On Leibniz: Expanded Edition

14. Leibniz Visits Vienna (1712–1714)

256  14 Leibniz Visits Vienna (1712–1714) 1. Coming to Vienna Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, had long been a focus of Hanoverian interest in connection with not only the elevation of the dukedom to an electorate in the imperial system, but also the Grand Alliance’s war against France. Then too the “princely conspiracy” had led to the exile of Prince Maximilian Wilhelm from Hanover to the imperial service.1 And, of course, Vienna had great appeal for Leibniz as a center of culture and power. Over many years he had made several visits, and he had assiduously cultivated relationships at the imperial court. And now in projecting yet another visit in 1712—his fifth—Leibniz’s thought focused not only on the promise of an imperial counsellorship but also on the idea of promoting an Imperial Society of Sciences—possibly with himself at its head, seeing that the analogous arrangement that he had been able to realize in Berlin had effectively faded since the death of Queen Sophie Charlotte in 1705.2 Now approaching the age of seventy, a tendency to now-or-never thinking came upon Leibniz. His ties to Hanover were thinning in the wake of repeated absences. No particular personal sympathy bound him to the Elector Georg Ludwig nor to the senior officials of the Hanoverian administration who failed to take him as seriously as he wished. The grass—and the possibilities—looked far brighter on the other side of the fence, and Leibniz turned with increasing eagerness to possibilities elsewhere. One place where he looked was eastwards in the direction of Russia—or at least its ruler, Czar leibniz visits vienna 257 Peter (the Great), to whom Leibniz’s great supporter, Duke Anton Ulrich of Wolffenbüttel had recommended him. Leibniz had presented the Czar with his calculating machine, which impressed him so greatly that he requested another one to use as a present to the Emperor of China or some comparably grand potentate. Leibniz also sent the Czar memoranda on various political and scholarly topics, and had, as usual, urged the founding of a learned academy.3 The result was that when Peter visited Carlsbad the following year Leibniz was invited to meet him there. The result of these contacts was that on 11 November 1712 Leibniz was appointed privy juridical counsellor (Geheimer Justizrat) to Peter, charged at a salary of 1,000 taler per annum with providing counsel and information on matters regarding mathematics and the sciences.4 Heartened by this success, Leibniz did not return to Hanover but now headed south, to Vienna, where he arrived in mid-December of 1712. Already on 27 September of that year, he had indicated to Duke Anton Ulrich his intention of supplementing the trip to Carlsbad with a journey to Vienna. He was set on seizing the opportunities of the moment, and the extent of his determination is shown by the fact that even the epidemic of 1713 (a year that saw 16,000 pestilence-occasioned deaths in the city) could not separate Leibniz from Vienna. 2. Anton Ulrich of Wolffenbüttel Anton Ulrich, Duke of Wolffenbüttel (1633–1714), had long been Leib­ niz’s friend and patron. Keenly interested in various learned and political topics, he had been engaged for many years in building up a library far beyond the requirements of a small German principality. In this and in other matters Leibniz was his counsellor and advisor, and in return Anton Ulrich was Leibniz ’s ever-helpful supporter and patron. One of Anton Ulrich’s granddaughters was just then in the process of marrying Peter the Great’s son, and the Guelph duke took an active interest in supporting Peter’s westernizing plans. He had put Leibniz in touch with Peter and on 39 October 1711 Leibniz had an audience with the Czar at Tor­ gau where he was visiting. Leibniz wrote to his friend, the Electress Sophie, that the Czar had spoken with him several times and always courte- 258 leibniz visits vienna ously, and that he had been invited to dine at the Czar’s table. Prince Ernst August, the youngest of Sophie’s sons, said mockingly that the Czar must have regarded Leibniz as Anton Ulrich’s court jester (le comique),5 but nobles of his generation generally underestimated Leibniz’s ability to impress.6 His profound knowledge of the personalities and events...