Johann Georg Dominicus von Linprun (10 January 1714 - 14 June 1787) was a

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n scientist. He was one of the co-founders of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

Early years

Johann Georg Dominicus von Linprun was born on 10 January 1714 in

Viechtach Viechtach is a town in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarzer Regen, 31 km northeast of Straubing Straubing () is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the distri ...

in the

Bavarian Forest The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is ...

, son of a municipal and district court clerk. After completing secondary school Linprun studied law and philosophy at the universities of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

and

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area ...

. On his return he obtained a position as a municipal court clerk first in Neumarkt and then in his home town of Viechtach. He married Maria Theresa Juliana Rettinger. Linprun was appointed Director of the lead and zinc mine at Rauschenberg near

Dachsbach Dachsbach is a market town and municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in northern Bavaria in Germany. Geography Dachsbach is located in the valley of the Aisch. The borou ...

, and became the owner of a silver mine in Bodenmais.

Mint

Because Linprun had acquired a broad knowledge of mining and mineralogy, in 1750 he was appointed to the Mint and Mines office in Munich, and was often entrusted with negotiations over coinage. In 1753 he represented Bavaria in negotiations over monetary standards in Vienna, where he earned so much trust and respect that the

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor Francis I (Francis Stephen; french: François Étienne; german: Franz Stefan; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He became the ruler of the Hol ...

, made him a peer of the realm and the Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

presented him with an image of her bust on a gold chain.

Academy of Sciences

Linprun collaborated with provost Franz Töpsl, Andreas Felix von Oefele and

Johann Georg von Lori Johann Georg von Lori (17 July 1723 – 23 March 1787) was a Bavarian high official, lawyer and historian. He was the driving force behind the foundation of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1759. Life Early years Johann Georg ...

for the foundation in 1759 of the

Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph, "the much beloved", (28 March 1727 – 30 December 1777) was a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Electorate of Bavaria, Bavaria from 1745 to 1777. Biography Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest so ...

. Linprun held the post of Director of the philosophical class at the Academy from 1759. The Academy published many treatises that he wrote, including a description of a measuring instrument he had invented; the discovery of a Roman road at Laufzorn and Grünwald; a description of the ancient geography of Bavaria; a memoir on the death of Jesus Christ. Linprun set up the first astronomical observatory for the Academy on his own initiative in a tower-like building on a bastion on the outskirts of Munich (today on Prinzregentenstraße opposite the ''

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a non-collecting modern and contemporary art museum in Munich, Germany. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. History N ...

''). It was open from 1760 to 1769-70, but no serious observations were made. In 1787 he was sent to a coinage conference at

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

. He died of a stroke a few days after his return to Munich, on 14 June 1787.

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Linbrunn, Johann Georg Dominicus von 1714 births 1787 deaths Scientists from Bavaria People from Regen (district)