Wolfgang Xavier Franz Ritter von Kobell (19 July 180311 November 1882) was a German

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

and writer of short stories and poems in Bavarian dialect.

Biography

Kobell was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Bavaria (where he also died), son of the painter Wilhelm Kobell. After studying mineralogy in Landshut, he became professor of mineralogy in 1826 at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, and in 1856 was appointed first curator of the Bavarian State collection of minerals. His greatest contributions were new methods in crystallography. In 1855 he invented the stauroscope for the study of the optical properties of

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...

s. The mineral kobellite is named after him, and he invented a comparative

fusibility The fusibility of a material refers to the ease at which the material can be fused together, or to the temperature or amount of heat required to melt a material. Materials such as solder require a relatively low melting point so that when heat is ...

scale. Besides his work as a mineralogist, Kobell is also famous for writing many short stories and poems in the Bavarian dialect of Upper Bavaria. He was among the regular hunting companions of the Bavarian dukes and monarchs. His best known work is a short story which was later used as base for the popular Bavarian stage play ''Der Brandner Kasper''. The story is about a blacksmith from

Tegernsee Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an ...

, who is visited by the

grim reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

and tricks him into drinking and gambling for some further years on earth. The grim reaper has some issues with his management and convinces Kasper to stay in paradise, after he had a look into it, similar as in the

Joshua ben Levi Joshua ben Levi (Yehoshua ben Levi) was an amora, a scholar of the Talmud, who lived in the Land of Israel in the first half of the third century. He lived and taught in the city of Lod. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha an ...

legend. The play was adapted 1974 for the stage by a grand nephew of Kobell, Kurt Wilhelm. There are different television and movie adaptations. Each year before

All Saint's Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...

it is being sent by the

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

(Bavarian Broadcasting Agency). Kobell's writing shows great comic awareness and the ability to combine a rich sense of fantasy with realism. 1834 Kobell went for a study journey to Greece during the short term kingdom of King

Otto of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

and was member of different academies. He pioneered as well early photographic and

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400– ...

procedures together with

Carl August von Steinheil Carl August von Steinheil (12 October 1801 – 14 September 1870) was a German physicist, inventor, engineer and astronomer. Biography Steinheil was born in Ribeauvillé, Alsace. He studied law in Erlangen since 1821. He then studied astronomy i ...

.A Concise History of Photography
by Helmut Gernsheim

Works

Scientific

*''Charakteristik der Mineralien'' (2 vols. 1830–1831) *''Tafeln zur Bestimmung der Mineralien'' (1833, and later editions; 12th ed. by

Konrad Oebbeke Konrad Oebbeke (2 November 1853, Hildesheim – 1 February 1932) was a German geologist and mineralogist. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Erlangen, obtaining his doctorate at the University of Würzburg in 1877. Afterwards he ...

, 1884; 13th ed. 1893) *''Grundzüge der Mineralogie'' (1838) *''Galvanographie'' (1842; 2d ed. 1846), describing a method of his own invention *''Skizzen aus dem Steinreich'' (1850) *''Die Mineralogie'' (1858
Digital edition
by the University and State Library Düsseldorf *''Mineralogie: Populäre Vorträge'' (1862) *''Geschichte der Mineralogie von 1650–1860'' (1864) He was also the author of numerous scientific papers, and described many new minerals.

Works in dialect

* ''Schnadahüpfln und Sprüchln'' (2d ed. 1852) * ''Gedichte in pfälzischer Mundart'' (1839–41) * ''Jagd- und Weinlieder'' (1889)

Notes

References

* Attribution: *