The k.k. Mineralogische Hof-Cabinet

Following Schreibers' retirement, the young Emperor Franz Franz Joseph I orders the administrative separation of the individual natural resources cabinets. The Mineralogical Court Cabinet lasts from 1851 to 1876 (some reports use the name "k.k. Hofmineraliencabinet", labels with the heading "k.k. Mineralogisches Museum" were in use at that time).

In each of the cabinets the custodian in charge is also the head; from 1867 the director. Partsch becomes head of the Minerals Cabinet, working there until his early death on the 3 October 1856. His pupil, Moriz Hoernes, who had been working at the Cabinet from 1836, is nominated custodian in 1856. At this time, the Cabinet also encompasses the subjects of geology and palaeontology, both of these are separated from the Mineralogy Collection through the further revisions carried out under Emperor Franz Joseph in 1876.

 

The palaeontological-geological faculty is represented above all through four gentlemen at the Mineralogical Court Cabinet: Moriz Hoernes, Mathias Auinger, Theodor Fuchs and Eduard Suess. The mineralogical and petrographical work discipline at the Cabinet is represented in particular through Wilhelm Joseph Grailich, Gustav Adolph Kenngott, Albrecht Schrauf, Gustav Tschermak and Aristides Brezina. The directorship is held by Moriz Hoernes which he had assumed from his uncle, Paul Partsch. As a scientist, Hoernes enjoys an excellent international reputation. This may perhaps be the reason why the mineralogical cabinet is the recipient of an unusual present in 1859. Prince Anatolij Nikolajewitsch Demidoff, owner of the platinum conglomerate basin at Nischne Tagilsk in the Urals and well known for his patronage, donates a platinum nugget weighing 6.2 kg to Director Hoernes. Noteworthy is that not the Emperor receives this noble gift, but a museum official in the Monarchy - without doubt, this is a highly unusual procedure. The nugget is the second largest existing of its type today.

 

Gustav Tschermak succeeds Hoernes in 1868 in the management of the Cabinet. Schrauf edits a new edition of the Library Catalogue of the Court Mineral Cabinet and begins with work preparation for an "Atlas der Krystallformen des Mineralreiches, Wien 1865-1878" (Atlas of Crystal Forms in the Mineral Realm, Vienna 1865-1878), which he unfortunately could not complete. Schrauf is called to the Chair of Mineralogy at the University of Vienna in 1874 and leaves the Cabinet. Shortly thereafter - in 1877 - Tschermak leaves the service at the Mineralogical Court Cabinet and transfers to an institute created for him at the University of Vienna. From 1855 until 1859, the successor to Gustav Adolph Kenngott in the office of assistant custodian for the Cabinet is Josef Wilhelm Grailich. He is considered the spiritual creator of the "Verein zur Verbreitung naturwissenschaftlicher Kenntnisse" (Association for the Dissemination of Information on the Natural Sciences) at the University of Vienna.

 

Moriz Hoernes der Ältere (1815-1868), Zu Ehren von Hoernes wurde das Magnesium-Arsenatmineral Hörnesit benannt.
Moriz Hoernes der Ältere (1815-1868), Zu Ehren von Hoernes wurde das Magnesium-Arsenatmineral Hörnesit benannt.
Platin-Nugget - Ural, Sibirien, Russland. Größe des Stückes etwa 12 x 10 x 8 cm
Platin-Nugget - Ural, Sibirien, Russland. Größe des Stückes etwa 12 x 10 x 8 cm
  
Online-Tickets