Bachofen von Echt, Karl Adolf Ludwig (1830-1922)
by Hadrien Rambach
Baron Bachofen von Echt (1830-1922) was an Austrian brewer – the same profession as Armand Trampitsch and Virgil Brand. Born in Westphalia, he studied Technique and Chemistry in Prague, and started working at his brother’s sugar factory – before meeting the daughter of a brewer, whose company he purchased after his father-in-law’s death in 1865. The brewery was in Nussdorf, and Bachofen von Echt became the mayor of the town in 1872, a position he retained for nearly twenty years – until the suburb was integrated into Vienna.
He formed a large collection of paintings, notably by Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868). He also founded the Ornithology Society. And he was a member of the Numismatic Society: his own coin collection was published in 1903, and part of it was acquired by the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The rest was sold by Leo Hamburger (auction 46 – November 1910) and Brüder Egger (auction 39 – January 1912). He bought in all the main auctions – such as Ponton d’Amécourt and Montagu, but also from the “strikingly well preserved latest Egyptian finds” (Karnak hoard).
Bibliography:
- Otto Voetter, Sammlung Bachofen von Echt. Römische Münzen und Medaillons. Katalog, Vienna 1903; Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. I, Vienna 1957, pp. 41-42.
- Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 91: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part I, Zurich, 23 May 2016, [pp. 67-79].
- Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 99: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part II, Zurich, 29 May 2017, [pp. 47-63].
- Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance glossary”, in Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 105: the George W. La Borde collection of Roman aurei – part III, Zurich, 9 May 2018, [pp. 82-105].
This article was first published in a catalogue of auction house Numismatica Ars Classica.
