Wenzel Himmelbauer's entry in the album of Maria Theresia Paradis (A-Wst, Ia 109704, 190). In his article about Paradis' stay in Switzerland, Hermann Ullrich does not even mention Wenzel Himmelbauer (Ullrich 1963).
Liebste Frau von Paradis[translation:]
Zeit lebens ich sie nicht vergiß
sambt unser lieben Freüle Therese
mit ihrem Englischen Clavier geteße
ich bin ihr Freünd ohne zweifel
sonst holl mich der teüfe[l]
als ein aufrichtiger Wienner
ihr Gehorsambster Unt[erthänigster] Diener
Wenceslaus
Himmelpaur
Violloncellist
Bern den 29t Februario 1784
Dearest Madam von ParadisIn 2010, I published this entry in the online edition of my review of Marion Fürst's book about Paradis, a book which unfortunately was used as basis of a very flawed Wikipedia article (mostly concocted by Susanne Wosnitzka) where, in connection with Paradis' 1784 visit to Bern, Himmelbauer is disregarded. For unknown reasons, my transcription of the above entry was disimproved in Himmelbauer 2017.
for the rest of my life I shall not forget you,
together with our dear Miss Therese
with the noise of her English piano.
I am your friend without a doubt
or else I should be damned
as a sincere Viennese
your most obedient servant [...]
Wenzel Himmelbauer in the literature
Himmelbauer's posthumous musical reputation is based on the testimonies of several authors, such as Hiller, Schubart, Dlabacz, Gerber, and Schilling which, at a later point of time, were summarized and extended by encyclopedists such as Gaßner, Wurzbach, Wasielewski, and Liégeois. Wenzel Himmelbauer's name was first mentioned in print in 1766. On 23 September 1766, in his weekly Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend, Johann Adam Hiller published a short survey about significant musicians in Vienna which included members of the court orchestra as well as freelance virtuosos and amateurs. Hiller's list was titled as follows.
Wien. Von dem dermaligen Etat der kaiserl. königl. Hof= und Kammermusik, wie auch einigen andern Virtuosen und Liebhabern einen kurzen, wiewohl zur Zeit noch unvollkommenen Abriß mitzutheilen, hat ein Freund der Musik auf Verlangen folgendes niederschreiben wollen.[translation:]
Vienna. About the current staff of the I. & R. Court and chamber music, as well as a number of other virtuosos and amateurs, a friend of music, on request, agreed to write down the following brief, although at the moment still incomplete, outline.On p. 99 Himmelbauer is listed among the important Bassonisten (cellists).
Wenzel Himmelbauer's name among prominent cellists in Hiller's 1766 Wöchentliche Nachrichten. This source contains a number of significant musicians whose early mentions in this periodical have received little attention, for instance the singers Maria Theresia Bettmann, née Hainisch (1733–1767), Countess von Hatzfeld, née von Zierotin, and Mozart's future friend Baroness von Waldstätten, née Schäffer. The name Franciscello, that appears among the cellists (on the following page), proves that this nickname did not refer to the cellist Francesco Alborea, but to his son Emanuele Alborea.
The ambiguous structure of Hiller's list of musicians – in the middle of his survey he inserted the title "Von der Hof=Kapelle sind dermalen zu bemerken." – only to continue the mixture of professional musicians, freelancers, and amateurs, must have led Schilling to mistakenly assume that Himmelbauer was a member of the I. & R. court chapel (Schilling 1836, III, 590). The documents related to this orchestra show, however, that Himmelbauer was never employed by the Viennese court. Himmelbauer's only known professional employment was his membership in the 1765 orchestra of Baron Adam Patachich de Zajezda, bishop of Großwardein, which is documented in Ditters von Dittersdorf's memoirs (Dittersdorf 1801, 135).
During the late 18th century, the musician and author Carl Ludwig Junker lived in Switzerland and seems to have known Wenzel Himmelbauer personally. In the Musikalischer Almanach auf das Jahr 1782, which is widely attributed to Junker, Himmelbauer's musical skills are described as follows.
Himmelbauer (from Vienna). A very good guy, free from all pride of the ordinary virtuoso coward, but, like almost every genius, a bad housekeeper. Due to his outward appearance, if you have never heard him play, or if you do not know him more closely, he does not raise great expectations. But as soon as you listen to him play, this surprise will reconcile you all the more with him.In his treatise Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst, which was probably written around 1780 (and published posthumously in 1806), Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart writes the following about Himmelbauer.
He plays his cello, which is not one of the best, and also has a size that is not fit for solo playing, with astonishing skill and with a lightness that almost gives the eye half of the pleasure it gives the ear.
This skill not only covers the high passages that require the thumb position (where they are easy because they all lie in the hand), but also great leaps in sixteenths in the lower region of the bass voice.
His bowing is pithy and he is a very good sight-reader; and just as he surpasses [Johann] Jäger in difficult passages, so perhaps Jäger surpasses him in the application of mezzotint tones.
Himmelbauer. A solid and extremely pleasant cellist, without any artistic pride; a man with the straightest and most lovable heart. Nobody is as calm and relaxed in his bowing as this master. He executes the most difficult passages with extreme ease, and he especially pours out his heart in the cantabile. His sweet expression, his lovely fermatas, and especially his great strength in mediate colors – have been admired by all connoisseurs and listeners. He composed little for his instrument, but this little has all the more inner value. He is from Vienna and now resides in Bern.In 1776 Wenzel Himmelbauer is documented to have been a member of the Masonic lodge "Zum heiligen Joseph" in Vienna. In a list of members of this lodge which, according to Lajos Abafi is held by the archive of the lodge "Archimedes zu den drei Reißbrettern" in Altenburg, Himmelbauer, at this time, is given among the absent members as "travelling musician" (Abafi 1893, 322).
Although all previous authors (including Himmelbauer himself in his above album entry) explicitly refer to Himmelbauer as born in Vienna, Dlabacz, in his biographical dictionary, suddenly presents him as an artist of Bohemian origin who "in 1764 was living in Bohemia" (Dlabacz 1815, col. 632). Based on this mixture of incomplete and incorrect information, a fictional biography of Himmelbauer was created during the 19th century, until in 1889 Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski capped the whole narrative by claiming that Himmelbauer was born in 1725 (Wasielewski 1889, 76). Wasielewski's source for this alleged year of birth is unknown. Likewise undocumented is Wasielewski's claim that Himmelbauer was the teacher of the cellist Philipp Schindlöcker (1753–1827). The most recent state of knowledge concerning Himmelbauer is summarized in compressed form in Johannes Sturm's dissertation about Zumsteeg as follows: "Wenzel Himmelbauer (1725–?) Is the only one of the Viennese composers whose works are also mentioned by Junker and Schubart. He was employed by the Imperial court chapel, however, particularly as a virtuoso, he must have travelled to several performance venues." (Sturm 2017, 29).
Although in my 2011 book review I had published the information that Wenzel Himmelbauer was a son of Leopold Himmelbauer and died in Bern in 1793 (Lorenz 2011, 192), Sofie Himmelbauer (or her father Markus Himmelbauer) did not believe me, but, curiously enough, put more trust in Wasiliewski's data than in my research. In her 2017 Vorwissenschaftliche Arbeit Himmelbauer put forward the following arguments [my translation].
Michael Lorenz states that Wenzel Himmelbauer died in 1793 in Bern. Unfortunately, this author was not willing to share the results of his research on Himmelbauer for this study. I am unable to follow his presumption that Wenzel Himmelbauer was the “son of the regens chori of Vienna's Karlskirche Leopold Himmelbauer”. Leopold Himmelbauer died on February 1st, 1781, at the age of 76 "in his house No. 79 in Lerchenfeld." Thus, he was born in 1705. If Wenzel Himmelbauer's year of birth "around 1725" is correct, Leopold Himmelbauer would have become a father at the age of 20, which for a musician would have been very unusual at this time. Illegitimate children were always named after the mother, so this possibility can also be ruled out. There are two entries in the baptismal registers of the Schotten parish concerning children of Leopold Himmelbauer: on March 13th, 1738, he is referred to as Musicus, on October 15th, 1739, his profession is given as Regens Chori. Between 1721 and 1745 there is no further entry related to Leopold Himmelbauer, neither in the Schotten parish nor in the parish of St. Stephen's. According to Dlabacz, however, Wenzel Himmelbauer was in Bohemia until 1764. None of his contemporaries referred to Wenzel as son of Leopold. (Himmelbauer 2017)Apart from the erroneous claim that "illegitimate children were always named after the mother" (they were not, if the father professed to the paternity), Sofie Himmelbauer did not realize that the entire chronological confusion was only caused by Wasielewski's fictitious data. How any of Wenzel Himmelbauer's contemporaries should have known the identity of Himmelbauer's father remains a mystery. None of the authors cited above even addressed Leopold Himmelbauer's existence.
Wenzel Himmelbauer's ancestors
Wenzel Himmelbauer's immediate ancestors – his father and his grandfather – all came from the Lower Austrian municipality of Raabs an der Thaya. Wenzel Himmelbauer's grandfather Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer (ca. 1665–1729) is documented to have lived from 1700 until 1729 in Raabs where he was a member of the town council and a barber surgeon (Bader) by profession. Since the Raabs church records only begin in 1689, Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer's birth in Raabs cannot be documented. The fact that after 1689 his parents did not die there, suggests that he had moved to Raabs shortly before his wedding which possibly took place around 1699 in the hometown of his wife Susanna (1679–1757).
During their stay in Raabs, Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer and his wife Susanna had the following thirteen children (without claim of completeness).
- Johann Jakob Himmelbauer, b. 21 Feb 1700 (Raabs 1, 97), d. 31 Mar 1753, Vienna (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 49, H, fol. 27v) (see below)
- Johann Michael Himmelbauer, b. 28 Sep 1701 (Raabs 1, 109), d. 1 Feb 1736, Horn (Horn 1a, 165) (see below)
- Maria Juliana Himmelbauer, b. 6 Aug 1703 (Raabs 1, 132)
- Johann Leopold Himmelbauer, b. 9 Nov 1704 (Raabs 1, 151), d. 1 Feb 1781, Vienna (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 78, H, fol. 5r.) (see below)
- Johann Christoph Himmelbauer, b. 23 Nov 1706 (Raabs 1, 173)
- Anna Maria Magdalena, b. 14 Jul 1708 (Raabs 1, 189)
- Ignaz Himmelbauer, b. 19 Jul 1710 (Raabs 1, 209)
- Anna Clara Himmelbauer, b. 31 Jul 1711 (Raabs 1, 221)
- Eva Regina Himmelbauer, b. 3 Sep 1713 (Raabs 1, 245), buried 5 Nov 1713 (Raabs 1, 118)
- Matthäus Himmelbauer, b. 3 Sep 1713 (Raabs 1, 245), buried 25 Apr 1714 (Raabs 1, 120)
- Maria Anna Himmelbauer, b. 20 May 1715 (Raabs 1, 263)
- Eva Maria Himmelbauer, b. 25 Dec 1717 (Raabs 1, 287)
- Joseph Himmelbauer, b. 10 Feb 1721 (Raabs 1, 318)
The entry concerning the burial of Chyrurgus loci Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer on 5 April 1729 (Raabs 1, 204)
Johann Heinrich's widow Susanna Himmelbauer died at the age of 78 at the Reismühle (a mill on the Thaya west of Raabs) and was buried on 2 March 1757 in Raabs.
The entry concerning Susanna Himmelbauer's burial on 2 March 1757 (Raabs 2, 164)
It must be noted that, apart from the parents and two of their children, no members of the Himmelbauer family are listed in the death records of the Raabs parish. Also, in the 18th century, no member of the family married in Raabs (the Raabs marriage indexes also contain the names of brides). The surviving Himmelbauer children all moved away from their hometown. Three sons of Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer gained historical significance: Johann Jakob, Johann Leopold, and Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer
Johann Jakob Himmelbauer
Johann Jakob Himmelbauer's activity as musician in Vienna is first documented in 1731. The entry concerning his wedding in the church records of St. Ulrich, where he is referred to as teacher and regens chori of this parish, marks the first appearance of the town of Raabs as the birthplace of an important musician in the Imperial City. On 16 January 1731 Johann Jakob Himmelbauer married Anna Katharina Palleutner, born on 24 November 1703 in Traiskirchen (Traiskirchen 2, 145), daughter of the local market judge Johann Adam Palleutner and his wife Maria. The exact date of this wedding is missing in the St. Ulrich register, but it can be dated with the entry in the marriage register of St. Stephen's (A-Wd, Tom. 46, 356).
The entry concerning the publication of the banns fo Johann Jakob Himmelbauer's wedding on 16 January 1731 (St. Ulrich 17, fol. 45v)
This entry reads as follows.
Eodem [6 January 1731]Johann Jakob Himmelbauer and his wife had the following two children.
Der Wohl Edl und Kunstreiche Herr
Johann Jacob Himelpaur, schuell- und regens
Chori allhier, Ledigenstandts, Wohnhaft allhier,
gebürtig zu Raabs in öesterreich, Weÿl[and] deß
Wohl Edl und Kunstreichen Herrn Johann
Heinrich Himelpaur, gewesten Baader und
Wundartzte[n] alda seel:, und dessen Frau
Ehe Consortin Susanna, so noch in leben, beede[r]
Eheleiblich erzeugter Herr Sohn. Nimbt zur
Ehe die Wohl Edle und tugendreich[e] Jungfrau,
Catharina Palleüthnerin, Wohnhaft in St: Stephans
Pfarr, gebürtig von dem Kaÿl: Markhttröß=
Kürchen in öesterreich, Weÿl: deß wohl Edlen]
H: Johann Adam Palleüthner gewester Burger
und Markhtrichter alda, und desen Frau Ehe=
gemahlin Maria Magdalena, beede seel: er=
zeugteJungfrJungfrau Tochter, Zum1Mahl
23
Test: |:Titl:| Ihro Gnaden H: Ferdinant
Edler v: Quarient, N: Ö: Regie=
rungs Rath.
Test: |:Titl:| ihro gnaden H: H: v: Tollberg,
Ihro König: Kaÿl: Maÿt: Geheimer
Hofrath und Reverendarius:
- Barbara Catharina Himmelbauer, b. 4 January 1732 (St. Ulrich [henceforth SU] 21, fol. 93v, godmother: Barbara Petrossi [the child's future mother in law]), d. 10 May 1786, in her own house Stadt 455 [378] (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 87, BP, fol. 34r, and Mag. ZG, A2, 995/1786)
- Gaudenz Johann Baptist, b. 14 April 1736 (SU 22, fol. 215r, godfather: Gaudenz Petrossi), d. 14 November 1739 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 41, fol. 256v)
On 6 October 1750, Barbara Catharina Himmelbauer married Karl Joseph Petrossi, I. & R. government secretary (SU 22, fol. 86r) (1710–1782), son of the leather manufacturer and owner of the houses Stadt 455, and St. Ulrich 40, Gaudenz Petrossi (1680–1740) and his wife Barbara (1685–1734) (Haupt 2007, 235). The couple had the following children of which in 1786 six were still alive (the members of the next generation of the Petrossi family are outside the focus of this study).
- Ignaz Michael Jacob Petrossi, b. 16 Jul 1751 (SU 27, fol. 111r), doctor of law, (on 3 Jun 1782 married Maria Anna Zeiff [A-Wd, 74, fol. 231v) declared legally insane in 1814 (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A3, 363/1814), d. 17 Jun 1819 (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2 1402/1819)
- Michael Lorenz Cajetan Petrossi, b. 10 Aug 1752 (SU 27, fol. 235r), d. 31 Mar 1753 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 49, BP, fol. 44r, and SU 19, 428)
- Michael Andreas Franz Xaver Petrossi, b. 29 Sep 1753 (SU 28, fol. 28v), scriptor with the I. & R. court library, d. 4 Jun 1818 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 142, BP, fol. 56r, Mag. ZG, A2, 1486/1818, and A10, 277/1818)
- Franz Xaver Andreas Petrossi, b. 6 Mar 1755 (SU 28, fol. 204v), I. & R. privy cabinet official, declared legally insane in 1798 (Mag. ZG, A3, 537/1798), d 28. Apr 1802 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 113, BP, fol. 49v, and Mag. ZG, A2, 1890/1802)
- Constanzia (Barbara) Petrossi, b. 1757, nun at the convent of St. Jakob auf der Hülben in Vienna until 1783 (Wiedemann 1896, 83), d. 20 Jul 1845, Gaudenzdorf (A-Wsa, Serie 2.1.1.13.A1, Klosterneuburg über Gaudenzdorf, 712, and Meidling 3, fol. 351)
- Franz (Seraph) Anton Joseph Petrossi, b. 19 Aug 1761 (SU 30, fol. 205r), secretary and orientalischer Dollmetsch at the Bucharest consulate, d. 31 Jan 1803, Bucharest (Wiener Zeitung, 19 Mar 1803, 996) (grandfather of Ferdinand Petrossi [1834–1867], and Adolf Petrossi [1836–1900])
- Carl Franz Aloys Petrossi, b. 15 Oct 1762 (SU 30, fol. 352r), Handlungsdiener in a trading firm, d. 9 Jan 1794 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 100, BP, fol. 3r, and Mag. ZG, A2, 28/1794)
- Joseph Carl Franz Petrossi, b. 4 Oct 1765 (SU 31, fol. 367r), d. before 1786
- Jacob Ignaz Stephan Petrossi, b. 3 Aug 1767 (SU 32, fol. 165r), d. before 1786
A receipt written by Barbara Petrossi, née Himmelbauer, from the Sperrs-Relation of her sister-in-law Barbara Theresia Petrossi (1710–1767) (A-Wsa, Patrimoniale Herrschaften, Schotten, II. Reihe, 4362)
The names of the six surviving children of Barbara Petrossi, née Himmelbauer in her 1786 Sperrs-Relation (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 995/1786). Research concerning the exact genealogy of the Petrossi family is strongly impeded by the fact that the 1782 probate file of Karl Joseph Petrossi (the father of these children) is not extant.
The choir master and sexton Johann Jakob Himmelbauer died on 31 March 1753 at his home, the rectory of St. Ulrich (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 49, H, fol. 27v). He was buried on the next day, together with his baby grandson Michael Petrossi who had died of toothing cramps on the same day as his grandfather. This double burial in one crypt led to the very rare case that, in the St. Ulrich burial records, the expenses for Jakob Himmelbauer's burial were listed in the preceding entry concerning the burial of his grandson.
The two entries concerning the double burial of Michael Petrossi and his grandfather Johann Jakob Himmelbauer on 1 April 1753. The extra expenses for Himmelbauer's burial, which are missing on the right, are listed in the entry of his grandson on the left (SU 19, 428).
Two days before his death, Jakob Himmelbauer had signed the following will in which he bequeathed 1000 gulden to his daughter Barbara Petrossi and appointed his wife universal heir.
The last two pages of Jacob Himmelbauer's will signed on 29 March and published on 5 April 1753 (A-Wsa, Patrimoniale Herrschaften, Schotten, II. Reihe, 2234)
Johann Jakob Himmelbauer's widow Catharina wrote her will on 5 August 1753.Im Nahmen der Allerheiligsten Dreÿ=
faltigkeit Gott des Vatters, Sohns, und
heiligen Geistes, Amen.Habe Ich Jacob Himelpaur Regens Chori beÿ Pfarr zu St: Ulrich die Zergänglichkeit diser Welt mir zu Herzen und Gemüeth geführet, und betrachtet, daß dermahl ein nichts Gewissers alß der tod, die stund desselben aber in der männiglich verborgen seÿe dahero ich über mein wenige habschaft beÿ noch gut und vollkomener Vernunft, diesen meinen Lezten Willen folgender massen zu Papier bringen lassen. Alß nehmblichen
Erstens befehle ich mein arme Sindige Seel in die unergründliche Barmherzigkeit Gott des Vatters, Sohns= und heiligen Geistes, dan in die Fürbit der allerseeligsten Jungfrauen Maria, und aller lieben Heiligen: Meinen todten Leichnamb verschafe ich der Erden, und solle solcher den Christ=Catholischen gebrauch mit einen gantzen Conduct in alhiesigen Gottes=Acker beÿ St: Ulrich zum Grab begleidet werden: Folglichen zum
Anderten ist mein willen, daß gleich nach meinen Hinscheiden zu Hilf= und Trost meiner armen Seelen Acht Hundert heilige Messen, nehmlichen in der Pfarr=Kirchen beÿ St. Ulrich 500 : und beÿ denen P:P: Capucinern alda 300: sollen gelesen, und vor alle zusam :400f: bezahlt werden.
Drittens verschafe ich vor die Armen in langen Keller, wie auch vor die Armen beÿ St: Ulrich untern grunds an ieden Orth zwaÿ Ducaten, welche denen aufgestelten verwaltern behändiget werden sollen, und von beeden Armen Häusern 24 Persohnen mit meiner Leÿche gehen sollen. Und weilen man zum
Vierdten eines Jeglichen Testament die Einsezung der Erben die grundt Veste ist, alß will ich meiner Frauen tochter Barbara Catharina Pedrossin ein gebohrne Himelpäurin zum ein Vätterlichen Erbtheill 1000 f legirt haben: Was demnach
Fünften und Schlüsslichen über obige legata annoch übrig bleibet, Es bestehe in waß nun seÿe nichts davon ausgenommen, will ich über alles dasselbe, mein liebe Ehe Consortin Catharina Himelpäurin wegen mir iederzeit erzeügten Conlichen liebe= und treu zu meiner wahren universal Erbin eingesetzet haben: Womit ich diesen meinen lezten Willen in Nahmen Gottes gleich wie ich solchen angefangen, beschlüsse.
Zu wahrer urkundt dessen, habe ich diesen meinen Lezten Willen nicht allein selbst unterschriben, und gerfertiget, sondern zu mehrer bekräftigung von denen selbst mündlich erbettenen H[er]rn gezeugen mit fertigen lassen, So beschehen Wienn beÿ St: Ulrich den 29t tag Martij a{nn]o 1753
[L.S.] Jacob Himelpaur
[L.S.] Johann Ferd HofReitermp
als mündlich erbettener
Nahmensunterschreiber und Fertiger . /.
[L.S.] Mathias Widtmannmpia
erbener[sic] zeig.
[L.S.] Josephus Fr: Schochermp
alß Erbethener Zeig
Two pages of Catharina Himmelbauer's autograph will which shows exceptional style and penmanship. The seal is black because Frau Himmelbauer was still in her year of mourning (A-Wsa, Patrimoniale Herrschaften, Schotten, II. Reihe, 2961).
Catharina Himmelbauer died on 8 November 1759 of Hectica in the house "Zu den 12 Himmelszeichen" ("The 12 Zodiac Signs", today St.-Ulrichs-Platz 2) (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 53, H, fol. 40v, and A-Wsa, Herrschaft Schotten, 16.29(154), fol. 132v), and was buried on 11 November 1759 in the crypt of her husband in the St. Ulrich cemetery (SU 20, 406).In Namen der allerheilligsten Dreÿfaltigkeit
Gott deß Vatterß, Sohnß, und HeiligenGeisteß Amen ps: 9t: Xbr: 759Habe ich Catharina Himmelbaurin wittib die Zergenglichkeit diser welt mier zu Herzen und Gemieth gefiehret und betrachtet daß dermahl einß nichtß gewisserß alß der Dott diem stund deselben aber Jedermeniglich verborgen seÿe dahero ich über mein wenige Habschaft beÿ noch gueter gesundheit und vollkomen vernunft disen meinen lezten willen folgender Massen zu babier gesözt alß nemlichen
Erstenß befehle Ich mein arme Sindige Seel in die unergründliche barmherzigkeit Gott deß Vatterß Sohn und Heiligen Geisteß dann in die Fürbitt der allerselligsten Jungfrauen Maria und aller lieben Heiligen Meinen doden leichnamb verschafe Ich der Erden und solle solcher Christ Catholischer Gebrauch mit einen ganzen Conduct in alhiesigen Gotteß Hauß beÿ St Ullrich in die gruften zu meinen lieben Eheconsorden begleidet werden folglichen zum
Anderten ist Mein willen daß gleich nach meinen Hinscheiden zu hilf und drost meiner armen seellen acht hundert heilige Messen nehmelichen in der Pfarr Kirchen beÿ St Ullrich 500 und beÿ denen bäter Cabuzinern allda 300 sollen gelösen und alle zusam 400 f: bezalt werden.
Drittenß sollen von beden armen Hausern 24 bersohnen mit meiner leÿhe gehen und weillen nun zum:
Vierden und schliesslichen iber obige lagata anoch iberig bleiben eß bestehe in waß nun seÿe nichtß daruon außgenommen will ich über alleß daß selbe meiner lieben Frauen dochter barbara Catharine bedrossin ein gebohrne Himmelbaurin zu meiner wahren universäll Erbin eingesözt haben wormit ich disen meinen lezten willen in nahmenß Gotteß gleich wich solchen angefangen
beschliesse:
Zu wahrer urkhund dessen habe ich disen meinen lezten willen selbst geschriben und geferttiget: beschehen wienn beÿ St Ullrich den 5 August 1753
[L.S.] Catharina Himelbaurin
wittib
Johann Leopold Himmelbauer
Leopold Himmelbauer's activity as professional musician in Vienna is first documented on the occasion of his wedding on 12 May 1737 where he is referred to as "des Löbl Stüfts und Closters zum Schotten Musicus". In the entries concerning the baptisms of his first two children in the church of the Schotten Abbey he is referred to in 1738 as Musicus, and in 1739 as "Regens Chori in der Caroli Borromæi Kürchen" (choir master at Vienna's Karlskirche). The entry concerning Leopold Himmelbauer's wedding to Anna Christina Tservrancx in the parish church of St. Ulrich reads as follows.
The entry concerning the wedding of Leopold Himmelbauer and Anna Maria Tservrancx on 12 May 1737 (SU 18, fol. 337r). The banns for this wedding were also published in the groom's home parish (Schotten 25, fol. 273r).
Den 12ten May Ao: 737: Ist mit Consens Ihro Hochwürde[n] Herrn Pfarrern zum Schotten Copulirt worden d[er] Wohl Edle und Kunstreiche Herr Leopoldus Himelbaur, Ledig[en]st[ands] des Löbl. Stüfts und Closter zum Schotten Musicus wohnhaft in St: Stephans Pfarr gebürtig in Öesterreich, mit d[er] wohl Edlen Ehr und Tugentsamen Jungfrauen Anna Maria Tservranexin[sic], wohnhaft in Käpplerischen Hauß beÿ Maria stiegen, deß wohl Edlen Herrn Guilielmi Tservranex, und Evæ Barbaræ dessen Ehefrauen, Beeder noch im Leben Eheleiblich Erzeügten Jungfrauen Tochter.Leopold Himmelbauer's wife Anna Christina Tservrancx (the name Maria in the above entry is an error), who was to become Wenzel Himmelbauer's mother, is part of an interesting genealogical branch that deserves a short digression entitled:
Test: |:Tit[ulo]:| H: Fran: Ignatius Keÿßer d[er] R.K.M.[ajestät] Rath und würthschafts Administrator im Königreich Böheimb,
Test: |:Tit:| H: Joa:[nnes] Adamus von Heintz R.K.M. Buchhalter.
The Tservrancx ancestry
It was no coincidence that Leopold Himmelbauer's first two children were born in the Schotten parish, in the so-called "Käplerisches Hauß beÿ Maria Stiegen" (today Am Gestade 1) where Leopold Himmelbauer lived until at least December 1739. From 1705 until 1731, this house belonged to the kaiserlicher Kammeruhrmacher (Imperial chamber clockmaker) Jacob Käpler (1662–1731) and his wife (A-Wstm 3, 201) Christina Barbara, née Widtmann (A-Wsa, Grundbuch B1.17, fol. 344). In her first marriage (A-Wstm 3, 248), Christina Käpler had been married to the civil watchmaker Georg Hainz (1636–1684) with whom she had two children. One of them was Leopold Himmelbauer's future mother-in-law Eva Barbara (see above) who was born on 25 January 1678, in the Liechtenstein Palace ("Klein Lichtensteinisches Hauß") in the Herrengasse (A-Wstm 4, 225) (like Käpler, Hainz worked for Prince Liechtenstein). In his will, which he signed on 17 September 1731, Käpler left his house in Altlerchenfeld to his natural children from his two marriages (and their children), 1600 gulden to his "dear stepchildren Johann Adam Hainz and Eva Barbara Serfrankin[sic]", and his half of the house Am Gestade to his wife Christina Barbara (A-Wsa, AZJ, 5372/18. Jhdt.). Christina Barbara Käpler already died on 17 February 1732 (A-Wstm 5, 249). In her will, signed on 26 January 1732, she bequeathed the whole "Käplerisches Haus" to the following children and grandchildren: Johann Adam Hainz, Eva Barbara Tservrankin[sic], Katharina Widmaister, Josepha Käpler, and the six children of her deceased daughter Elisabeth Pauer (A-Whh, OMaA, 689-3570). For the first two years of his marriage, Leopold Himmelbauer lived at the "Käplerisches Haus", because his mother-in-law Eva Barbara Tservrancx owned a fifth of this building.
Back to the ancestry of Leopold Himmelbauer's wife. The wedding of Leopold Himmelbauer's parents-in-law, Guillaume Tservrancx and Eva Barbara Hainz, took place on 17 May 1706 in the Church of Mariahilf (A-Wstm, Tom. 4, 29) which, until 1783, was a succursal church of St. Michael's. At that time, the groom lived "bey der weißen Tauben" ("The White Dove" Stadt 584, today Bauernmarkt 12).
The entry concerning the publications of three banns in May 1706 for the wedding of Guillaume Gislain Tservrancx and Eva Barbara Hainz (A-Wstm, Verkündbuch 11, 109). This wedding was also announced at. St. Stephen's (A-Wd, Tom. 36, 585). Tservrancx's surname proved too confusing for the Viennese clergy to be entered correctly in the indexes of St. Stephen's and St. Michael's. Therefore this wedding does not appear in any digital database.
So far, nothing is known about the artistic work of Himmelbauer's father-in-law, the Brussels-born painter Guillaume Ghislain Tservrancx. In the Viennese sources he is once addressed as "Virtuos", but, oddly enough, in the above marriage entry his profession "ein mahler" (a painter) is crossed out. His best man Jacob Mändl (Männl) was Imperial chamber engraver and adjunct of the I. & R. gallery inspector (Haupt 2007, 568). Guillaume Tservrancx seems not to have died in Vienna and the time of his death can only be narrowed down by the entries in the land registers concerning his real estate in Altlerchenfeld. As of 1735, Tservrancx and his wife owned two houses in the suburb of Altlerchenfeld: the house "Zum schwarzen Adler" (Lerchenfelder Straße 88), a relatively large building with a size of 1432m2, and the smaller house "Zum roten Kreuz" (Lerchenfelder Straße 52). The first one had once belonged to Jacob Käpler, and in 1734 was bought by the Tservrancx couple from Käpler's heirs (A-Wsa, Grundbuch 146.5, fol. 9r–10v). The second one (Wenzel Himmelbauer's future place of birth) was bought in 1727, together with two small vineyards (A-Wsa, Grundbuch 146.4, fol. 144).5 Maÿ 1706 Copulati sunt 17 Maÿ 1706.
Ad B.[eatam] V[irginem] Auxiliatri
d[er]EhrsambeWohledle H: Guilielmus Gislenius Tservrancx,ein mahlervon Brisßl in Brabandt gebührtig, des H: Guilielmi Tservrancx Seel:, und Frau Joanna beed[er] Ehelicher H: Sohn; beÿ d weisßen Tauben auf den alte[n] Bauernmarckht wohnhaft; Nimbt zur Ehe die WohlEdle Ehr= und Tugentsame Jungfrau Eva BarbaraEupHainzin, des H: Georg Hains Seel: und Frau Christina Barbara beed[er] Eheliche Jungfrau Tochter in d[er]H: Herrn Gasßen in kleinlichtenstainischen Haus wohnhaft.
123. Sponsus extra [parochiam]
T.[estes] H. Jacob Mändl in obbenannten Haus beÿ d weisßen Tauben wohnhaft, Kaÿl: Camermahler, H: Adam Fallnberg, Stallmaister beÿm Jungen Grafen v Traunn,Herr v FischernIhro G[na]d[en] H: v Füschern Landtmann H: Joseph Schefler, Uhrmacher beÿm Schöne[n] Brunn.
The entries concerning the early sequence of owners of the house Altlerchenfeld 179, "Zum rothen Creuz", in the Dienstbuch of Vienna's Vizedom dominion (A-Wsa, Grundbuch 146.2, fol. 3r). As can be seen, in 1745, Eva Barbara Tservrancx inherited the house from her husband, and in 1750, Anna Christina Himmelbauer inherited the house from her mother.
The municipal Depositenamt holds a promissory note for 1200 gulden, which on 5 February 1734, Eva Barbara Tservrancx and her husband Wilhelm issued to Johann Adam Hainz. This sum was also secured by Eva Barbara Tservrancx's share in Jacob Käpler's former house near Maria Stiegen.
The promissory note issued in 1734 by Wilhelm and Eva Barbara Tservrancx for Johann Adam Hainz (A-Wsa, Depositenamt, A1 1635)
Demnach mein vielgeliebter Bruder (titl:) Herr Johann Adam von Heintz mir endes gefertigten zu meinen ohnenpährlichen Außgaben, absonderlich zu gänzlichen Bezallung des von Weÿl: Herrn Jacob Kappler seel. Erben erkauft in alten Lerchenfeld beÿm Schwarzen Adler ligenden Hauses eine Sumam Geldes pr Zwölf Hundert Gulden gegen jährl: 5 pcto inte[ress]e von heut dato an auf ein Jahr lang richtig und paar ohne mindesten Zuschlag, oder anrechnung vorgeliehen hat; Als verspreche ich hiemit solch mir aufrecht vorgeliehenes Capital deren 1200: f: sambt dem a 5 pcto jährl: Betragenden interesse von heut Dato an inner Jahrszeit ihme Herrn von Heintz, oder dieser meiner schuld verschreibung getreuen Innhabern hinwiederumb getreulich und ohne abgang paar und richtig zuersetzen und zurückh zubezallen.
Damit aber wohlbesagter Herr von Heintz dieses wegen auch genügsamb gesichert seÿn möge, Alß verschreibe ich ihme all mein Vermögen ligend: und fahrendes ohne außnahm in genere, in Specia aber den Jenigen antheile, welcher mir auf dem beÿ unser lieben Frau Stiegen in der Stadt ligenden Kapplerischen Hauß. Als mein pro sata des Fünftels angehöriger Erbtheile von rechten zuekommen thuet, als zwar, und dergestalten, daß sich mehr wiederholter Herr von Heintz auf disem meinem Haußantheile nach Belieben gegen meinen Unkosten auf: und anschreiben lassen könne, und möge, wessentwegen dann ich nicht allein aller dem Weiblichen Geschlecht zu statten komenden Behelf, und gerechtsambkeiten, wie sie nahmen haben mögen, hiemit wohlbedächtl: mich begebe, sond[ern] auch die Obligation mein Ehewürth zu dem ende mitgefertiget hat, weillen er zugleich nebst mir als mitzahler sich constituiret, auch sich des, in dem Heÿrats: Contract enthaltenen paragraphi, vermög welchen all das an uns bringende ein gleiches guet seÿn solle, hiemit bis zu völliger abstossung diser schuld feÿerlichst begiebt. Urkund dessen mein und meines Ehewürts aigener hierunter gestelte Handschrift: und Pöttschaftl: fertigung: Wienn den 5 Februarij: 734.
[L.S.] Wilhelmus Tservrancx
[L.S.] Eva Barbara Tservranx
From two entries in the Vizedom land registers concerning the transfer of Tservrancx's property to his widow, the year of his death can be assumed to have been 1744. Here is one of these entries, dated 18 June 1745, which refers to Guillaume Tservrancx's state as "Nachdem er dieses Zeitl[iche] verlassen [...]" ("Since he has departed his life ..."). No trace of Tservrancx's passing could be found in the Totenbeschauprotokoll and the death records of St. Ulrich.
The entry concerning the transfer of ownership of half of the house "Zum roten Kreuz" from the deceased Guillaume Tservrancx to his widow (A-Wsa, Grundbuch 146.5, fol. 85v and 86r). Note that the following owner of the house is given as "Fr: Anna Christina Himmelbergerin[sic]".
Eva Barbara Tservrancx died on 15 May 1750, in her house "Zum schwarzen Adler" in Altlerchenfeld (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 48, fol. 123r, for her burial see SU 19, 244). Her will, which she wrote on 23 February 1750, reads as follows.
The will of Eva Barbara Tsevrancx (A-Wsa, AZJ 9486/18. Jhdt.)
Although Eva Barbara Tservrancx owned two houses in Altlerchenfeld and a part of the house Am Gestade 5 in the city, owing to her debts, the value of her net estate only amounted to 2360 gulden 14 kreuzer (A-Wsa, AZJ 117/36). In June 1750 her daughter and universal heir Anna Christina Himmelbauer submitted a declaration of inheritance ("simpliciter et absolute") to the municipal court.In Namen GottesVatters und deß Sohns, und des H: Geistes Amen
Mein testament soll sein am Endt in Namen der H: treÿfaltigkeiht
Meine Sehl verschaffe ich Gott dem Allmächtigen von dem sie gekomen ist –
den leib der Ertten damit sie Mächte Christlich begraben werdten
Mein weniges Vermägen verschafe ich meiner Dochter, otter denen nachkömligen so sie daß leben nicht solte haben ––
Waß anblangt die schulten Misßen bezalt werdten ~
50 H: Mesßen Misßen Gelesßen werden
Ano 1750 [L.S.] Eva Barbara
den 23 februarius tservrancx
gebohrne Heinzin
Anna Christina Himmelbauer's declaration of inheritance (A-Wsa, AZJ 9486/18. Jhdt.)
In summer of 1750, at the time of his grandmother's death, Wenzel Himmelbauer was seven years old. He was born on 31 January 1743, his parents' fifth child, in his grandmother's house "Zum roten Kreuz" in Altlerchenfeld. His baptism took place in the church of St. Ulrich with Wenzel von Franzenau, who then was still a law student, officiating as godparent for whom the chancery clerk Sebastian Vogl stood proxy. Wenzel Himmelbauer's baptismal entry reads as follows (the notes on the right margin refer to issuances of birth certificates on 27 February 1771, and 29 August 1780).
The entry concerning Wenzel Himmelbauer's baptism on 31 January 1743, in the parish church of St. Ulrich in Vienna (SU, Tom. 24, fol. 280v). The first note of issuance of a baptismal certificate refers to a family event, because all baptismal entries of the Himnmelbauer siblings bear this note. The second certificate of 1780 could have been needed for an employment.
Eodem [Januarius den 31:ten]Wenzel Himmelbauer's godfather Wenzel Augustin von Franzenau was born around 1723. After the completion of his legal education, Franzenau became a civil servant. With the help of the Staatsschematismen his career can easily be traced: Post-Amts-Officier (Schematismus 1752, 16), Hofsecretär in the Court chamber (Schematismus 1775, 21), K.K. Rath, wirkl. Hofkammersekretarius u. Postreferent (Schematismus 1781, 24), and Hofsekretär, Dirigent der mit dem K.K. obersten Hof-Postamte vereinigten kleinen Post (Schematismus 1785, 7). Franzenau died on 23 May 1786, of dropsy in the house Stadt 891 (today Kumpfgasse 5) and was buried on 25 May 1786, in the St. Marx cemetery (A-Wd, Bahrleihbuch 1786, fol. 137r). The inscription on Franzenau's headstone is documented in the book Sammlung der auf den Gottesäckern der kais. auch kais. königl. Haupt= und Residenz=Stadt Wien befindlichen Grabschriften und Denkmähler (Vienna 1807).
P[ater] H: Leopoldus Himmelbaur,
Chor=Regens beÿ denen Creütz=
herrn ad S. Carolum Borro=
meum, in Rothen Creutz im
L[erchen] F[eld]
M[ater] Fr: Christina Ux[or]
Inf[ans] Franciscus Wenceslaus Sebastianus.
P[atrinus] |:Tit[ulo]:| H: Wenceslaus v[on] Franzenau, ein Jurista.
l[oco] e[ius] H: Sebastian Vogl, ein Cancelist, l[edigen] st[ands]
Obst[etrix] Lanzettin.
[side notes]
Extractu[s] e[st] die 27t Feb[ruarii] 771
2da vice die 29t Aug[usti] 780.
The inscription on Wenzel von Franzenau's headstone in the St. Marx cemetery (Sammlung der auf den Gottesäckern der kais. auch kais. königl. Haupt= und Residenz=Stadt Wien befindlichen Grabschriften und Denkmähler, Vienna 1807, 60)
The discovery of 1743 as the year of Wenzel Himmelbauer's birth puts an end to the previous confusion and resolves all problems of chronology in the literature. Leopold Himmelbauer and his wife Anna Christina, née Tservrancx had the following fifteen children.
- Maria Theresia Himmelbauer, b. 13 Mar 1738 (Schotten 32, fol. 136r), d. 23 Jun 1738 (Schotten 7, fol. 52v)
- Maria Theresia Himmelbauer, b. 15 Dec 1739 (Schotten 32, fol. 253r), d. 13 Mar 1740 (SU 18, 157)
- Anna Barbara Himmelbauer, b. 2 Nov 1740 (SU 24, fol. 52r), d. 23 Jun 1786, Wieden 368 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 87, H, fol. 35r, and Mag. ZG, A2, 1380/1786)
- Franz Wenzel Sebastian Himmelbauer, b. 1 Jan 1742 (SU 24, fol. 171r), d. 9 May 1742 (SU 18, 295, and A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 43, fol. 228v)
- Franz Wenzel Sebastian Himmelbauer, b. 31 Jan 1743 (SU 24, fol. 280v) (see above), cellist and composer, d. Mar 1793, Bern
- Franz Johann Himmelbauer, b. 21 Jan 1745 (SU 25, fol. 121v), dancing pupil of Thomas Cajetan Levassori della Motta (1709–1757), in 1763 dancer at the Vienna court theater (Weiskern 1763), in 1786 and 1790 Landschaftstanzmeister [dancing teacher with the provincial government] in Klagenfurt (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 1380/1786, and 1398/1790), in 1791 theater inspector with the Berndtische Gesellschaft in Klagenfurt (Theater-Kalender 1792, 254)
- Catharina Josepha Himmelbauer, b. 28 Feb 1747 (SU 25, fol. 368r), (on 10 Nov 1773 [SU 27, fol. 324r] married Lorenz Mathias Wagenhofer [5 Jan 1742–15 Jul 1801], musician and Musikmeister at the Theresianum) with whom she had a son and a daughter), d. 16 Jan 1784, Wieden 21 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 84, W, fol. 4r, and Mag. ZG, A2, 937/1784)
- Josepha Himmelbauer, b. Sep 1748, d. 21 Apr 1749 (A-Wd, Bahrleihbuch 1749, fol. 64v, and A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 47, fol. 440v)
- Carolina Theresia Himmelbauer, b. 8 Aug 1750 (SU 27, fol. 3r) (on 5 Aug 1771 [SU 27, fol. 107r] married Karl Kriechbaum [1738–1790], luthier, with whom she had two children), d. 2 Aug 1798 (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 3623/1798, and Totenbeschreibamt 108, CGK, fol. 76v)
- Johann Georg Himmelbauer, b. 16 Aug 1751 (SU 27, fol. 122v), cellist, 1786 in Preßburg, as of 1790 "Violonzellist b H Feldzeugmeister Grafen v Harsch", d. 1 Dec 1798, Vienna General Hospital (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 108, H, fol. 71r, and Mag. ZG, A2, 524/1799)
- Franz Ludwig Himmelbauer, b. 14 Feb 1753 (SU 27, fol. 296v), d. before 1786
- Joseph Peter Himmelbauer, b. 24 Mar 1754 (SU 28, fol. 88v), d. 15 Jul 1754 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 50, H, fol. 15v, and SU 19, 544)
- Anna Josepha Himmelbauer, b. 5 Mar 1755 (SU 28, fol. 204r), d. 1 Jun 1755 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 50, H, fol. 42v)
- Maria Anna Josepha Himmelbauer, b. 30 Mar 1756 (SU 28, fol. 339r), d. 5 Nov 1756 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 51, H, fol. 27r)
- Juliana Barbara Himmelbauer, b. 16 Sep 1758 (SU 29, fol. 231r), in 1804 singer in Preßburg, d. after 1804
The entry in the municipal Totenbeschauprotokoll concerning Leopold Himmelbauer's death (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 78, H, fol. 5)
Himmelbauer's estate turned out to be of modest value. His belongings were estimated at a total of 106 gulden 56 kreuzer. The inventory, drawn up by the judge and the court scribe of the Herrschaft Altlerchenfeld, bears the following note: "To be noted: the house No. 79 is the sole property of the deceased's bereaved widow."
The second page of the inventory of Leopold Himmelbauer's estate (A-Wsa, Herrschaft Altlerchenfeld und Erdberg, 102.A1, 215)
Only small remains of Leopold Himmelbauer's compositions have survived. There are three Regina caeli from his pen which today are held by Hungarian libraries: two in the archive of the cathedral in Győr (H-Gk, AMC, H. 111/1-2) and one in the library of Pannonhalma abbey (H-PH, Mus.Jes. 130). The Litanies in B major in the library of Ottobeuren abbey (D-OB, MO 523) have been misattributed to Wenzel Himmelbauer by Gertraut Haberkamp (Haberkamp 1986). They are also works of Leopold Himmelbauer.
Leopold Himmelbauer's widow Anna Christina is recorded as owner of the houses Stadt 400 and Altlerchenfeld 79 in the 1787/88 Steuerfassion (municipal tax register). The house in the city yielded an annual rental income of 923 gulden 24 kreuzer, the house in Altlerchenfeld 322 gulden 39 kreuzer.
The first page of the entry concerning Anna Christina Himmelbauer's house Stadt 400 in the 1787/88 Steuerfassion (A-Wsa, Steueramt B34/2, fol. 106)
The first page of the entry concerning Anna Christina Himmelbauer's house Altlerchenfeld 79 in the 1787/88 Steuerfassion (A-Wsa, Steueramt B34/20, fol. 106)
Christina Himmelbauer died on 23 February 1790 in her house in Altlerchenfeld. The entry in the Totenbeschauprotokoll concerning her death reads as follows.
The entry in the municipal death register concerning Anna Christina Himmelbauer's death on 23 April 1790 (A-Wsa, Totenbeschreibamt 93, H, fol. 34r)
Himmelbauer Frau Kristina Regens Chori Witt.[we] gebohrneChristina Himmelbauer's Sperrs-Relation contains a list of her relatives which is a crucial source for the documentation of her family at that time. Only five of her fifteen children were still alive in 1790.
Tserfranx ist in ihrem H: beim schwarzen Adler
N° 79 im Altlerchenfeld an Brand
versch[ieden] alt 73 Jr F[ranz] S[chmid]
The list of Christina Himmelbauer's relatives in her Sperrs-Relation (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 1398/1790)
Nachgelassene Kinder. 5. dann 1 EnkelChristina Himmelbauer died a relatively wealthy woman. Not only did she own the house Altlerchenfeld 79, which in 1750 had been estimated at a value of 2000 gulden, as of 1766, she had also acquired the remaining shares of the house Stadt 400 from Jacob Käpler's other heirs. In 1790 the value of this building was estimated at 9700 gulden.
Großjährige, und wo selbe sich befinden. H. Wenzl in der Schweiz zu Bern, Franz Landschaftstanzmeister in Klagenfurth, Georg Violonzellist beÿ Tit[ulo] Herrn Feldzeugmeister Grafen von Harsch in der Alstergassen in Herrschaft Karolina verehligte Krichbaum auf der neuen Wieden beÿ der Fortuna N° 352. Juliana leedig im Sterborte.
Münderjährige, und wo dieselbe sich befinden.
dann von der verstorbenen Katharina verehligt gewesten Wagenhofin rückgelassene Tochter und respective Enklin Susanna 14 Jahr beÿ ihrem Vater am Spittlberg in der Johannesgasse beÿm grünen Baum
The official appraisal of the house Stadt 400 by the builders Joseph Millinger and Liborius Thaddäus Gerl, and the carpenter Joseph Knötzl from 21 June 1790 (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 1398/1790)
Christina Himmelbauer's estate was severely reduced by debt and mortgages. The exact amount of her net assets cannot be determined, because all documents from the period between 1790 and 1793 are missing from her probate file. This loss includes a written power of attorney that in 1790 Wenzel Himmelbauer sent to his legal representative Dr. Valentin Klemenschitz in Vienna. The house Stadt 400 was only sold on 4 January 1793 (A-Wsa, Grundbuch 1.24, fol. 143). Because the settlement of Christina Himmelbauer's estate took until late 1794, Wenzel Himmelbauer did not live to see the final distribution of his mother's assets.
Johann Michael Himmelbauer
Unlike his two brothers, Michael Himmelbauer (1701–1736) did not enter a musical career. He took up his father's profession and became a surgeon. His presence in Vienna is first documented on the occasion of his marriage on 25 June 1724 in the church of the St. Marx hospital where he was obviously receiving an education as barber surgeon.
The entry concerning Johann Michael Himmelbauer's wedding on 25 June 1724 in St. Marx (St. Marx, Tom. 2, 1)
The bride Barbara Weber had been born on 9 September 1701 in St. Marx (St. Marx 1, 162), daughter of Friedrich Weber, physician at the St. Marx hospital. Soon after his wedding, Johann Michael Himmelbauer moved to the Lower Austrian town of Horn where he took up the position of local Bader. In Horn Johann Michael and Barbara Himmelbauer had the following two children.Anno 1724.Den 25 Junij alhier copuliert worde[n]: der Ehrbahre Junge Gesell Johann Michael Himelpaur, Bader |:Bind-:| Gsell alhier zu St: Marx, von Rabs in Öster[reich] gebürtig; mit der Ehr und tugendsame[n] Jungfraun Maria Barbara Catharina Weberin, alhier zu St. Marx gebürthig, deß H: Johan Fridrich Weber Artzte[ns] alhier, und Barbara desse[n] Ehewürthin seel: Ehlich erzeügte Tochter.
Testes sponsi: H: Philipp Kromer, burgl: Eißler in Wienn
H: Simon Lorenz Hendl, Obervatter alhier.
Testes sponsæ: H: Joh: Georg Joseph Heÿman, Haußpfleger alhier:
H: Adam Weltischhofer Prunmaister alhir.
-
Johann Friedrich Himmelbauer, b. 2 May 1725 (Horn 2, 268), buried 25 May 1725 (Horn 1a, 116)
- Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer, b. 7 May 1726 (Horn 2, 276), d. 19 Apr 1809, Brussels
The surgeon Johann Michael Himmelbauer already died at the age of 35 in Horn where he was buried on 2 February 1736. In the burial register he is described as "man of good and excellent skills" (Horn 1a, 165). His widow does not appear in the indexes of the Horn death registers. She seems to have remarried.
The bequest of Dr. Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer
Johann Michael Himmelbauer's younger son Johann Heinrich turned out to be by far the most successful representative of his family. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and became a major health care reformist in the Austrian military. In 1768 he was appointed second lecturer at the "Militär-Accademie der Wundarzney" in Brussels (Moerchel 1984, 154). After a long and successful medical career he died in Brussels on 19 April 1809. In his will, dated 27. Vendemiare XIII (19 October 1804), he bequeathed a total sum of 42,000 gulden in Viennese Stadt-Banco bonds to his Austrian relatives. The decades-long attempts by the judicial authorities to locate Heinrich Himmelbauer's heirs provide an interesting picture of the Himmelbauer family in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest public request to Heinrich Himmelbauer's aunt Maria Anna Himmelbauer and her children to report to the responsible legal representative Karl von Adlersburg was published on 8 December 1812 in the Wiener Zeitung.
If Maria Anna Himmelbauer would not contact the lawyer in the foreseeable future, her share of the inheritance and that of her children would be distributed among the other relatives named in the will.
The call to Maria Anna Himmelbauer and her descendants to report to the legal representative of the executors of Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer's will (Wiener Zeitung, 8 Dec 1812, 855)
The main problem with Dr. Himmelbauer's testamentary dispositions was the fact that his state of knowledge about his relatives was limited. Not only was he unaware of their whereabouts, he also appointed some of them as heirs who in 1809 were not alive anymore. Among these deceased persons were his aunt Christina and his cousin Wenzel Himmelbauer. Concerning the claims of his heirs, Dr. Himmelbauer established the following condition:
In order to avoid all objections with regard to the name Himmelbauer, which is also spelled Himelbauer, I request and order that, without dwelling on this difference, all controversy should be settled by the fact that the relatives or descendants must be from Raabs, a small town in Lower Austria, whose dominion is owned by Baron Bartenstein.Because in 1844 the heirs had still not been located, the Preßburger Zeitung published Himmelbauer's detailed testamentary provisions.
The publication of Johann Heinrich Himmelbauer's bequest to his relatives (Preßburger Zeitung, 30 Oct 1844, 696). In August 1844 his text had already been published three time in Vienna (Wiener Zeitung, 5 August 1844).
According to this list of heirs, eight of these 24 individuals were named Wachtel. They were children of Magdalena Himmelbauer (b. 1708) who allegedly in Raabs had married a man named Wachtel. This wedding cannot be found in the Raabs church records. It is unclear whether this inheritance, whose value had certainly been massively reduced since 1809, was ever distributed. It is unlikely, however, that the Himmelbauer heirs ever received their money.
Wenzel Himmelbauer's death
Because Wenzel Himmelbauer was a Catholic, the exact date of his death is not documented in Bern's Protestant church registers. His obsequies probably took place in a neighboring Catholic parish near Bern. The earliest mentioning of Himmelbauer's passing in documents of the Bernese authorities occurs on 11 March 1793 in vol. 1 of the Manual des Waisengerichts (CH-BEsa, A_7_44). Because the preceding entry in this register dates from March 4th, Wenzel Himmelbauer must have died between March 4th and March 11th, 1793. The Bernese Waisenrichter (orphan judges) did not believe that Wenzel Himmelbauer had left no money and saw reasons to suspect the maidservant of theft. After all, shortly before his death, Himmelbauer had collected subscription money for a concert.
Wenzel Himmelbauer's death being referred to on 11 March 1793 in the Manual des Waisengerichts in Bern (CH-BEsa [Stadtarchiv Bern], A_7_44, 10f.)
[Den 11t Merz 1793.]One week later, the judge considered it appropriate to tell Himmelbauer's creditors to take the necessary steps to keep assets to be taken away from Bern and that the maid should only be given her clothes, in case she would find employment elsewhere.
Himelbaur Von H: Quartier Aufseher Grÿf wurde des Musicanten Himelbaur Absterben von Wien gebürtig, angezeigt, mit dem vernemen, daß bei der Besieglung kein Geld vorhanden gewesen, da doch, da doch Er ohnlängst die Souscriptions=Gelder bezogen habe; habe aber einen zimlich begründten Verdacht wo solches möchte hingekomen seÿe.
Darauf wurde dem Secret: befohlen mit H: Grÿf noch heüte eine nähere Untersuchung in des Verstorbenen Gehälter, wie auch in der MagdMagdaus Vorsorg unter Siegel gelegten Schaft aufzustellen; Und dan wan die vermeinte Baarschaft sich nicht erfinden sollte, solle H: Grÿf gewiesen seÿn M[einem hochgeehrten Herrn] Grosweibel davon die Anzeig zu thun, um die erforderl: Handbietung zur Entdekung zu erhalten.
[Den 18 Merz 1793.]
Himmelbauers Verlaßenschaft Auf die von H. Quartier Aufseher Grÿf gethane Anzeig, daß verschiedene Personen so mit erstem die Stadt verlaßen därften, so in des Himelbauers Massa Effecten hinter sich haben und auch schuldig seÿen, wurde ihnen die Wegweisung geben es den bekanten Creditoren anzuzeigen, damit Sie von Ihnen aus das gutfindeende zu ihrer Sicherheit vorkehren könen. Indeßen aber durch eine publ: die Debitoren zu Zustellung der Effecten und Abführung des schuldigen aufzuforderen. Der Magd sollen nur auf den Fall ihre Kleider herausgegeben werden, wen sie anderwärtig einen Plaz finden solte, sonsten dableiben, worfür sie nach Billichkeit entschädnet werden soll.(CH-BEsa, A_7_44, 17f.)
The
cover sheet of a letter from the Vienna magistrate to the Bernese authorities concerning Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate (CH-BEa, A V 52, fol. 97v)
Because Wenzel Himmelbauer was a Viennese citizen and had possible heirs in Vienna, his death in 1793 in Bern was followed by a correspondence between the Swiss and the Austrian authorities. On 18 July 1793, the Vienna magistrate, represented by Vienna's mayor Joseph Georg Hörl, inquired about Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate on behalf of the heirs of his mother Christina who had died in 1790 (see above). This letter survives in the State Archive of the Canton of Bern (CH-BEa, A V 52, fol. 96f.). It should be noted that one of these heirs' legal representatives was their cousin, the lawyer Ignaz Petrossi.
The first page of mayor Joseph Georg Hörl's letter to the magistrate of Bern (CH-BEa, A V 52, fol. 96r)
Löblicher Magistrat!The Bernese court now initiated investigations (CH-BEa, A II 1013, 165; 22 August 1793) and on 31 August 1793, wrote to Vienna that according to an inventory of goods, the debts left by Wenzel Himmelbauer clearly exceeded the assets (CH-BEa, A III 154, 55). The estate closed with a deficit of more than 706 Kronen which, as the Bernese authorities put it, "will not be of great consolation to the registered heirs".
Es ist die Kristina Himelbauerin eine Wittwe N° 79 im Altlerchenfeld allhier den 23ten April 1790 ohne Testament gestorben, und hat als großjährige Kinder den Wenzl Himelbauer in der Schweitz zu Bern, den Franz Himelbauer Tanzmeister in Klagenfurth, den Georg Himelbauer Violonzellisten beim H. Feldzeugmeister Grafen v Harsch, Karolina verehel. Kriechbaum allhier, und die Juliana Himmelbauerin ledigen Standes, dann eine von der verstorbenen Katharina verehel. gew: Wagenhofin rückgelassene Tochter, und resp[ecti]ve Enklin Susana alt 14 Jahr, welche sich in väterlicher Obsorge allhier befindet, hinterlassen.
Die großjährigen Kristina Himelbauerischen Erben haben zu ihrem Bewollmächtigten den H: Valentin Klementschitz I. U. Dor, auch Hof, und Gerichtsadvokaten ernennet, und für die m Susana Wagen= [fol. 96v] hof wurde H: Ignaz Pedrossy U: I: Dor auch Hof, und Gerichtsadvokat von diesem Magistrate als Curator ad actum aufgestellet, diese beiden H: Rechtsfreunde zeigten nunmehr diesem Gerichte gemeinschaftlich an, daß der Wenzl Himelbauer zu Bern in der Schweitz mit Tod abgegangen sey, und machten das Ansuchen, womit bei dieser Lage, da eine m. Miterbin einschreitet, das rückgelassene Wenzl Himelbaueri[sche] Verlassenschafts-Vermögen ausgewiesen, und nach Abzug der Unkösten hieher als Obervormundschafts=Instanz übermachet werden möchte. Da nun der Magistrat der K:K: Haupt- und Residenzstadt Wien diesem Gesuche zu willfahren keinen Anstand nehmen kann, als wird andurch ein löbl: Magistrat der Stadt in Bern ersuchet, eine vollständige Auskunft über den Stand der gesamten Wenzl Himelbauerischen Verlassenschaft hieher mitzutheilen, und den auf die fallenden Betrag nach Abzug der Gebühren, so bald möglich, einzuschicken, für welchen Amtsdienst sich dieser Magistrat in ähnlichen Fällen auch beständig bereitwillig finden lassen wird.
Wien den 18ten July 793.
Joseph Georg Hörlmpia wirkl: K:K:
Rath, und Bürgermeister
The letter from the chancellery of the City and Republic of Bern to the Vienna magistrate concerning Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate (CH-BEa, A V 52, 55). The deficit of Himmelbauer's estate is also documented in a statement of the Bernese Waisengericht dated 31 December 1793 (CH-BEas, A_7_44, 130).
AnThe file concerning the settlement of Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, A2, 2356/1793) in the holdings of the Vienna municipal court does not survive, because most of the files that contained only correspondence and not an actual Sperrs-Relation (probate file) were discarded long before this material came to the city archives in 1924. The correspondence between the Bernese and Viennese municipal court is documented in the entries relating to this file in the protocols of the fascicles two and three, the co-called Officiosa (today A-Wsa, Serie 1.2.3.2.B1). The earliest entry related to Wenzel Himmelbauer's death refers to the Viennese court's aforementioned request for information concerning Himmelbauer's estate, and the above response from Bern that the debts of this estate exceed the assets.
den Lobl. Magistrat der K.K. Haupt und Residenzstadt Wien.
Wegen des Musicus Wenzel Himelbaur Verlaßenschaft
Löblicher Magistrat!
Dem von Einem Löbl. Magistrat der K.K. Haupt= und Residenzstadt Wien gethanen Ansuchen vom 18 July lezthin gemäß, hat die unterschriebene von Hoher Behörde den Befehl erhalten, das zu diesem End dem Waÿsengerichts Sekretariat abgeforderte Inventarium der Verlaßenschaft des allhier verstorbenen Musicus Wenzel Himelbaur sel. anmit zu übersenden.
Die sich angemeldeten Erben werden daraus zu ihrem nicht großen Troste ersehen, daß das Vermögen sich nur auf K[ronen] 414. [Batzen] 22. [Kreuzer] 2. Die Schulden aber auf K 1121. 3. –. sich ansteigen, folglich ein defficient von K 706. 5. 2. sich ergibet. Die Unterschriebene wird sich jederzeit ein wahres Vergnügen daraus machen einem Lobl. Magistrat der K.K. Haupt und Residenzstadt in fernerem angenehme Dienste zu erweisen.
Geben d[en] 31. Aug. 1793.
Canzleÿ der Republik Bern.
The entry in the 1793 Officiosa concerning the correspondence about Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, B1/36, lit. H, 150)
Himelbauer Wenzel, Schreiben nach Bern in der Schweiz wodurch [Fasc.] 2 [Numerus] 2356.In 1793, the Bernese authorities heard nothing more from Vienna. On 23 December 1793, the Waisengericht decided that the organizers of the concert planned by Himmelbauer should be lent two stoves for cheap rent until the inheritance would be liquidated. The Bernese court also pointed out that the silence of the heirs was doing harm to the interest of the creditors, because, if the liquidation would not take place soon, the rent for Himmelbauer's chamber would have to be paid, and eventually the musical instruments could be damaged.
das Ansuchen gemacht wird den Stand des dort verstorbenen Wenzl Himelbauerschen Verlassenschaft hieher mitzutheilen. de exped[ito] 30t July 793
Remißschreiben von Bern dd° 12ten 7mbr 793; womit berichtet wird, daß die Schulden das Vermögen übersteigen nebst Uebermachung des Inventariums
Vide Repertor[ium] de anno 794
pag. 32.
[Montag d: 23ten Christmonat 1793.]On 3 January 1794, the Bernese court turned to the Austrian ambassador in Switzerland, Baron Johann von Buol-Schauenstein, and openly set an ultimatum: if Bern would not hear back from Vienna within six weeks, the estate would be declared bankrupt. This letter also provides information about Wenzel Himmelbauer's date of death, because it contains the statement: "In March of last year, Wenzeslaus Himmelbauer, an unmarried musician from Vienna died here." The ultimatum is also documented in a statement of the Bernese Waisengericht from 25 February 1794 (CH-BEsa A_7_44, 182).
Himelbauer Es haben Me[ine hochgeehrten Herrn] die Waÿsenrichter eingewilliget, daß den Entrepreneurs des Concert im Hotel de Musique des Hren Himelbauer sel. kleine Orgestre samt 2 Glutsteinen 2 Öfelein von Stuck etc. gegen einen billigen Zins geliehen werde, bis daß die Erbschaft liquidiert werde.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Schreiben an H: Wÿtenbach Staatschreiber.
Schon verwichenen Augstmonat, haben Me[ine] G[eehrten Herren] des täglichen Raths geruhet, ein Doppel des Inventarii über des Musicanten Himelbauer sel: Verlaßenschaft dem titl: Magistrat zu Wien für seine Erben absenden zu laßen, ohne daß, soviel hierstats bekannt ist, eine Antwort eingelanget seye. Da nun dieses Stillschweigen den Creditoren zum Schaden gereichet, indeme der Miethzins für die Camer gemiethet werden muß, wen nicht bald eine Liquidation erfolget, und endlich die Musicalischen Instrument etc. schadhaft werden könten.
So wollen Me[ine hochgeehrten Her]ren die Waÿsenrichter, Euer Wohlgebohren höflich ersuchen, von Ihnen aus, Me[ine hochgeehrten Her]ren höflich ersuchen diese in Mora liegende Verlaßenschaft anzuzeigen, und beÿ Hochdenselben die Einfrage zu thun, ob eine Recharge nach Wien, oder gleich die richterliche Liquidation anbefohlen werden könte. CH-BEsa, A_7_44, 127f.)
The
letter from the Bernese court to the Austrian ambassador Buol-Schauenstein concerning the settlement of Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate (CH-BEa, A III 154, 239)
AnOn 14 February 1794, the Viennese municipal court informed the Bernese authorities that Himmelbauer's heirs had declared to have no intention to make a claim to the estate in any way or form.
den Frh. von Buol Schauenstein K.K. Bevollmächtigte[r] Minister in der Eÿdtgenoßschaft.
die Verlaßenschaft des Musikant Himelbaur betrefend
Tit[ulo]
Im Merz ferndrigens Jahrs verstarb allhier Wenzeslaus Himelbaur gebürtig von Wien, ein unverheÿratheter Musikant, über deßen Verlaßenschaft durch Richterliche Veranstaltung ein Inventarium verfaßt worden, aus welchem sich ergeben, daß derselbe ein in Hausgeräth und musikalischen Instrumenten bestehendes Vermögen hinterlaßen, so nach eÿdtlicher Würdigung auf K 414. 22. 2. ansteigt, hingegen mit K 1121. 3. – Schulden beladen seÿe, also daß dieselben das Vermög[en] um K 706. 5. übersteigen.
Da Wir nun bereits d[en] 31. Aug. ferndrigen Jahrs dem Lobl. Magistrat der K.K. Residenz Stadt Wien, auf das von demselben gethane Ansuchen, das Inventarium dieser Verlaßenschaft übersendt, und biß dato keine weitere Nachricht erhalten haben, ob um das denen Erben des verstorbenen dißorts obgelegen, indeßen aber beÿ fernerem Aufschub der Liquidation zu besorgen stühnde, daß die musikalische[n] Instrument sich verderben, und von ihrem wirklichen Werth verlieren möchten. So geben Wir Uns die Ehre mit gegenwärtiger Zuschrift Uns an Eüer tit[ulo] zu wenden, um derenselben die Lage der Sachen vorzulegen, mit dem beÿläufigen Ersuchen, daß dieselbe[n] das gütige Belieben tragen möchten, denen Himelbaurischen Erben geneigtest bekant machen zu laßen, daß wan in Zeit sechs Wochen von dato angerechnet sich niemand anmelden würde, man mit der Liquidation alsdan fortfahren werde. Eine Gefälligkeit die Wir zu erwiedern stets so willig als bereit seÿn werden.
Inmittelst & Geben d[en] 3t Jener 1794.
Sch u. Rath p
p p
The entry in the 1794 Officiosa concerning Wenzel Himmelbauer's relatives renouncing their inheritance (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, B1/39, lit. H, 32)
Himelbauer Wenzel: –– 2 2356/793Because the Lower Austrian government saw the municipal court in danger of missing the six-week deadline, it reprimanded this court to finally write to Bern and explain the previous dawdling. This warning coincided with the dispatch of the court's letter to Bern.
Vide Repertor[ium] de anno 793. pag. 150.
––" Schreiben an den Mag[istrat] zu Bern in der Schweitz, de exped: 14ten Februar 794; womit erinnert wird; daß sich die dießfälligen hierorts befindlichen Erben comiss[arisch] dahin erkläret haben, daß sie auf keine Art an den Rücklaß jemals einen Anspruch zu machen gedenken, mithin zu dieser Verl[assenschaft] das beliebige fürgekehret werden könne.
––" Berichtskonzept an die Regierung de exped: 15ten Febr. 794. wegen der bisher unterlassenen Abhand[lungs]pflege.
––" Regierungsdekret, de exped. 22ten Maÿ 794; womit dieser obige Bericht zur Nachricht genomen wurde.
Vide ulterius pag 109.
The entry in the 1794 Officiosa concerning the government's warning to the Vienna magistrate (A-Wsa, Mag. ZG, B1/39, lit. H, 109)
Himelbauer Wenzel 2 2356/793On 19 February 1794, Wenzel Himmelbauer's estate was declared bankrupt. Moreover there are two almost identical inventories that neatly list and evaluate all objects and valuables in this estate (CH-BEa, B IX 1460, No. 21 [with the signatures of the compensated creditors and other additions, like a note that certifies that in 1793 the heirs of Wenzel Himmelbauer paid the house rent from Candlemas to Jacobi]; and CH-BEa, B IX 1493; both copies consist of 70 pages each).
Vide retro pag. 32
––" Regierungsdekret dd° 14ten Februar 794; wodurch dem Magistrat aufgetragen wird, unverzüglich nach Bern zu schreiben und daß es [zu] geschehen seye, unter Rückanschliessung des Komunikats binnen 3 Tagen, damit der gesetzte Termin von 6 Wochen nicht verstreiche, anher sich auszuweisen, auch über den bisherigen Saumsal sich zu verantworten.
There was yet another document concerning Wenzel Himmelbauer's death which was destroyed during the July Revolt of 1927. Before this disastrous event, the historian Gustav Gugitz routinely went through various kinds of protocols and registers which at that time were still held by what was then called Staatsarchiv des Innern und der Justiz in Vienna's Palace of Justice. Gugitz's work was the basis for a card catalog of people containing their names and short accompanying notes. Today this card catalog, which is a valuable primary source for mostly destroyed material, is held by the Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna (A-Wsa, Serie 1.1.14.2.2.K57, Hofkanzlei: Personen). But not all of these cards are written by Gugitz who seems to have abandoned this project. Three series of cards were written by the archivist Hanns Jäger-Sunstenau who copied Gugitz's notes from before 1927. The archival holdings covered by this catalog can be divided into the following eight groups.
-
Staatsratsakten. 1550 of 2000 fascicels were destroyed in 1945, only the files from between 1833 and 1848 (today 495 boxes) and the protocols survive in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (AT-OeStA/HHSTA KA StR). Catalog cards written by Gugitz.
-
Protokolle der Kabinettskanzlei. 565 volumes which today are held by the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (A-Whh, KA Prot und Ind der KK). Cards written by Gugitz. The volume and page numbers on these cards are unfortunately fraught with errors.
- "Archiv der Stadt Wien. Hof- und Regierungsdekrete, Repertorien". Today A-Wsa, 1.2.1.27(19-23)B - Repertorium: Hofdekrete and A-Wsa, 1.2.1.27(24-28)B - Repertorium: Intimationsdekrete, held by the Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna. Cards written by Gugitz.
- "Polizei-Indizes im Statthalterei-Archiv". Today the volumes NÖ Reg, HS 20/1-71, G-Indizes in Polizeisachen, held by the Lower Austrian Provincial Archives in St. Pölten. Cards written by Jäger-Sunstenau.
- "Präsidialprotokolle im Statthalterei Archiv". Today the volumes NÖ Reg, HS 5/001-148, Präsidial-Indizes u. -Protokolle, held by the Lower Austrian Provincial Archives in St. Pölten. Cards written by Gugitz.
- "Pergenakten". The police files of the ministry of the interior, dating from between 1774 and 1793 (named after the Head of Police Count Johann Anton von Pergen), held by the Austrian State Archives (AT-OeStA/AVA Inneres Pol. Pergen A.). These files were massively reduced by the 1927 fire. Cards written by Gugitz.
- "Polizei Archiv im Archiv des Ministeriums des Inneren". Today the files of the Polizeihofstelle in the ministry of the interior, dating from between 1793 and 1848 (AT-OeStA/AVA Inneres Polizei PHSt). These holdings were heavily decimated by the 1927 fire. Most of the files listed by Gugitz were destroyed. The surviving "Brandakten" can now be searched with an (incomplete and unreliable) card catalog, but many files cannot be used due to bad state of conservation. Cards written by Jäger-Sunstenau.
- "Protokolle für Niederösterreich im Archiv des Ministeriums des Inneren". Today the "Protokolle Niederösterreich" in the Allgemeine Reihe of the Hofkanzlei, volumes 314-340, held by the Austrian State Archives (AT-OeSta/AVA Inneres HK Allgemein B314-340). Only a third of these protocols survived the year 1927. They have been restored, but, owing to fire damage, are sometimes in a very fragmentary state. Cards written by Jäger-Sunstenau.
Hanns Jäger-Sunstenau's catalog card concerning the entries about Wenzel Himmelbauer in what before 1927 was the "Protokoll für Niederösterreich" (A-Wsa, Serie 1.1.14.2.2.K57, Hofkanzlei: Personen)
Wenzel Himmelbauer's musical legacy
The number of compositions left by Wenzel Himmelbauer is quite modest. His work consists several string duets and trios (D-B Mus.ms. 10691). Six duets were published in print in Lyon in 1777 (RISM A/I H 5605). Two further string trios in G major and C major, which are missing in the RISM catalog, are held by the music archive of Lambach Abbey and in 2017 were published online by Sofie Himmelbauer.
In April 2006, in Vienna, at the symposium Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Quellenstudien und Aufführungspraxis, in a paper entitled "Zu W.A. Mozarts Fragment einer Violoncellosonate", Birgit Lodes presented the hypothesis that Mozart's fragment in B flat for Piano and Cello K. 374g (Anh. 46) may have been written for Wenzel Himmelbauer. But since Schubart, already in 1780, refers to Himmelbauer as living in Bern, it seems unlikely that Mozart ever met Himmelbauer in Vienna.
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© Dr. Michael Lorenz 2021. All rights reserved.
Updated: 22 November 2024
For his help and advice concerning the archival holdings of the Bern State Archives I am grateful to Vinzenz Bartlome.
For their support during my work on this article, I express my gratitude to Martin Lorenz, Anne-Louise Luccarini, Pablo Aguilera, David Buch, Janet Page, Luc Vaes, Giuseppe Mariotti, Craig Hill, and Lisa de Alwis.
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