Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

institution was followed by a “Praktische Lehrschule” in 1763, which in 1770 was renamed
again, to become a “Bergbauakademie”, or ‘Technical University for the Art of Mining’. By
this time, the mines in the Schemnicium area had already been established as a popular
destination for the study trips of intending mining engineers from various parts of Europe.
The proudest moment in the region’s scientific history is probably the organising of a
gathering for miners, metallurgists and natural scientists in Glashütte 19 (a few kilometres
north of Schemnicium) in 1786, a meeting that resulted in the founding of the famous
“Societät der Bergbaukunde”, a truly international society for research in mining and
associated industries. 20
At least two of Maximilianus’ brothers, the above-mentioned Josephus Carolus (1713-1789)
as well as Joannes Michael, pursued the career of their father to become mining engineers in
Schemnicium. 21 Maximilianus Rudolphus, however, was sent to the schools of the Jesuits. As
in the case of numerous other Jesuits from the early modern period, it is not clear exactly
when or why his path was diverted from his familiar milieu. It may not have been a conscious
choice to begin with. One may assume that a teacher of his perceived the talents of the
schoolboy and presented to his family the idea of recruiting him to the Society of Jesus. The
boy’s parents, who were both Catholics, are not likely to have raised any objections. To have
a son in this prestigious society must have been a tremendous source of spiritual consolation
and pride, besides the more mundane advantage of having one less mouth to feed. Josephus
Carolus had by this time already established himself as an engineer in the footsteps of his
father. For the young Maximilianus Rudolphus there was no prospect of inheriting that
position. Besides, becoming a Jesuit did not mean a definite rupture with society at large.
19 Glashütte, Glaserhau or Glaserhütte (G) = Szklenó or Turócnémeti (H), Skleno or Sklené Teplice (Sl).
20 Unless otherwise stated, information on the history of the Schemnicium area is based upon Vlachovič 1970,
Tibenský 1970, Ferencová 1995, Kafka 2003 and Suhling 2006. The old mining town Schemnicium is nowadays
known as Banská Štiavnica, and lies in the heartland of Slovakia. It currently has a population of about 10,000,
and has since 1993 been found on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage (http://de.wikipedia.org/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/, entries on “Banská Štiavnica”, accessed 8 December 2010). As for the “Praktische
Lehrschule”, the Technical University of Miskolc in northeastern Hungary (established 1949) prides itself to be
the legitimate heir of this institution and gives the year 1735 as its date of foundation on its webpages (official
web page of the University of Miskolc, http://oldwww.uni-miskolc.hu/uni/univ/booklet/4.html, accessed 5
January 2011). The legacy of the Societät der Bergbaukunde has for its part been taken over by the “Society of
Mining Professors – Societät der Bergbaukunde”, which in 1990 was (re-)established in Leoben in Austria
(http://www.mineprofs.org/, accessed 13 January 2011).
21 In fact, according to the Kurzgefaßte Beschreibung der, bey dem Bergbau zu Schemnitz in Nieder-Hungarn,
errichteten Maschinen of Nicolaus Poda (also known as Boda, or Poda von Neuhaus), who served as a teacher at
the Bergbauakademie, many of the cunning devices in place in Schemnicium around 1770 were invented by
Josephus Carolus Höll, not his father (cf. Poda 1771, pp. 51, 54, 57, 61, 66, 70, 74). A particular device in
Windschacht, however, is said to have been introduced by Matthäus Cornelius Höll in 1711 (Poda 1771, pp. 41-
43).
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