Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

Chronology, Genealogy and History for the Assistance of Memory’, Vienna 1750), a
chronicle of important names and events of relevance primarily to ecclesiastical history and
the history of the Habsburg empire that was to enjoy ten editions, the final and posthumous in
1802. 44 Biographical evidence from this period is hard to find, and it is unclear to what extent
the theology student participated in scientific activities during 1747-51. At some point,
however, either in Leuchovia or in Vienna (the literature is not in agreement here), Hell is
supposed to have given private courses in “Markscheidekunst” (‘mine metrology’) to a group
of young noblemen in preparation for work in the mining industry. He first taught the son of a
Count “Königsegg”, then the sons of ten other aristocratic families. 45 He is even said to have
been entrusted the task of translating into Latin the laws of the Hungarian mining industry,
which had until then been available in German only. With his background from a family of
engineers and the fluency in Latin he had acquired in the Jesuit schools, Maximilianus must
have been well suited for this task, his biographer Ferencová concludes. 46
Hell passed his obligatory third year of probation back in Neosolium, in 1751/52. Neosolium,
where Hell had once been a pupil at the Jesuit gymnasium, was along with Judenburgum
(Judenburg) in Styria (Steiermark) one of only two places in the Austrian Province where
aspiring Jesuits were sent for their third and final year of probation. A prosperous mining
town, Neosolium probably resembled his hometown in many ways. However, unlike
Schemnicium, where the secular Bergbauakademie was of prime importance, the most
important cultural institution in Neosolium was the Jesuit gymnasium. Maximilianus was thus
back in his home region, but not in quite the same environment that he had been raised. 47
Having finished his probation, in the summer and autumn of 1752 Maximilianus Hell was
briefly involved as a consultant for the construction of an astronomical observatory at the
44 I have only had access to an edition from Ingolstadt 1760 (Hell 1760b) and the Viennese edition from 1774.
According to Sommervogel 1893, p. 251, Hell kept this work anonymous until he made a revision of it in 1773,
published in Vienna the year after. This is confirmed by Hell’s own preface to the 1774 edition (Hell 1774b).
45 In Leuchovia, according to Pinzger 1920, p. 14 and Pinzger 1927 (German summary), p. 8. In Vienna,
according to the necrologue in Schlichtegroll (ed.) 1793, pp. 284-285; Littrow 1835, p. 4; and Stefan Lindinger
in Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon Band XVII (2000). Place not specified, Ferencová 1995, p.
21. As to the identity of the Count, Rabenalt identifies him as Karl Ferdinand Graf Königseck (1696-1759), who
served as Hofkammerpräsident from 1754 onwards (Rabenalt 1986, p. 109).
46 Ferencová 1995, p. 21. The manuscript was allegedly delivered to Josephus Franz in 1749, but was apparently
never published (Schlichtegroll, ed., 1793, pp. 285-286). Franz was at this time the “Bergrath”, or senior official
overseeing the mining industry.
47 On the local history of Neosolium, see Ipolyi 1875.
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