Karl Ludwig Giesecke
Encyclopedia
Karl Ludwig Giesecke was a German actor, librettist
, polar explorer and mineralogist
. In his youth he was called Johann Georg Metzler, in his later career in Ireland he was Sir Charles Lewis Giesecke.
in Augsburg, and did well academically, as is known from the surviving remarks of his schoolmaster recommending him for university study. He attended the University of Göttingen from 1781 to 1784, studying law. He also developed a side interest in mineralogy, attending the lectures of the naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
.
It was in 1781 that he took the pseudonym
by which he is now known. The name change was an effective cover for Giesecke's ancestry, which he always refused to discuss. Indeed, Giesecke's original name remained unknown to scholars until 1910, when the Danish geologist
K. J. V. Steenstrup
discovered a 1810 letter from his sister to the Danish authorities enquiring about the welfare of her brother, then in Greenland; the letter established Giesecke's relationship with the Augsburg Metzlers. Whittaker suggests that he chose "Giesecke" (also spelled "Gieseke") in admiration of the poet Nicolaus Dietrich Gieseke.
in Vienna
, then under the direction of Johann Friedel. When Emanuel Schikaneder
's troupe took over the theater as its new resident company later in the same year, Giesecke was one of the few players that Schikaneder retained.
As remembered by Ignaz Castelli, Giesecke was not a standout as an actor; he "has no distinct speciality and plays whatever roles come his way." His value to the Schikaneder company was more as a stage manager and especially as a writer and poet. According to Buch, there were three house writers in the company: Schikaneder himself, his wife Eleonore, and Giesecke.
Giesecke achieved an early success with his extensively adapted version of Sophie Seyler's Oberon, based on an earlier work
by Christoph Martin Wieland
and set to music by Paul Wranitzky
. This was the first opera performed by Schickaneder's troupe at their new theater, and established a tradition within the company of fairy tale operas that was to culminate two years later in Mozart
's celebrated opera The Magic Flute
. Oberon is similar to The Magic Flute in its plot and characters, and a number of the singers who participated in Oberon took similar roles in the later opera.
In later work, Giesecke translated the Italian libretti of Mozart's operas Le nozze di Figaro
(1793) and Così fan tutte
(1794) into German
. In total he was to write libretti for more than fifteen operas by various composers between 1789 and 1800; see listing below.
As an actor, Gieseke is remembered for having been in the cast for the premiere (30 September 1791) of The Magic Flute. He played the mostly speaking role of the First Slave. Later in life, he was said to have claimed to be the author of the opera's libretto
, which is usually attributed to Emanuel Schikaneder; see discussion below.
During his Vienna years, Gieseke became a Freemason
, joining "Zur gekrönte Hoffnung", the same lodge as Mozart. He is believed to have been the librettist for the "Freimaurerkantate" K. 623 (1791), a work intended for a Masonic celebration, completed during Mozart's final illness (see Death of Mozart
). The head of Giesecke's lodge was Ignaz von Born, a distinguished scientist who specializations included mineralogy. Other eminent mineralogists were also members of the lodge and Gieseke's membership evidently rekindled his interest in the subject.
When Giesecke ultimately departed Vienna (1800) it was under a shadow and perhaps in a hurry; the surviving court records show proceedings against him for nonpayment of a year's rent. Personal effects he left behind were sold in 1801 to help cover this debt.
at the Bergakademie in Freiberg.. Later, under the title of Royal Prussian Mine Counsellor (Königlicher Preussischer Bergrat), he made investigations in Sweden 1803-1804 and in Norway in 1805. Eventually he settled in Copenhagen, where he worked as a mineral dealer, collector, and tutor.
He obtained approval from the Danish king Christian VII
to explore the geology of the Faroe Islands
, which he visited in 1805, and Greenland
. The latter journey began in 1806. Giesecke established friendly relations with the Eskimo inhabitants and learned to travel in the umiak
, the vessel used by the Eskimo women. He explored much of the coastline in this way. According to Mirsky Giesecke "was frugal and spent his time 'hewing and cleaving stones from morning to nightfall.'"
Scientifically, the journey was a success; his investigations laid the foundation for Greenlandic mineralogy. However, it met with many difficulties, including the harsh Greenland winters and illness. Many of Giesecke's troubles resulted from the Napoleonic wars
, which reached their climax during his stay. Back home in Copenhagen, Giesecke's existing collections were destroyed when the British fleet bombarded the city
. In 1806, Giesecke shipped a large collection of materials aboard the Danish ship Freuhlin, headed for Copenhagen. The ship was taken as a prize of war
by the Royal Navy
, and the collection was auctioned off in Edinburgh in 1808.
Another consequence of the war was that Giesecke's stay in Greenland, originally planned for only two years, was extended to seven: the British had captured the Danish fleet
, and Giesecke was unable to get home. His eventual return to Europe in August 1813 was picturesque; according to Dent "he landed at Hull
, looking probably rather like Papageno, for his European clothes had worn out, and he was dressed as an Eskimo in fur and feathers."
The loss of the 1806 shipment was perhaps a blessing in disguise since it ultimately enhanced Giesecke's reputation in Britain. The collection was examined by the mineralogist Robert Jameson
, who, unaware of its provenance, concluded it was worthless. Ninian Imrie and Thomas Allan
suspected that a white mineral in the collection was the rare cryolite
and bought the lot. However, it was only when Morten Wormskjold
was detained in Edinburgh on his way to Greenland in 1812 that he could identify the collector as Giesecke and the provenance as Greenland. Another mineral in the collection was later named allanite
after Thomas Allan. Thus the value of the collection was ultimately recognized prior to Giesecke's return to Europe.
and William Scoresby
, who played a role in the eventual discovery of the Northwest Passage
, the famously elusive sea route around the northern edge of North America.
He also collected botanical
specimens. These included some bryophyte
species growing on rocks. Giesecke collected specimens of the Greenland
ic bellflower
, which he found deviated much from the European forms, and send them to the botanist
Lorenz Chrysanth von Vest. The latter erected a new species and named it Campanula gieseckiana
to the honour of Giesecke. The new species was formally published by Roemer
and Schultes
in the 16th edition of Linnaeus'
Systema Vegetabilium.
Lastly, Giesecke contributed to the ethnography and human history of Greenland through his observations of the Eskimos and of the extinct Viking settlements there.
A number of places in Greenland
are named for him, e.g. Giesecke Dal on Disko Island
, Giesecke Isfjord near Upernavik
and lake Gieseckes Sø close to Kangerlussuaq
.
. It was at this time that Giesecke's portrait (shown above) was painted by the famous portraitist Henry Raeburn
. After a few weeks, Allan encouraged Giesecke to apply for a new Professorship of Mineralogy in the Royal Dublin Society
. Despite serious competition, Giesecke won the appointment and took up the position in 1813.
At the outset of his appointment he knew no English, but his gift for languages enabled him to make up for this lack through quick study; he eventually published extensively in English. Giesecke continued reporting his earlier investigations and other writings. In the same year 1814 he was knighted (the Order of the Dannebrog
) by King Frederick VI of Denmark
; henceforth in Ireland he styled himself "Sir Charles Lewis Giesecke," indicating the Danish knighthood and using the English versions of German "Karl" and "Ludwig".
Giesecke's main purpose in the Vienna journey was to donate a collection of mineralogical specimens to the Austrian Emperor. While there, he encountered old acquaintances from the theater. The tenor and opera manager Julius Cornet was present at such an encounter (Ignaz Seyfried
, an old member of the Schikaneder troupe, was also there). Cornet wrote—three decades later, in 1849—the following:
Elsewhere Cornet wrote:
Subsequent scholarship has involved extensive disagreement about whether to believe Cornet, ranging from wholehearted endorsement of what he said to utter rejection, including aspersions on Giesecke's character. Certainly Mozart's own testimony does not support the Giesecke theory; in the catalog of his works that Mozart kept he entered The Magic Flute as "A German opera in two acts. By Emanuel Schikaneder." However, there is also a reasonable possibility that Giesecke was an unacknowledged collaborator with Schikaneder; the troupe frequently practiced coauthorship as a means of speeding the creation of new works..
Giesecke returned to Dublin in late summer of 1819 and resumed his duties as professor.
Giesecke never married and apparently left no progeny.
. Part of them was given to the state of Austria
directly by Giesecke. They are now at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
. Other parts are kept in Copenhagen
.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, polar explorer and mineralogist
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
. In his youth he was called Johann Georg Metzler, in his later career in Ireland he was Sir Charles Lewis Giesecke.
Early life
His father was Johann Georg Metzler, a Protestant who worked as a tailor in Augsburg. His mother was named Sibylla Magdalena Götz. He attended the GymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Augsburg, and did well academically, as is known from the surviving remarks of his schoolmaster recommending him for university study. He attended the University of Göttingen from 1781 to 1784, studying law. He also developed a side interest in mineralogy, attending the lectures of the naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach was a German physician, physiologist and anthropologist, one of the first to explore the study of mankind as an aspect of natural history, whose teachings in comparative anatomy were applied to classification of what he called human races, of which he determined...
.
It was in 1781 that he took the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
by which he is now known. The name change was an effective cover for Giesecke's ancestry, which he always refused to discuss. Indeed, Giesecke's original name remained unknown to scholars until 1910, when the Danish geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
K. J. V. Steenstrup
K. J. V. Steenstrup
Knud Johannes Vogelius Steenstrup was a Danish geologist and explorer of Greenland. He was a nephew of the zoologist Japetus Steenstrup....
discovered a 1810 letter from his sister to the Danish authorities enquiring about the welfare of her brother, then in Greenland; the letter established Giesecke's relationship with the Augsburg Metzlers. Whittaker suggests that he chose "Giesecke" (also spelled "Gieseke") in admiration of the poet Nicolaus Dietrich Gieseke.
His career in the theater
In 1784, he left the university to become an iterant player, and worked in various theaters over a period of six years. In 1789, he became employed in the Theater auf der WiedenTheater auf der Wieden
The Theater auf der Wieden, also called the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden or the Wiednertheater, was a theater located in the then-suburban Wieden district of Vienna in the late 18th century...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, then under the direction of Johann Friedel. When Emanuel Schikaneder
Emanuel Schikaneder
Emanuel Schikaneder , born Johann Joseph Schickeneder, was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer and composer. He was the librettist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the builder of the Theater an der Wien...
's troupe took over the theater as its new resident company later in the same year, Giesecke was one of the few players that Schikaneder retained.
As remembered by Ignaz Castelli, Giesecke was not a standout as an actor; he "has no distinct speciality and plays whatever roles come his way." His value to the Schikaneder company was more as a stage manager and especially as a writer and poet. According to Buch, there were three house writers in the company: Schikaneder himself, his wife Eleonore, and Giesecke.
Giesecke achieved an early success with his extensively adapted version of Sophie Seyler's Oberon, based on an earlier work
Oberon (poem)
Oberon is an epic poem by the German writer Christoph Martin Wieland. It was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French medieval tale. It first appeared in 1780 and went through seven rewrites before its final form was published in 1796...
by Christoph Martin Wieland
Christoph Martin Wieland
Christoph Martin Wieland was a German poet and writer.- Biography :He was born at Oberholzheim , which then belonged to the Free Imperial City of Biberach an der Riss in the south-east of the modern-day state of Baden-Württemberg...
and set to music by Paul Wranitzky
Paul Wranitzky
Pavel Vranický was a Moravian classical composer. His brother, Antonín, was also a composer.-Life:...
. This was the first opera performed by Schickaneder's troupe at their new theater, and established a tradition within the company of fairy tale operas that was to culminate two years later in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's celebrated opera The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. Oberon is similar to The Magic Flute in its plot and characters, and a number of the singers who participated in Oberon took similar roles in the later opera.
In later work, Giesecke translated the Italian libretti of Mozart's operas Le nozze di Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
(1793) and Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(1794) into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. In total he was to write libretti for more than fifteen operas by various composers between 1789 and 1800; see listing below.
As an actor, Gieseke is remembered for having been in the cast for the premiere (30 September 1791) of The Magic Flute. He played the mostly speaking role of the First Slave. Later in life, he was said to have claimed to be the author of the opera's libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, which is usually attributed to Emanuel Schikaneder; see discussion below.
During his Vienna years, Gieseke became a Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, joining "Zur gekrönte Hoffnung", the same lodge as Mozart. He is believed to have been the librettist for the "Freimaurerkantate" K. 623 (1791), a work intended for a Masonic celebration, completed during Mozart's final illness (see Death of Mozart
Death of Mozart
The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at 1:00 am on 5 December 1791 at the age of 35, following a short illness.-Illness and last days:...
). The head of Giesecke's lodge was Ignaz von Born, a distinguished scientist who specializations included mineralogy. Other eminent mineralogists were also members of the lodge and Gieseke's membership evidently rekindled his interest in the subject.
When Giesecke ultimately departed Vienna (1800) it was under a shadow and perhaps in a hurry; the surviving court records show proceedings against him for nonpayment of a year's rent. Personal effects he left behind were sold in 1801 to help cover this debt.
As mineralogist
The departure from Vienna coincided with a major career shift: Giesecke abandoned the theater and switched to mineralogy and mineral trading. In 1801, he studied for some time with Abraham Gottlob WernerAbraham Gottlob Werner
Abraham Gottlob Werner , was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and coined the word Neptunism...
at the Bergakademie in Freiberg.. Later, under the title of Royal Prussian Mine Counsellor (Königlicher Preussischer Bergrat), he made investigations in Sweden 1803-1804 and in Norway in 1805. Eventually he settled in Copenhagen, where he worked as a mineral dealer, collector, and tutor.
He obtained approval from the Danish king Christian VII
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....
to explore the geology of the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, which he visited in 1805, and Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. The latter journey began in 1806. Giesecke established friendly relations with the Eskimo inhabitants and learned to travel in the umiak
Umiak
The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac or oomiak is a type of boat used by Eskimo people, both Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First arising in Thule times, it has traditionally been used in summer to move people and possessions to...
, the vessel used by the Eskimo women. He explored much of the coastline in this way. According to Mirsky Giesecke "was frugal and spent his time 'hewing and cleaving stones from morning to nightfall.'"
Scientifically, the journey was a success; his investigations laid the foundation for Greenlandic mineralogy. However, it met with many difficulties, including the harsh Greenland winters and illness. Many of Giesecke's troubles resulted from the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, which reached their climax during his stay. Back home in Copenhagen, Giesecke's existing collections were destroyed when the British fleet bombarded the city
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...
. In 1806, Giesecke shipped a large collection of materials aboard the Danish ship Freuhlin, headed for Copenhagen. The ship was taken as a prize of war
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, and the collection was auctioned off in Edinburgh in 1808.
Another consequence of the war was that Giesecke's stay in Greenland, originally planned for only two years, was extended to seven: the British had captured the Danish fleet
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...
, and Giesecke was unable to get home. His eventual return to Europe in August 1813 was picturesque; according to Dent "he landed at Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, looking probably rather like Papageno, for his European clothes had worn out, and he was dressed as an Eskimo in fur and feathers."
The loss of the 1806 shipment was perhaps a blessing in disguise since it ultimately enhanced Giesecke's reputation in Britain. The collection was examined by the mineralogist Robert Jameson
Robert Jameson
thumb|Robert JamesonProfessor Robert Jameson, FRS FRSE was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist.As Regius Professor at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, Jameson is notable for his advanced scholarship in natural history, his superb museum collection, and for his tuition of Charles...
, who, unaware of its provenance, concluded it was worthless. Ninian Imrie and Thomas Allan
Thomas Allan
The mineralogist Thomas Allan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 17 July 1777 to a family of Scottish merchants and bankers. He took up banking for his profession, but he is remembered today for his contributions to mineral science...
suspected that a white mineral in the collection was the rare cryolite
Cryolite
Cryolite is an uncommon mineral identified with the once large deposit at Ivigtût on the west coast of Greenland, depleted by 1987....
and bought the lot. However, it was only when Morten Wormskjold
Morten Wormskjold
Morten Wormskjold was a Danish botanist and explorer. He collected plants in Greenland and Kamchatka.- Early life :...
was detained in Edinburgh on his way to Greenland in 1812 that he could identify the collector as Giesecke and the provenance as Greenland. Another mineral in the collection was later named allanite
Allanite
Allanite is a sorosilicate group of minerals within the broader epidote group that contain a significant amount of rare earth elements. The mineral occurs mainly in metamorphosed clay rich sediments and felsic igneous rocks...
after Thomas Allan. Thus the value of the collection was ultimately recognized prior to Giesecke's return to Europe.
Researches in Greenland other than in mineralogy
Giesecke's travels up and down the coast of Greenland proved important from the perspective of geography. On his return he was consulted by mariners such as John FranklinJohn Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
and William Scoresby
William Scoresby
William Scoresby , was an English Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman.-Early years:Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering 26 miles south of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, William Scoresby , made a fortune in the Arctic whale fishery...
, who played a role in the eventual discovery of the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
, the famously elusive sea route around the northern edge of North America.
He also collected botanical
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
specimens. These included some bryophyte
Bryophyte
Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...
species growing on rocks. Giesecke collected specimens of the Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
ic bellflower
Campanula
Campanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell"....
, which he found deviated much from the European forms, and send them to the botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
Lorenz Chrysanth von Vest. The latter erected a new species and named it Campanula gieseckiana
Campanula
Campanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell"....
to the honour of Giesecke. The new species was formally published by Roemer
Johann Jacob Roemer
Johann Jacob Roemer was a physician and professor of botany in Zurich, Switzerland. He was also an entomologist.With Austrian botanist Joseph August Schultes, he published the 16th edition of Carolus Linnaeus' Systema Vegetabilium....
and Schultes
Josef August Schultes
Josef August Schultes 1773-1831 was an Austrian botanist and professor in Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer, he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Vegetabilium. In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.Father of Julius Hermann...
in the 16th edition of Linnaeus'
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
Systema Vegetabilium.
Lastly, Giesecke contributed to the ethnography and human history of Greenland through his observations of the Eskimos and of the extinct Viking settlements there.
A number of places in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
are named for him, e.g. Giesecke Dal on Disko Island
Disko Island
Disko Island is a large island in Baffin Bay, off the west coast of Greenland. It has an area of , making it the second largest island of Greenland and one of the 100 largest islands in the world...
, Giesecke Isfjord near Upernavik
Upernavik
Upernavik is a small town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,129 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the thirteenth-largest town in Greenland. Due to the small size of the settlement, everything is within walking distance...
and lake Gieseckes Sø close to Kangerlussuaq
Kangerlussuaq
Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality, located at the head of a fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub, being the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport....
.
Professor in Dublin
On his return from Greenland Giesecke was lacking not just in European clothing but also money and a source of income. But his scientific accomplishments were to produce a major shift in his fortunes. Thomas Allan had already recognized the importance of Giesecke's collections, and he invited Giesecke to stay with him in his home in a fashionable district of EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It was at this time that Giesecke's portrait (shown above) was painted by the famous portraitist Henry Raeburn
Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter, the first significant Scottish portraitist since the Act of Union 1707 to remain based in Scotland.-Biography:...
. After a few weeks, Allan encouraged Giesecke to apply for a new Professorship of Mineralogy in the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
. Despite serious competition, Giesecke won the appointment and took up the position in 1813.
At the outset of his appointment he knew no English, but his gift for languages enabled him to make up for this lack through quick study; he eventually published extensively in English. Giesecke continued reporting his earlier investigations and other writings. In the same year 1814 he was knighted (the Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...
) by King Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...
; henceforth in Ireland he styled himself "Sir Charles Lewis Giesecke," indicating the Danish knighthood and using the English versions of German "Karl" and "Ludwig".
The late Vienna journey and the Magic Flute authorship controversy
In 1817, Giesecke obtained leave of absence from his position and embarked on a long journey. He first visited Copenhagen in order to deal with business unfinished following his departure there for Greenland 11 years earlier. While there he fell ill, and "his life was despaired of" (Berry). He recovered, however, and continued onward to his birthplace of Augsburg, and eventually back to his old haunts in Vienna, with stops in various German cities on the way.Giesecke's main purpose in the Vienna journey was to donate a collection of mineralogical specimens to the Austrian Emperor. While there, he encountered old acquaintances from the theater. The tenor and opera manager Julius Cornet was present at such an encounter (Ignaz Seyfried
Ignaz von Seyfried
Ignaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer.Seyfried was born in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Albrechtsberger. He published Albrechtsberger's complete written works after...
, an old member of the Schikaneder troupe, was also there). Cornet wrote—three decades later, in 1849—the following:
- On this occasion we discovered a lot about the old times; amongst other things we learnt to see in him (who at that time had belonged to the prohibited order of freemasons) the real author of The Magic Flute (which moreover Seyfried already suspected.) I'm relating all this according to his own statement which we had no reason to doubt. ... Many thought that the prompter Helmböck had collaborated with Schikaneder. But Giesecke corrected us on this point too, only the figure of Papageno and his counterpart Papagena did he attribute to Schikaneder.
Elsewhere Cornet wrote:
- And above all the truly German Magic Flute by Schikaneder and Giesecke, a member of the chorus who did the plan of the plot, the division of the scenes and the well known simple ('naïve') rhymes for him.
Subsequent scholarship has involved extensive disagreement about whether to believe Cornet, ranging from wholehearted endorsement of what he said to utter rejection, including aspersions on Giesecke's character. Certainly Mozart's own testimony does not support the Giesecke theory; in the catalog of his works that Mozart kept he entered The Magic Flute as "A German opera in two acts. By Emanuel Schikaneder." However, there is also a reasonable possibility that Giesecke was an unacknowledged collaborator with Schikaneder; the troupe frequently practiced coauthorship as a means of speeding the creation of new works..
Giesecke returned to Dublin in late summer of 1819 and resumed his duties as professor.
Fieldwork in Ireland
During the 1820s Giesecke embarked on field trips in rural Ireland for the purpose of mineralogical research: 1825 (Galway, Mayo, the island of Achill), 1826 (Donegal), and 1828 (Derry, Antrim, Tyrone, Down); see Works, below.Death
Giesecke remained in his post in Dublin and lived to the age of 72. His demise was sudden; according to Dent, "on March 5, 1833, though in failing health, he went out to dine with a friend in Dublin; after dinner, as they were sitting over their wine, he fell back in his chair and died."Giesecke never married and apparently left no progeny.
Assessment
Giesecke's posthumous reputation appears to rest more on his scientific contributions than his work in the theater. His collections can now be found in many museums in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Part of them was given to the state of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
directly by Giesecke. They are now at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
Ethnological Museum of Berlin
The Ethnological Museum in Berlin is one of the largest ethnological museums in the world. It houses half a million pre-industrial objects, acquired primarily from the German voyages of exploration and colonialization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
. Other parts are kept in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Theatrical
The Grove Dictionary of Opera gives the following list of Giesecke's theatrical writings:- (1789) Oberon, König der Elfen (SingspielSingspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
), Paul WranitzkyPaul WranitzkyPavel Vranický was a Moravian classical composer. His brother, Antonín, was also a composer.-Life:... - (1791) Die Wiener Zeitung (Singspiel), Franz Xaver GerlFranz Xaver GerlFranz Xaver Gerl was a bass singer and composer of the classical era. He sang the role of Sarastro in the premiere of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.-Life:...
and Benedikt SchackBenedikt SchackBenedikt Schack was a composer and tenor of the Classical era, a close friend of Mozart and the first performer of the role of Tamino in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.- Early life :... - (1792) Das Schlaraffenland (Singspiel), Gerl and Schack
- (1794) Der travestirte Hamlet (play), Vincenc Tuček
- (1795) Idris und Zenide, Franz Xaver SüssmayrFranz Xaver SüssmayrFranz Xaver Süssmayr was an Austrian composer, now famous for his completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem.-Early life:...
- (1796) Die zwölf schlafenden Jungfrauen ("The Twelve Sleeping Maids", play with songs), Matthäus Stegmayer
- (1796) Uriels Glöcklein, Stegmayer
- (1796) Die Belagerung von Cythère ("The Siege of Cythera'), translation of Cythère assiégée by Christoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, with additions by Franz Anton HoffmeisterFranz Anton HoffmeisterFranz Anton Hoffmeister was a German composer and music publisher.Born in Rottenburg am Neckar, he went to Vienna at the age of fourteen to study law... - (1798) Amadis, der fahrende Ritter von Gallien, G. Stenzerl
- (1798) Agnes Bernauerin (burlesque), Ignaz von SeyfriedIgnaz von SeyfriedIgnaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer.Seyfried was born in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Albrechtsberger. He published Albrechtsberger's complete written works after...
- (1799) Die Pfaueninsel ("The island of peacocks"), Seyfried and Stegmayer
- (1799) Der travestierte Aeneas (farce), Seyfried and Stegmayer
- (1800) Aeneas in der Hölle (travesty), Stegmayer
- (1801) Die Sonnenjungfrau (travesty), Seyfried and Stegmayer
Scientific
- (1819) On the temporary residences of the Greenlanders during the winter season and on the population of north and south Greenland. Edinburgh: A. Constable.
- (1822) On Cryolite; a Fragment of a Journal. Edinburgh Philosophical Journal 6: 141–4.
- (1823) On the mineralogy of Disco Island. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 9: 263–272.
- (1824) On the Norwegian settlements on the eastern coast of Greenland, or Osterbygd, and their situation. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy 14: 47–56.
- (1826) Account of a mineralogical excursion to the county of Donegal. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society.
- (1828) Second account of a mineralogical excursion to the counties of Donegal, Mayo, and Galway. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society.
- (1829) Account of a mineralogical excursion to the county of Antrim. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society.
- (1832) A descriptive catalogue of a new collection of materials in the museum of Royal Dublin Society. To which is added an Irish mineralogy. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society.
- (1861) Catalogue of a geological and geographical collection of minerals from the arctic regions from Cape Farewell to Baffin's Bay, lat. 59⁰ 14ʹ N., to 76⁰ 32ʹ N.. Dublin : McGlashan & Gill.
- (1878) Gieseckes Mineralogiske rejse i Grønland, ved F. Johnstrup. Med et tillæg om de grønlandske stednavnes retskrivning og etymologi af H. Rink. Edition: Hermed 3 kaart. Kjøbenhavn : B. Lunos bogtrykkerei.
- (1910) Bericht einer mineralogischen Reise in Groenland. ("Report on a mineralogical journey in Greenland") Meddelelser om Grønland 35: 1–478.