← Back to Articles | Original (German)
“Can you market this better?” my colleague Christian Auer asked me. He proudly told me that a mineral specimen from the Biedermeier period in the first half of the 19th century, which was then determined to be a copper ore (today: cyanotrichite), has now been re-identified as malachite. In the course of revising our collections, he also found out details about the history of the finds. He shared his enthusiasm with us. But the response was sobering for him; he was advised: "One or two pictures, the same sentences and put them on Instagram and Facebook."
Christian didn't want to be satisfied with that. "I think it's kind of a shame, you could do more with it." He, a mineral expert, asked me, knowing full well that I am not on social media. I, a librarian and archivist, ask myself: "What can you say about a mineral stage that is older than the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute, the predecessor institution of our GeoSphere Austria?"
"A few days ago I took another piece from the collection, cleaned it thoroughly with steam and took photos; [...]. Finally I found the old description. On this piece of paper it said 'Lade 29'. I immediately knew what it was about, a look at Haidinger's inventory list showed this 'copper collection ore' from Moldova in drawer 29."
Now, as the house's chronicler, I am asked to correctly locate his discoveries. First of all, the note mentioned! You have to know that the boxes in scientific collections containing minerals, fossils, zoological or botanical objects always contain inventory sheets with information about names, origins, collectors, etc. Without these inventory notes, even the most beautiful pieces cannot be assigned and are therefore scientifically worthless.
Now to “Haidinger’s inventory list”. The said Wilhelm Haidinger was born in Vienna in 1795 and also died here in 1871. He was a student of the famous mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839) and was to become the first director of the k.k. in 1849. Become the Reich Geological Institute. So he is our (GeoSphere Austria) ancestor, the founding father appointed by the emperor from the very beginning.
The "inventory list" mentioned here is not a list, but a book with a leather spine, 157 pages and two stone printing plates, i.e. lithographs, from the year 1843. The exact title can be found on the frontispiece: "Report on the mineral collection of the k.k. Hofkammer in coinage and mining."
Haidinger is listed on the frontispiece not only as an author, but also with a selection of his already numerous titles: "k.k. real Bergrath, member of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences and the Patriotic Museum in Prague, and of the Association for geognostic-montanistic research in Tyrol and Vorarlberg; corresponding member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, member of the Society for Mineralogy in Dresden, the Senkenberg Natural Research Society in Frankfurt am Main, the Natural Science Society in Hamburg, the Royal and Werner Society in Edinburgh, etc.
In a word, the mineralogist Haidinger was no stranger to the Biedermeier European scientific community. Today these lines would be printed less prominently at the front and more on the back flap. In any case, the “inventory list” wasn’t from bad parents.
Now to the k.k. Court Chamber in Minting and Mining. The head at the time, Karl Friedrich von Kübeck (1780-1855), became president of the court chamber in 1840 and advanced to head of the mint and mining in 1841. Haidinger, as the "most obsequious servant", knew what was proper and he owed his boss a dedication in chunky letters: "To His Excellency, the high and well-born Karl Friedrich Freiherr Kübeck von Kübau", dated June 8, 1842.
Kübeck was - to put it in today's terms - finance minister of the monarchy. In Biedermeier language it sounded like this: "Your EXCELLENCE, entrusted with the comprehensive management of a great monarchy, honors the sciences related to mining activities."
The founder of the mineral collection inventoried by Haidinger was Kübeck's predecessor, Prince August Longin von Lobkowitz (1797-1842). This era also saw the construction of a representative building, the Main Mint Office (1835-1838) with the Latin inscription "Rei Monetariae" at the address Am Heumarkt 1. Today the Republic's Mint (Austrian Mint) is located here.
How did the then Ministry of Finance come to have a mineral collection? By circular dated November 19, 1835, all of the k.k. The mining and mining offices of the Hofkammer were asked to "send everything that was found of interest in their area, along with the geognostic suites (= rock collections), to form a mineralogical-geognostic central collection in Vienna."
The declared goal was to create an institution in Vienna for the training and further education of miners with stone illustrative materials from the entire monarchy and beyond. This collection formed an important basis for this then new non-university training facility, the Montanistische Museum. The intention from that point of view was clear: they wanted to secure mining as the basis for the state's budget. What could be more obvious than for the Ministry of Finance to invest in the know-how of future miners?
Friedrich Mohs was initially entrusted with processing the collection, which grew rapidly thanks to numerous patrons and sponsors from all over the world. After his death on September 29, 1839, Haidinger continued his mentor's legacy. On April 14, 1840 he was k.k. Bergrath became and devoted himself to completing the collection. Ultimately, “there were no fewer than 39,700 copies available from these various sources.” Haidinger, what more do you want?
The collection was installed in the main mint office at Am Heumarkt 1, where today there is heavy traffic on four lanes. Back then everything was a little more tranquil. "The beautiful light through the high arched windows, the wonderful view over the green glacis towards the ever-beautifying city and the Leopolds and Kahlenberg, the appropriate proportions of the rooms themselves (they are sixteen and a half feet high) make a pleasant and uplifting impression," is Haidinger's description of the huge collection in four rooms on the second floor. On August 1, 1862, the city park was opened on the green glacis as Vienna's first public park.
Three of the four halls were in the right wing of the building (viewed from the front), hall number four was in the large projecting central risalit. This suited Haidinger: "Then I could probably work towards setting up four different collections: 1. the large geological-geographical one in the new wall cupboards, 2. an equally more geographical collection of the mining district suites, this one on the table cupboards, 3. a terminological and 4. a systematic mineral collection, both in drawer cupboards, with the latter a display collection in wall cupboards." (page 6). The “Kupfersammterz” can be assigned to sub-collection 2, the mining district suites. It was placed on table 29 in room 4.
Who is now posting on Facebook: "The copper velvet ore on table 29 looked at the green glacis in 1842"?
The collection was assembled in the summer of 1843. Haidinger was happy. "I was surrounded by the rich 'Mineral Collection of the Imperial and Royal Chamber of Coins and Mining', which was now adequately prepared for teaching and studying." The report was ready and went to the printer. According to a call on August 15th, 65 k.k. Mining interns and mining academics reported to take Haidinger's course; only nine were taken. The first course lasted from January 9th to May 18th, 1844. Eight more courses followed by 1849.
Then the course was reset. Haidinger took over as director of the k.k., which was founded on November 15, 1849. Geological Reichsanstalt, which was housed in the Montanistik Museum until 1851. The mineral and rock collection, including our "copper collection ore", became the property of the newly founded Geological State Service of the monarchy, the Reichsanstalt.
From 1851, when the geologists moved from Heumarkt to the Rasumofsky Palace in Rasumofskygasse (Wien Landstrasse), it was exhibited in its own museum area in the former princely palace. In addition to parts of the collection, including "Kupfersammterz", what has been preserved until our days at GeoSphere Austria at the NEUENGASSE 38 location are transcripts from the participants in the first course, which have been available as annotated transcriptions since 2023.
Now to the “copper collecting ore”. This completely Biedermeier name for a blue, fine-needle copper aluminum sulfate stands for cyanotrichite in modern mineralogy. On the original label we read: "Tisch 29, Kupfersamterz, Moldova [?], Hungary: [illegible] Comitat in Banate. By Mr. Ant. Schmidt Moldova, K. Markscheider". A second inventory note with the logo of the Federal Geological Institute (GBA) proves later processing. "Moldova Noua, Caras-Severin District, Romania (New Moldova, Voivodina, later Hungary, Empire".
The inventory list mentioned above lists all the minerals from table 29 on page 138, with copper ores dominating here. In total there are 60 pieces, 36 of which come from Moldova. Said Mr. Schmidt is listed at Haidinger as Anton Johann Schmidt, “k. Bergmeister”. It is listed in Section 2, where minerals that came to Vienna before 1839, i.e. during Friedrich Mohs' lifetime.
Schmidt is located with the town of Szaszka in the subchapter "Southern slope of the Hercynian-Carpathian chain", which corresponds to the southern foothills of the Carpathians up to the lowlands of the Danube. Szaszka (today Sasca Montană) is located around ten kilometers north of Moldova Noua, in the Caraș-Severin district in Romania, which we already know from the GBA label. So everything fits together quite well.
This Moldova (today: Moldova Noua) is the type locality of copper ore, the cyanotrichite. In other words, this piece comes from the place where the mineral was first described. This mineral from the 1840s, which “survived” the turmoil of several wars and relocations, has a special meaning. But that's not enough. Christian, our mineral expert, analyzed the mineral in detail after more than 180 years using a scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in spring 2025. Haidinger would also have been happy with the result.
"...it is no longer cyanotrichite, but a pseudomorph, namely malachite after cyanotrichite." What had happened? In pseudomorphosis, the shape and form of a mineral remain the same, while the object changes due to the exchange of chemical compounds. Since malachite is a copper carbonate (Cu2[(OH)2(CO3)), the sulfate ion of cyanotrichite (Cu4Al2(SO4)(OH)12 • 2 H2O) was replaced by a carbonate ion. Haidinger cannot be accused of misidentification; he did not have an EDX at the time.
To all social media fans: Take the link to the blog, "and go to Instagram and Facebook." (Thomas Hofmann, June 20, 2025)