View source for Wolfgang Franz von Kobell

{{Short description|German mineralogist and writer}}
{{expand German|topic=bio|Franz von Kobell|date=January 2014}}
[[File:Franz von Kobell.jpg|right|thumb|Franz von Kobell (1857)]]
'''Wolfgang Xavier Franz Ritter von Kobell''' (19 July 1803{{snd}}11 November 1882) was a German [[mineralogist]] and writer of short stories and poems in [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]] dialect.<ref>''[[Ritter]]'' is a title corresponding to a [[knighthood]] (sometimes mistranslated as "Baron"), not a first or middle name.</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Frauenkirche 06.jpg|thumb|Early  silver chloride paper photograph of Munich Frauenkirche, 1837]]

Kobell was born in [[Munich]], 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]],<ref>[http://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/libdetail.asp?id=777 KOBELL, Franz Wolfgang Ritter von. (1803–1882)] Tafeln zur Bestimmung der Mineralien – The Mineralogical Record</ref> 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]]s.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YG0NAAAAYAAJ&dq=stauroscope+Kobell&pg=PA394 Manual of petrographic methods] by Albert Johannsen</ref> The mineral [[kobellite]] is named after him,<ref>[http://www.mindat.org/min-2233.html Kobellite] Mindat.org</ref> and he invented a comparative [[fusibility]] 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]], who is visited by the [[grim reaper]] 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]] legend. The play was adapted 1974 for the stage by a grand nephew of Kobell, Kurt Wilhelm.<ref>[https://www.muenchner-volkstheater.de/ensemble/autoren/franz-von-kobell-kurt-wilhelm Franz von Kobell / Kurt Wilhelm] Münchner Volkstheater</ref> There are different television and movie adaptations. Each year before [[All Saint's Day]] it is being sent by the [[Bayerischer Rundfunk]] (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]] and was member of different academies. He pioneered as well early photographic and [[photochemistry]] procedures together with [[Carl August von Steinheil]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GDSRJQ3BZ5EC&dq=%22Carl+August+von+Steinheil%22+Kobell&pg=PA14 A Concise History of Photography] by Helmut Gernsheim</ref>
[[Image:Franz von Kobell-Denkmal.JPG|thumb|right|180 px|Monument for Franz von Kobell in the [[Alter Südfriedhof]], Munich]]

==Works==

===Scientific===
*''Charakteristik der Mineralien'' (2 vols. 1830–1831)
*''Tafeln zur Bestimmung der Mineralien'' (1833, and later editions; 12th ed. by [[Konrad Oebbeke]], 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) [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-30855 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)

==See also==
* [[List of mineralogists]]

==Notes==
{{More citations needed|date=November 2008}}
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Kobell, Wolfgang Xaver Franz, Baron von|volume=15|page=884}}
'''Attribution:'''
* {{NIE|wstitle=Kobell, Franz von|year=1905}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|Franz von Kobell}}
* Luise von Kobell, ''Franz von Kobell'' (Munich, 1884).
*{{cite journal | title=Das Portrait: Franz Ritter von Kobell (1803–1882) | doi =10.1002/ciuz.19780120504 | journal=Chemie in unserer Zeit | author=O. Krätz | pages=153–160 | volume=12 | issue=5 | date=October 1978 | publisher=Wiley }} {{Subscription required}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobell, Wolfgang Franz Von}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1882 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Munich]]
[[Category:Writers from Munich]]
[[Category:Scientists from the Kingdom of Bavaria]]
[[Category:German knights]]
[[Category:German mineralogists]]
[[Category:19th-century German inventors]]
[[Category:German scientific instrument makers]]
[[Category:19th-century German scientists]]
[[Category:German male poets]]
[[Category:19th-century German poets]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof]]