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"I approve the establishment of a geological imperial institute according to the proposal of my minister for regional culture and mining, and approve an amount of ten thousand guilders for the initial establishment of it and, as an annual endowment, not to be exceeded, the sum of twenty-five thousand guilders over the already approved costs for the Montanisches Museum to be merged with this institution." These words, signed by Emperor Franz Josef on November 15, 1849, were enough to found the geological civil service of the monarchy. The institution in question changed its name several times due to different political regimes.
The example from the mid-19th century shows that the right men made sustainable decisions at the right time. They set the course for important scientific institutions into the 21st century. Highlights include the founding of the Academy of Sciences in 1847, the Reich Geological Institute in 1849 and the Central Institute for Meteorology and Earth Magnetism in 1851. The latter two merged in 2023 to form Geosphere Austria with an area of responsibility for the litho-, hydro- and atmosphere.
First to the emperor. In 1849 he was just 19 years old and would probably never have thought of founding a scientific institution that would from then on be dedicated to the world of rocks. Luckily, there were visionary men around him who were pulling the strings. The aforementioned Minister for Regional Culture and Mining, Baron Ferdinand von Thinnfeld (1793 to 1868), was responsible. He had been in office as a minister since November 21, 1848 and had proven expertise in mining. “From his youth onwards, he was linked to the mining profession through the ownership of a mining plant, [...],” as the mining expert Otto Hingenau summed it up in his obituary.
On Monday, October 22, 1849, Thinnfeld convinced the monarch of the necessity of founding the institution in question in a "most humble lecture". The focus was on researching “inorganic nature”. Thinnfeld was too much of a professional to lose himself in general platitudes. He had looked abroad, with England, which had had a British Geological Survey since 1835, playing a pioneering role. He knew what he wanted and presented the emperor with a seven-point plan centered on research into "inorganic nature." The top priority was that “the entire empire should be geologically examined and researched.” Point seven stipulated that everything would be preserved for posterity, so "well-organized archives would have to be created."
Thinnfeld also had ready-made plans for the implementation and organization: again there were seven points. First and foremost was the management of the house, a “director with the title and rank of a section councilor” (point 1) and two permanently employed geologists (point 2). For the actual work, the geological research of the imperial state, he envisaged "temporary geologists, without a fixed position" (point 3). In the language of the 21st century, one could speak of temporary temporary or seasonal workers. Due to the weather, the geological survey work in the field could only take place from spring to early autumn; the director had to request the necessary financial resources in advance; Financing the field geologists in the winter months would have been beyond our budget. They should be supported by young civil servants and interns from mines and smelters (point 4). He also called for a museum in which all collected rocks, fossils and ores would first be identified and then displayed (point 5) and recognized the need for a "higher educated archivist" (point 6). The work in the archive and the museum should be supported by a “cabinet servant and two servants” (point 7).
He estimated 31,000 guilders for the entire operation. According to the National Bank's historical currency calculator, the equivalent is around 707,000 euros. Of this, 6,000 guilders were the ongoing operating costs of the Montanist Museum, which was to be merged with the institution. In order to be able to cover “general costs that cannot be specifically determined in advance,” as he called them, he reported a one-off need of 10,000 guilders. All in all, with 25,000 for the Reichsanstalt, 10,000 one-off amount and 6,000 for operating costs for the Montanistische Museum, a financial requirement of 41,000 guilders (approx. 935,000 euros) came together. That was no small amount even for an emperor.
Thinnfeld was not only a visionary, but also a tactician. He found arguments to convince the emperor so that he couldn't say no. That's why he brought England into play, which at the time was playing a pioneering role in terms of industrialization and geology, but in terms of area it didn't even make up half of the monarchy: "England dedicates 90,000 fl. (guilders) annually from the national treasury for the same purpose." Seen this way, the 41,000 guilders were almost a bargain for the Empire. As mentioned above, the monarch only approved 35,000 guilders; the 6,000 guilders for the operation of the museum, which was to become part of the institution, were not mentioned.
The k. k. The Montanist Museum thus became the cornerstone of the Reich Geological Institute. The name was mission and program: it was about mining and collections. In 1835, August Longin Prince von Lobkowitz (1797 to 1842) was entrusted as court chancellor with the management of the court chamber in coinage and mining, which was the birth of the Montanist Museum. The minerals, rocks and fossils collected from all over the world served as illustrative material for lessons. Specifically, geoscience courses and professional training for graduates of mining academies, in today's terminology probably technical colleges, were held here.
The first director of the museum was the mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773 to 1839), the founder of the ten-stage mineralogical hardness scale, from Graz to Vienna. After his death, Wilhelm Haidinger (1795 to 1871), also a mineralogist and student of Mohs, followed him on April 14, 1840, in the position of k. k. real Bergrath. The address of the building in the strict classicist style (architect Paul Sprenger), completed in 1838, was at Heumarkt 1 (today the Austrian Mint) in Vienna Landstrasse. Mohs, as well as Haidinger, who lived just a few steps away (Ungargasse 3), held courses here with other lecturers until the spring of 1849. In addition to mineralogy, crystallography, analytical chemistry and paleontology were also presented. Franz von Hauer, born in 1822, taught the latter subject.
Thinnfeld, who had sat in the Styrian state parliament since 1814 and had also been director of the office there since 1827, had a passion for geology, mineralogy and mining. He was one of the listeners of Mohs, who held a professorship for mineralogy in Graz from 1812. He never missed an opportunity to further his education and, like Haidinger, visited England several times. In 1820 he married the 23-year-old Maria Clara Sidonie Haidinger, the mineralogist's sister. Private ties were therefore close and the two men were related by marriage. The Haidingers stayed with the Thinnfelds repeatedly in their pretty little castle in Deutsch-Feistritz. When Haidinger went traveling as the new director of the Montanist Museum in 1840, he knew where his family would be in good hands. "Before I left, I brought my family to Styria, to my brother-in-law Thinnfeld in Feistritz near Peggau."
But back to 1849. It was clear that the state that was created after the 1848 Revolution had to succeed in all areas. The expansion of industry and infrastructure required raw materials, especially coal and ore. Consequently, a separate ministry for regional culture and mining was created. Thinnfeld was an ideal choice as the responsible minister. Naturally, the office also came with expectations - he had an obligation to deliver. What could be more obvious than to institutionalize the geological exploration of the empire as the basis for mining? Thinnfeld had the Montanistisches Museum in Talon and, with his brother-in-law Haidinger, an ace up his sleeve. Haidinger, the director of the Montanist Museum, made a "Geognostic Overview Map of the Austrian Monarchy" (1: 864,000) in 1845. He knew England, the model country in terms of industrialization and geosciences, through travel; he had already translated Mohs' "Treatise on Mineralogy" into English in 1825. What more could you want?
In other words, the period after the revolution of 1848 needed success. This was the ideal time for Thinnfeld to put his cards on the table. He could assume that with Haidinger at the helm there would be a k. k. Geological Reichsanstalt would be a success story as a continuation of the Montanisches Museum. With the young Franz von Hauer as the second man on board, for whom Haidinger had applied for a professorship at the Montanistisches Museum in the spring of 1849, the next generation of the Reichsanstalt was already secured. In fact, Hauer succeeded Haidinger as director in 1866 when he retired.
Thinnfeld's plan came to fruition with the emperor's signature on November 15, 1849, and the young imperial institution quickly enjoyed international recognition. In 1856, the old Alexander Humboldt (1769 to 1859) had words of praise: "The Geological Reichsanstalt stands as a model that is difficult to achieve." In keeping with such praise, geologists had a noble address since 1851; the princely Rasumofsky Palace at Rasumofskygasse 23 (Wien-Landstrasse), where there was also a museum. (Thomas Hofmann, November 15, 2024)