Robert Karl Weinzierl

Robert Karl von Weinzierl (1855-1909) was an important figure in North Bohemian science, especially archaeology, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He spent thirty years of his life in Lovosice, where he made hundreds of valuable finds. Because of his knowledge, he was summoned as curator of the archaeological and geological collections of the Museum in Teplice, which he intended to make equal to the National Museum in Prague.

Robert Karl Weinzierl was born in the family of a forest keeper of the Schwarzenberg estate in Bílý Újezd near Velemín. His mother Francizska was herself an amateur collector and later supported her son in this hobby. His parents had him study at the Litoměřice Grammar School. Robert, however, was not a diligent pupil; we can get an idea of his interests from the evaluation records of the Litoměřice grammar school: he had decent to above-average results only in drawing, descriptive geometry and science. One year above him was his schoolmate J. E. Hibsch, who became famous for his description of the volcanic phenomenon of the Bohemian Central Highlands. Wolf von Wolfinau, a meritorious researcher, mineralogist and organizer of the North Bohemian excursion association, was the teacher who encouraged Weinzierl and many other students of the Grammar school to love nature and mineralogical collecting. Robert, who was already an enthusiastic collector of natural history and prehistoric artefacts at the end of his grammar school studies, was to study at the Prague Polytechnic and then probably become a forester, which was not at all compatible with his ideas. In Prague he eventually studied natural sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy with the vision of becoming a secondary school teacher, but his own collecting and enthusiastic interests (he was, for example, the unpaid secretary of the Amerling Physiocratic Society) eventually prevailed and he did not complete his studies. He supported himself as a bookseller and as an insurance agent. At that time, he already had a family and was finally rescued from his precarious situation by the inheritance of his deceased father. He has been collecting archaeological monuments in Lovosice since his youth. The period of the second half of the 19th century was a time of constructing many buildings, expanding the railway and road network, and these interventions brought discoveries of sites from prehistory to the Middle Ages. In addition to his own archaeological activities, he toured major European museums and became the official conservator for the preservation of archaeological monuments in Vienna (with responsibility for the German-speaking areas of northern Bohemia). In Lovosice it was possible to visit his ever-growing collection (visitors' books and memories of visitors have been preserved, that show its extraordinary scope and the dedication of Weinzierl's mother, who took care of the collection). Weinzierl himself gradually became a well-known personality in the circle of the then educated society and was offered the position of curator in Teplice. The Teplice Museum Society bought his collections and Weinzierl replaced the former curator - amateur collector Anton Hermann Fassl. He unfortunately regarded Weinzierl as the usurper of his post for the rest of his life, and the ten years of Weinzierl's tenure in Teplice, otherwise so fruitful scientifically, were tainted by this relationship. Weinzierl's goal of creating a regional museum for the North Bohemian region in Teplice (as a counterbalance to Prague's National Museum), with its focus on archaeological collections, was successful, but the time before the First World War brought stagnation not only to archaeology. Weinzierl was the type of person we would today describe as a workaholic. In addition to his own activities, he held many (and not always paid) positions in the museum society, so he also accepted the temporary position of treasurer. He did this only because there was no one else to do the job and he lacked the necessary skills. After one year the budget showed unclear losses.  Weinzierl felt responsible for this and took his own life in 1909. The museum company subsequently rehabilitated him and exonerated him, because it turned out that the deficit was caused only by faulty bookkeeping. Weinzierl's collections are now managed by the Regional Museum in Teplice, which has revived his forgotten legacy for the public.

Blažek, J.: Počátky archeologie v Lovosicích. URL: http://www.muzeumlovosicka.cz/historie/archeologie/ [22. 1. 2020].

Budinský, P.: Přehled archeologické sbírky regionálního muzea v Teplicích k 31. 8. 2008. URL: https://www.muzeum-teplice.cz/archeologicka-sbirka/ [22. 1. 2020].

Radoň, M.: Robert Karl Rytíř von Weinzierl (1855–-1909) –- archeolog v Lovosicích a Teplicích. Zprávy a studie Regionálního muzea v Teplicích 28, 2010.