A Travel Journal of Baron Heinrich Ludwig von Stieglitz: 11 June 1786 - 26 July 1792

“I had from my earliest days a great desire for travelling, which I was enabled to put into execution when 24 years of age. I set off from Leipzig in Saxony on Sunday night at 12 o’clock June 11th in the year 1786, as the weather was very fine and moonlit.”During the 18-th Century, it was customary for young European men of privilege and rank to undertake journeys to other countries to enhance their education, knowledge and appreciation of the history, culture and arts of the realms they visited.This book incorporates two Travel Journals (Diaries) that recorded the journeys undertaken by Baron Heinrich Ludwig von Stieglitz during the years 1786 to 1792 when, as a young man aged 24, he set off initially on a Grand Tour of Central and Western Europe, and then later to England and Scotland.Heinrich's Diaries record with great detail many of the landmarks he visited, as well as public buildings, monuments, cathedrals, palaces, museums, art galleries, private estates, homes and gardens of significance. Many of these places and the arts and treasures they housed have since been lost, destroyed or have disappeared. Fortunately, quite a number are still standing and it is of great interest to compare changes that have occurred over the past 240 years.For Heinrich, an important objective of his travels was to visit the various metal mines in Central Europe and to identify improved technologies and processes that could be applied to his uncle Christoph Richter’s cobalt mining operations in Schneeberg, Saxony. Heinrich’s travel expenses were shared by his uncle and his mother (Christiana von Stieglitz nee Richter).Most of his travel was by horseback, carriage or boat. Travel was difficult due to the reliance on the prevailing weather, the state of the roads and the availability of public transport. As a consequence travel was much slower. In the first part of the journey he was conveyed by his Footman John Kruger and later his was sometimes accompanied by consociates.Heinrich’s travels in England and Scotland occurred at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and so he experienced the transformation of the economic and social fabrics of society, which led to a shift in emphasis from the quest of knowledge and culture to the pursuit of wealth and industry.In the early 1800’s, Heinrich wrote a Narration (& Supplement) of his travels which also provides some additional history about his family. Contained in Journal III, this Narration is reproduced as a separate document in the Preface and should be read before starting the book.The Narration underscores the von Stieglitz Ancestry providing a lineal representative of Bartholomäus Stieglitz (1542-1619), intriguing links to the von Stieglitz family of Tasmania and Victoria, and, Heinrich’s emigration to Ireland with his family around the turn of the 18th century.Where practical various Indexes have been incorporated, including details of Inns that were visited. Most place names have been left as originally spelled with today’s common names added to provide clarity.The Chapters in the Book have been created to facilitate some compartmentalisation of the travels made by Heinrich. The travels has been charted (with deference to the borders that existed at the time), with a Master Map in the Preface and an abstracted map accompanying each chapter.To enrich the travels, illustrations have been commissioned for each episode. They identify a key landmark of the journey, again reflecting how it may have appeared at the time of his sojourn. An explanation of each illustration is provided at the end of the book. Read more