Hartmann, Carl Friedrich Alexander

(b. Zorge, Harz, Germany, 8 January 1796; d. Leipzig, Germany, 3 August 1863)

mineralogy, mining, metallurgy.

Hartmann was the son of a chief clerk at a foundry in the Oberharz, one of the most important ore mining districts in Germany. His father’s activities awakened his interest in mining and metallurgy at an early age. He received his first instruction from the pastor at Zorge and at the age of ten went to Blankenburg to continue his education; there, under the supervision of his uncle, the abbot of Ziegenbein, he completed the Gymnasium course. He then attended the mining school in Clausthal, in order to learn the mining sciences, especially mineralogy.

Hartmann’s studies were interrupted by his participation in the “War of Liberation” of the German states and their allies against Napoleon in 1813-1815. Discharged from the army in 1816, Hartmann became an assistant at the foundry in Zorge. Soon afterward he made several journeys in order to become familiar with other foundries, especially in Silesia. After this period of travel he went in 1818 to Berlin to continue his studies. He so excelled in mineralogy that he became an assistant to the famous professor of mineralogy Christian Weiss.

In 1821, while still a student in Berlin, Hartmann entered into a marriage which was beyond his financial means and forced him to accept a position as a bookkeeper in Rübeland, Harz, in order to provide for his family. Several years later he moved to Blankenburg, where, because of his conscientiousness and discretion, he was often entrusted with the management of important affairs. Hartmann devoted his free time to private study, concentrating on mineralogy and geology. As a result of these vigorous efforts in 1823 he was named an honorary member of the Königlich Preussische Akademie Gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften of Erfurt. Two years later the duchy of Brunswick granted him an extended leave to make scientific journeys. On one of these he went to Italy. After this educational trip Hartmann received a doctorate in jurisprudence in 1826 from the University of Heidelberg. In the same year he was named an honorary member of the Societät für die Gesamte Mineralogie of Jena. In 1827 he was made an honorary member of the Natural History Society of Edinburgh.

During this period Hartmann’s first major work on mining science was published. In 1829 he was appointed commissioner of mines in Brunswick. At the same time he became an honorary member of the Erfurt Gewerbe—Verein and a member of the Prussian Verein zur Beförderung des Gewerbefleisses. A year later the Apotheker—Verein des Nördlichen Deutschland offered him an honorary membership, and in 1833 the Society for Natural Curiosities in Moscow bestowed an honorary membership upon him. In 1834 Hartmann traveled on a commission from the government of Brunswick to England and France, where he received many valuable suggestions in mining, metallurgy, mineralogy, and geology. Hartmann was also given plenipotentiary powers as Brunswick’s adviser at the tariff conference in Berlin, and later he represented Brunswick at the Berlin international exhibition of 1844.

Perhaps because of such honors and his considerable technical education, furthered by an extensive knowledge of English and French language and literature, Hartmann experienced envy and ill will, and even insults from some of his superiors. Consequently, in 1841 he resigned as commissioner of mines of Brunswick and moved to Berlin, in order to work there as a technical writer on the mining sciences. In mining and metallurgy Hartmann was already a known and respected author, although he wrote and translated only to the extent that his free time allowed. Hardly settled in Berlin, in December 1841 he founded the Berg-und hüttenmännische Zeitung, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Mineralogie und Geologie, which he edited until 1858. In 1859 he began publication of the Allgemeine berg-und hüttenmännische Zeitung, of which he was editor-in-chief until his death.

In 1844 Hartmann became an honorary member of the Society for Mineralogy in St. Petersburg and, in 1847, member of the Gewerbeverein of Weimar. He moved to Weimar in 1845, after he had divorced his first wife and remarried. In 1854 he left Weimar and went to Leipzig. In both cities his literary production was considerable.

Hartmann did no independent research and was not noted for the originality of his writings. Nevertheless, his contribution to the literature of mining and metallurgy was great: by setting down on paper anything that could further technical knowledge he contributed to the dissemination of the latest information.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Of Hartmann’s more than 100 works, the following are his most important publications: Handwörterbuch der Mineralogie, Berg-, Hütten– und Salzwerkskunde. Nebst der französischen Synonymie und einem französischen Register, 2 vols. (Ilmenau, 1825), 2nd ed. under the title Handwörterbuch der Berg-, Hütten– und Salzwerkskunde, der Mineralogie und Geognosie, 3 vols. (Weimar, 1859-1860); Handwörterbuch der Mineralogie und Geognosie (Leipzig, 1828); Lehrbuch der Eisenhüttenkunde, 2 vols. (1833), with 2 atlases; Lehrbuch der Mineralogie und Geologie, 2 pts. (Nuremberg, 1835-1836); Handbuch der praktischen Metallurgie. Nebst einem Anhange über die Anfertigung von Eisenbahnschienen, 2 vols. (Weimar, 1837; 3rd ed., 1863); Über den Betrieb der Hohöfen (Hochöfen), Cupolöfen... mit erhitzter Gebläseluft, 6 vols. (Quedlinburg-Leipzig, 1834-1841); Encyclopädisches Wörterbuch der Technologie, der technischen Chemie, Physik und des Maschinenwesens, 4 vols. (Augsburg, 1838-1841); Taschenbuch für reisende Mineralogen, Geologen, Berg- und Hüttenleute durch die Hauptgebirge Deutschlands und der Schweiz (Weimar, 1838, 1848), with atlas and suppl.; Grundriss der Eisenhüttenkunde (Berlin, 1843; 2nd ed., 1852); Handbuch der Mineralogie (Weimar, 1843); Handbuch der praktischen Metallurgie (Weimar, 1847); Geographisch-statistische Beschreibung von Californien. Nach den besten Quellen bearbeitet, 2 vols. (Weimar, 1849); Die neuesten Entdeckungen und Forschungs-Resultate auf dem Gebiete der gesamten Mineralogie seit dem Jahre 1843 (Weimar-Hamm, 1850); Die neuesten Fortschritte des Stein kohlen-Bergbaues (Quedlinburg-Leipzig, 1850); and Die Fortschritte der Eisenhüttenkunde (Berlin, 1851), with atlas.

See also Vollständiges Handbuch der Eisengiesserei, 2 vols. (Freiberg, 1847, 1853); Vademecum für den praktischen Eisenhüttenmann (Leipzig, 1855; 2nd ed., 1858; 3rd ed., Hamm, 1863); Vademecum für den praktischen Bergmann (Leipzig, 1856); Praktisches Handbuch der Roh— und Stabeisen-Fabrikation, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1853-1857), with atlas; Die Aufbereitung und Verkokung der Steinkohlen, sowie die Verkokung der Braunkohlen und des Torfes (Weimar, 1858); Handbuch der Bergbau- und Hüttenkunde, oder die Aufsuchung, Gewinnung und Zugutemachung der Erze, der Stein- und Braunkohlen und anderer nutzbarer Mineralien (Weimar, 1858), with atlas; Vollständiges Handbuch der Metallgiesserei (Weimar, 1858); Handwörterbuch der Berg-, Hütten- und Salzwerkskunde (Weimar, 1860); Berg- und hüttenmännischer Atlas, oder Abbildungen und Beschreibungen vorzüglicher Bergwerks- und Hütten- Maschinen und Apparate (Weimar, 1860), with atlas; Die Aufbereitung und Verkokung der Steinkohlen (Weimar, 1861); and Die Fortschritte des Eisenhüttengewerbes in der neueren Zeit, oder der heutige Standpunkt der Roheisen-, Stabeisen- und Stahl-Fabrikation, 6 vols. (Leipzig, 1858-1863).

From 1842 to 1858 Hartmann edited Berg- und hüttenmännische Zeitung, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Mineralogie und Geologie, while from 1859 until his death he was editor of Allgemeine Berg- und hüttenmännische Zeitung: Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Mineralogie und Geologie. He also translated, revised, and edited about forty French and English books on mining, mineralogy, and metallurgy.

A secondary source is “Dr. Carl F. A. Hartmann,” in Der Berggeist. Zeitung für Berg-, Hüttenwesen und Industrie, 8 , no. 103 (1863), 427-428.

M. Koch