Josef Kalasanz Freiherr von Erberg ( sl, Jožef Kalasanc baron Erberg or ) (27 August 1771 – 10 July 1843) was a

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

n botanist, cultural historian, collector, and

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. Von Erberg was born in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. After graduating from mathematics, logics, philosophy, and administrative law, he was at first a board councillor at the Carniolan Provincial Estates. In 1794, he married Josephine, Gräfin von Attems. They had seven children. In 1804, he became a

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

at the Austrian Court, and was from 1809 until 1814 the educator of the young

Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type = ...

. In 1815, von Erberg moved to

Dol pri Ljubljani Dol pri Ljubljani (; german: Lusttal''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 18.) is a settlement in central Slovenia. It is the seat of the M ...

, where he intensively collected books and numerous other cultural and natural objects from Carniola and also created a garden with over 7000 plants. He was a friend of

Sigmund Zois Sigmund Zois Freiherr von Edelstein, usually referred as Sigmund Zois ( sl, Žiga Zois, formerly Slovenized as ''Cojs'' or ''Cojz''; ) (23 November 1747 – 10 November 1819) was a Carniolan nobleman, natural scientist and patron of the arts. He ...

and also corresponded with other Carniolan scientists and artists. Until the end of his life, he only rarely left Dol. In 1832, he hired Franz Franz, an officer, to inform him about events in Vienna and in Ljubljana. In the following eight years, Franz sent him about 1800 letters, which have been preserved until today and give an insight in the

history of Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

before the

1848 revolutions The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

. In 1825, von Erberg wrote the ''Attempt at a Sketch of the Literary History of Carniola'' (german: Versuch eines Entwurfes zu einer Literar-Geschichte für Crain), which he intended for his personal use. It consists of twelve questions about the literary history of his homeland and extensive answers to them. Even today, it represents a source of information about the older Slovenian literary history.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Erberg, Josef Kalasanz 1771 births 1843 deaths Carniolan botanists Carniolan historians Carniolan collectors Patrons of literature Scientists from Ljubljana