Wilhelm Beer
Wilhelm Wolff Beer (born January 4, 1797 in Berlin ; died March 27, 1850 in Berlin) was a German businessman, banker, politician, publicist and amateur astronomer . He was the brother of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer and the poet Michael Beer .
Life
Wilhelm Beer was born on January 4, 1797 in Berlin to Jakob Herz Beer and Amalie Beer . After finishing school at the Joachimsthalschen Gymnasium in Berlin , he joined the cavalry in 1813 and only one year later Wilhelm Beer took part in the Wars of Liberation from 1814 to 1815 , where he also acquired his officer's license .
After joining his father's banking business, he married Doris Schlesinger in 1818, with whom he had three children. In 1824 he made the acquaintance of Johann Heinrich Mädler . After his father's death in 1825, he became the administrator of his father's inheritance, acquired citizenship in Berlin in 1828 and became a member, later elder, of the corporation of the Berlin merchants and member of the management of the Luisenstift.
As an amateur astronomer , Beer did an excellent job from 1830 to 1840. He received numerous honors for creating an accurate map of the moon, including being named Knight of Dannebrog , the Lalande Prize and the Golden Medal for Art and Science . Although Beer and Mädler published a work on the solar system in 1840 ( Fragment sur les corps célestes du système solaire ), in 1841 he himself turned down an appointment as a professional astronomer in Paris and Pulkovo .
Beer became director of the Potsdam-Leipzig Railway Company. In the following years Beer worked as a director or member of the supervisory bodies of numerous railway companies. In 1838 he became a member of the Jewish Community's Committee for the Poor and was appointed Knight of the Vasa Order . In 1844 he started working as a publicist, especially in the Spenersche and Vossische Zeitung . His elevation to the nobility by the Duke of Tuscany took place in the same year. During this time, Beer also provided ideal support for the Central Association for the welfare of the working classes and the Berlin non-profit construction company . As an honorary city councilor in Berlin, Beer published the pamphlet Das United Germany in 1848, with the preservation of the independence of German tribes . Two years later, after being elected member of the 1st Chamber of the Prussian Parliament in 1849, he died on March 27, 1850 after an illness lasting several weeks and was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Schönhauser Allee in Berlin.
astronomy
Beer gained fame through his achievements as an amateur astronomer. In 1829 he set up a private observatory in the Berlin zoo, which was equipped with a refractor with a 9.5 cm opening. Together with the astronomer Johann Heinrich Mädler , he published an exact map of the moon ( Mappa Selenographica ) between 1834 and 1836 . In 1837 a description of the moon followed ( the moon according to its cosmic and individual circumstances ). For many years these works remained the best representations of the moon.
In 1830, Beer and Mädler also presented the first systematic representation of the surface of the planet Mars using a Mars globe. In 1840, the two of them created a more detailed map of Mars and calculated the period of rotation of Mars to be 24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.7 seconds with an accuracy of 0.1 seconds. That is probably why an impact crater on Mars was named after him. In 1835 Beer calculated the orbits of the moons of the planet Saturn .
The lunar crater Beer was named after Wilhelm Beer . Even Alexander von Humboldt estimated the astronomical work of Beer and mentioned them in his cosmos -Werk.
Economics, journalism, social and political engagement
Wilhelm Wolff Beer was an extremely versatile, interested and committed person. In addition to his astronomical work, he participated intensively in the development of the railway system in Germany. He was involved in the Jewish community and held several offices. In the last decade of his life, he devoted himself as a publicist to political and economic topics, in particular finance and money. He was elected MP shortly before his death.
Fonts
- with JH Mädler: The moon according to its cosmic and individual circumstances or general comparative selenography. Simon Schropp & Comp., Berlin 1837 ( online ).
- with JH Mädler: Physical observations of Mars during its opposition in September 1830. Berlin 1830 ( online ).
- with JH Mädler: Contributions to the physical knowledge of the heavenly bodies in the solar system. BF Voigt, Weimar 1841 ( online ).
- Comments on slip banks and paper money. Berlin 1845.
- The dangers of the differential tariffs and the revision of the tariff. Berlin 1848.
Web links
- Literature by and about Wilhelm Beer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Chronology of Mars Exploration (English)
- Publications by W. Beer in the Astrophysics Data System
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hartmut Kaelble : Berlin entrepreneur during the early industrialization. P. 91 ff.
- ↑ Petra Werner: Heaven and Earth. Alexander von Humboldt and his cosmos. Academy, Berlin 2004, p. 90, 152 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Beer, Wilhelm |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Beer, Wilhelm Wolff (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German banker and amateur astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 4, 1797 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 27, 1850 |
| Place of death | Berlin |