him, he found a secret in the Saxon city that his "pen could neither nor should he describe."

Tayssen drew this sign of honor in 1778 for Friederika Schmidt (1751–1803), the then partner and later wife of Ludwig Georg Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt .

From individual written sources it can be seen that around 1774 he was in the vicinity of prominent representatives of the Württemberg form of Pietism . For example, in January 1774 he sent a letter to Friedrich Christoph Oetinger on behalf of Johann Gerhard Hasenkamp , in which the theological dispute between the two of them with Johann Caspar Lavater was discussed. A few weeks later, Philipp Matthäus Hahn , engineer and pastor in Kornwestheim , mentioned in a diary entry on March 17, 1774 that Tayssen had visited him and had come "from Mr. Praelat Oetinger ". On this occasion he described his guest as a " laboratory technician ". It can therefore be assumed that Tayssen entered the service of Oetinger in the spring of 1774 and carried out laboratory work for him - possibly in his Murrhardt monastery . At this time, Oetinger had already been intensively concerned with the teachings of Christian Kabbalah for several decades and could have introduced Tayssen to this topic. Both Hahn and Oetinger wrote that Tayssen was Norwegian.

In late 1775 he met in Rome on Ludwig Georg Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt , who during the journey in search of the mystical origins of the Swedish Masonic teaching system was. Tayssen claimed to be an adept and had 20 valuable arcana in his possession. He accompanied the nobleman to Heilbronn , where he settled in 1776. Ludwig employed him with the title of an economics council "to show, inform and explain the great work" at his court . There Tayssen worked as an alchemist and "gold maker" and also acted as a teacher for Kabbalah and magic . His closest friends and followers during this time included Hans Weiprecht von Gemmingen and Hans Rudolf von Bischoffwerder . He also offered the Berlin freemason and agricultural reformer Johann Christoph von Woellner a mercury- based recipe against Miserere , as well as an Arcanum , which he claimed would improve all types of grain in such a way that a harvest increase of at least twelve times could be achieved. Ludwig Georg Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt gave up experimental work with Tayssen in the spring of 1777. But this seems to have continued to work in Heilbronn until 1778.

Then his track is lost again.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( ed. ): General manual of Freemasonry, third volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1867, page 359.
^ Karl Christian Eberhard Ehmann : Friedrich Christoph Oetinger's life and letters as a documentary commentary on his writings . JF Steinkopf , Stuttgart , 1859, pages 811-812.
↑ ^a ^b Martin Brecht , Rudolf F. Paulus ( ed .): Philipp Matthäus Hahn. The Kornwestheim Diaries 1772–1777 . In the series: "Texts on the History of Pietism", Section 8: "Individual Figures and Special Groups", Volume 1. Walter de Gruyter , Berlin , ISBN 3-11-007115-0 , page 244.
^ Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( Ed. ): General Handbook of Freemasonry, First Volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1863, page 622.
↑ Hermann Kopp : Alchemy in older and more recent times. A contribution to cultural history. First part: Alchemy up to the last quarter of the 18th century . Carl Winters University Bookstore , Heidelberg , 1886, page 11.
^ ^A ^b Gustav E. Lang : Ludwig Georg Karl, Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt . In: Herman Haupt , Karl Esselborn , Georg Lehnert ( Hrsg. ): Hessian biographies. Hessischer Staatsverlag, Darmstadt , 1927. Reprint: Dr. Martin Sendet, Walluf , 1973, ISBN 3-500-26820-X , page 467.
^ Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( Ed. ): General Handbook of Freemasonry, First Volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1863, page 482.
↑ Karl RH Frick : The Enlightened. Gnostic-theosophical and alchemical-Rosicrucian secret societies until the end of the 18th century. A contribution to the intellectual history of modern times . Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt , Graz , 1973, ISBN 3-201-00834-6 , page 574.
^ Winfried Dotzauer : Freemason Societies on the Rhine. Enlightened law firms on the left bank of the Rhine from the exit of the Ancien Régime to the end of Napoleonic rule . In the series: “Geschichtliche Landeskunde”, Volume 16. Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart , 1977, ISBN 978-3-515-02517-1 , page 61.

personal data
SURNAME	Tayssen, Peter Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Theisen, Peter Christian; Teyssen, Peter Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German or Norwegian alchemist and impostor
DATE OF BIRTH	18th century
DATE OF DEATH	18th century or 19th century

[Handbuch-1] A ^b ^c ^d Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( ed. ): General manual of Freemasonry, third volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1867, page 359.

[2] Karl Christian Eberhard Ehmann : Friedrich Christoph Oetinger's life and letters as a documentary commentary on his writings . JF Steinkopf , Stuttgart , 1859, pages 811-812.

[Brecht-3] Martin Brecht , Rudolf F. Paulus ( ed .): Philipp Matthäus Hahn. The Kornwestheim Diaries 1772–1777 . In the series: "Texts on the History of Pietism", Section 8: "Individual Figures and Special Groups", Volume 1. Walter de Gruyter , Berlin , ISBN 3-11-007115-0 , page 244.

[4] Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( Ed. ): General Handbook of Freemasonry, First Volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1863, page 622.

[5] Hermann Kopp : Alchemy in older and more recent times. A contribution to cultural history. First part: Alchemy up to the last quarter of the 18th century . Carl Winters University Bookstore , Heidelberg , 1886, page 11.

[Lang-6] A ^b Gustav E. Lang : Ludwig Georg Karl, Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt . In: Herman Haupt , Karl Esselborn , Georg Lehnert ( Hrsg. ): Hessian biographies. Hessischer Staatsverlag, Darmstadt , 1927. Reprint: Dr. Martin Sendet, Walluf , 1973, ISBN 3-500-26820-X , page 467.

[7] Hermann Theodor Schletter , Moritz Alexander Zille ( Ed. ): General Handbook of Freemasonry, First Volume . Verlag FA Brockhaus , Leipzig , 1863, page 482.

[8] Karl RH Frick : The Enlightened. Gnostic-theosophical and alchemical-Rosicrucian secret societies until the end of the 18th century. A contribution to the intellectual history of modern times . Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt , Graz , 1973, ISBN 3-201-00834-6 , page 574.

[9] Winfried Dotzauer : Freemason Societies on the Rhine. Enlightened law firms on the left bank of the Rhine from the exit of the Ancien Régime to the end of Napoleonic rule . In the series: “Geschichtliche Landeskunde”, Volume 16. Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart , 1977, ISBN 978-3-515-02517-1 , page 61.