Joseph Carl Rosenbaum (5 July 1770 – 26 December 1829) was an Austrian employee of the

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

family, later a private citizen whose house was a centre of Viennese social life.

Life

Rosenbaum was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1770, son of an official of the

family. In 1785 he entered the service of

Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy Nicholas II, Prince Esterházy ( hu, Esterházy II. Miklós, german: Nikolaus II Esterházy; 12 December 176524 November 1833) was a wealthy Hungarian prince. He served the Austrian Empire and was a member of the famous Esterházy family. He is e ...

, and in 1797 he came to Vienna as the Prince's stable accountant."Rosenbaum, Josef Karl (1770-1829), Privatier"
''Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon''. Retrieved 6 August 2021."Rosenbaum, Joseph Carl"
''Oesterreiches Musiklexikon online''. Retrieved 6 August 2021. He married in 1800 Therese Gassmann, an opera singer; on his marriage he had to leave his employment, and he then lived in Vienna as a private citizen. In 1816 he purchased a property in the Viennese district of

Wieden Wieden (; Central Bavarian: ''Wiedn'') is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 4. Bezirk). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region ...

, and laid out a garden. Through his wife he knew many people in the cultural life of the city, and his house became a centre of Viennese society."Rosenbaum, Joseph Carl"
'

Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe The ''Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe'' (short ''WeGA'') is a scientific-critical edition of all works of the composer Carl Maria von Weber, published by the Schott Music publishing house in Mainz. Content The edition, which is sponsored ...

''. Retrieved 6 August 2021. From 1797 until his death he kept a diary, now in the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...

. It is an important source of information about

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, whom he knew well, and about Viennese theatre and other local affairs. Rosenbaum was an adherent of

Franz Joseph Gall Franz Josef Gall (; 9 March 175822 August 1828) was a German neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain. Claimed as the founder of the pseudoscience of phrenology, Gall was an earl ...

's theory of

phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

, and in 1809 was involved in stealing the head of Joseph Haydn from the composer's grave. It was in his possession until his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbaum, Joseph Carl 1770 births 1829 deaths 18th-century Austrian people 19th-century Austrian people