Thomas Haresleben

Stonemason's mark by Thomas Haresleben

Signs of Meister Prunner on his epitaph

Thomas Haresleben (* 1673 in Kühnring near Eggenburg , Lower Austria , † October 16, 1733 in Vienna ) was an Austrian master stonemason and baroque sculptor , master builder in St. Stephen's Cathedral and head of the Viennese building works .

Life

Cathedral builder Matthias Knox wrote his last will on April 12, 1688 at the age of 43 and on April 24 he took on the apprentice Thomas Haresleben. Master Knox had already trained the sons Hans and Michael of the Haresleben family to be stonemasons, but the master builder of the cathedral died in June, the apprentice Thomas was awarded the master craftsman Johann Georg Prunner on June 25, 1690 . The main guarantor, that is, who took responsibility for the apprentice and also had to bear the consequences, was his father Alexander Haresleben.

Three years earlier, in 1685, Master Prunner took on the boy Sebastian Regondi from Kaisersteinbruch as an apprentice. His father, Ambrosius Regondi , who had already passed away, held the position of judge there for decades.

Marriage and citizen of Vienna

Thomas married the widow of his former teacher Maria Magdalena Prunner on September 18, 1701 in St. Stephen's Cathedral. One of the witnesses was Veith Steinböck , the acting cathedral builder. An epitaph by Master Prunner is on the west facade of the cathedral.

On March 11, 1704, he was granted the citizenship of Vienna.

After a handicraft decision of March 5, 1708, Master Thomas, as surety and relative of the escaped apprentice Adam Haresleben, was found guilty of putting 32 guilders in the ark . Unless he can prove that the boy has accepted military service, then he will get the money back .

Apprentice from the imperial quarry

The boy Joseph Wimmer from Kaisersteinbruch learned the trade in the Viennese building works. On March 23, 1710, the Viennese stonemason records report, ... a young apprentice named Joseph Wimber from the imperial quarry (* 1693) was thrown from the stonemason master Thomas Haresleben , the father Johann a stonemason journeyman , the master also took over instead of the Father's function of chief guarantor. He was acquitted as a journeyman on November 2, 1716.

Death of his brother Hans Georg

Johann Georg Haresleben , a very successful master stonemason in the imperial quarry, most recently he was in charge of the large-scale commission from the Karlskirche in the quarries. In the first year, on July 24, 1716, he died at the age of 45. In his will , the sadness of the near end touches the concern for his three small children and his young wife Maria Regina, who is widowed at the age of 27. Together with Sebastian Regondi, he appointed brother Thomas to be hired so that the children received the best education. Both were also the will witnesses.

Master builder for St. Stephan

After the death of master Johann Carl Trumler , the brotherhood book of the main hut in Vienna could be read .. Anno 1720, June 25th, I am Thomas Haresleben, Paumeister at the Löbl. St. Steffan's Cathedral Abbey here . His ecclesiastical authority was Prince-Bishop (Archbishop from 1722) Sigismund Graf von Kollonitz . Like almost all Viennese church princes, he received his foundations from the Jesuits . St. Stephen's Cathedral was elevated to a Metropolitan Church in 1722 , and in 1727 the royal seat of Vienna received its first cardinal, Kollonitz . With the marriage fountain on the Hoher Markt , the inner city presented another Catholic monument.

The widower married Anna Maria Niedermayerin, widow of the Eggenburg sculptor Andreas Niedermayer, in St. Stephen's Cathedral on February 18, 1727.

death

In the death log of October 16, 1733, it says: Thomas Haresleben, a bourgeois stonemason and master builder near St. Stephan , died of an internal fire at Freydhof Alda, aged 60 .

His successor as master builder was court stonemason Matthias Winkler .

Archival material

• Vienna City and State Archives : Steinmetzakten .
• Heiligenkreuz Abbey Archive: Church books, registers .

literature

• Alois Kieslinger : Stone handicraft in Eggenburg and Zogelsdorf . In: Unser Heimat, monthly newspaper of the Association for Regional Studies and Homeland Protection of Lower Austria and Vienna 8, 1935, Issue 5, ISSN  1017-2696 , pp. 141–161 and Issue 6–7, pp. 177–193.
• Otto E. Plettenbacher: History of the stonecutters of Vienna in the 17th century. An economic and cultural historical as well as sociological investigation. Price list 1688, set order of the stone carvings . Dissertation, University of Vienna 1960.
• Helmuth Furch : In: Messages of the Museum and Culture Association Kaisersteinbruch . ISBN 978-3-9504555-3-3 .

The Haresleben family . No. 3, 1990, pp. 6-13.

• Helmuth Furch: Historical Lexicon Kaisersteinbruch . 2 volumes. Museum and cultural association, Kaisersteinbruch 2002–2004. ISBN 978-3-9504555-8-8 .
• Burghard Gaspar: The "White Stone of Eggenburg". The Zogelsdorf sand-lime brick and its masters . In: The Waldviertel . 44, 1995, No. 4, ISSN  0259-8957 , pp. 331-367.