For several generations it was a tradition in the Von Himsel family of Riga to choose medicine as their field of study. The Riga City Doctor (“Stadtphysikus) Joachim Gebhard von Himsel (1701 – 1751) received a medical doctor’s diploma from Utrecht University; his son Nikolaus von Himsel (1729 – 1764) also started medical studies in 1747 and travelled to the University of Königsberg. Four years later, in 1751, he finished his studies at Göttingen, where he also earned a medical doctor’s degree under the guidance of the prominent scientist and man of letters Albrecht von Haller.
Not long after returning to Riga in 1752, the young doctor embarked on his longest and most influential tour of Europe, which significantly extended beyond its initial period until 1757. He visited the Netherlands several times and also stayed here for longer periods. Everywhere he was seeking academic contacts and meeting scientists, nature researchers, doctors and collectors, and visiting universities, museums, libraries, botanical gardens, picture galleries, naturalists’ cabinets and laboratories. As an avid collector of varying items, he wanted to become familiar with the most famous university and private collections of the time.
What Von Himsel experienced and saw is recorded in detail in a three volume manuscript in German which the author has structured as a travel diary. The lines of the poem “On traveling” (über das Reisen), which Von Himsel chose as an epigraph for his notes, reveal a man who found true fulfilment and joy in gaining new impressions: “Oh Anmut voller Lust, oh höchst beglücktes Leben, so man auf Reisen sucht, so man in Reisen findet: bald fremde Städte Bau, und ihre Schönheit sehen, bald auf der weitern Spur, von ihren immer gehen […]. The still-unpublished handwritten volume is now kept in the Academic Library of Latvia.[1] According to the science historian and Academy of Science of the Latvia member Jānis Stradiņš, “Von Himsel has reflected educated Europe in the mid-18th century through the perspective of an educated Riga man […] One has to wonder at how broadminded, multifaceted and energetic the young Riga medic and natural scientist was with the range of his interests, although he has not personally left any important scientific works. […] However, the most important achievement for history turned out to be the collection of many scientific and artistic relicts during the journey.”[2]
Von Himsel donated his collection of scientific and artistic relicts to the city of Riga. After his early death (1764), the gift formed the basis for the establishment of the Riga City Museum and in 1773, the first museum in Riga and indeed in the entire Baltic was founded – today’s Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation. For their part, his books ended up along with his travel manuscript in the former Riga City Library, now the Academic Library of Latvia.
Von Himsel arrived in Amsterdam 11th June, 1752, and travelled both by ship and overland, visiting Zaandam, Haarlem, Leyden, The Hague, Gouda, Delft, Utrecht, and also smaller towns. His impressions of the Netherlands are described in detail in the first and third volumes of his travelogue. Alongside observant descriptions of cities and elaborations on botanical gardens and canals, his notes also include wide-ranging dissertations on naturalists’ cabinets and collections.
Selected fragments of the notes tell of his experience in Amsterdam and Leyden. For several months (in 1752) he lived in Leyden to immerse himself in the prominent university there and its academic environment. Several years later (1756) he returned to meet old friends and look at the collection’s new acquisitions. Of note are the descriptions of the collections of Leyden University’s professors, who were among the most important scientists in Europe at that time. Nikolaus was especially attracted by physics and optical instruments and hydraulic devices. He observed physical experiments with electricity, as always took an interest in medical matters by watching smallpox vaccinations, and examined irrigation improvements on canals designed to improve sanitary conditions.
The notes of Riga citizen Nikolaus von Himsel in the Academic Library of Latvia are a rich and untapped source for the cultural and scientific history of mid-18th century Europe.
Extracts from Von Himsel’s diary
On 3rd June, 1752, I travelled by stage-coach from Hanover. I passed through Osnabrück and Deventer, from where I took a boat via Kampen across the Zuyder Zee to Amsterdam, where I arrived on 11th June. Due to adverse winds, I spent three days on the water, which normally can be crossed in 24 hours.
Amsterdam
One of the largest cities, where its known houses, not including shops, number around 33,000, and whose inhabitants number at least 400,000, including 20,000 Jews. Most streets in Amsterdam are rather narrow, and in front of the houses is a corridor several yards wide. You can move in these streets as comfortably as in a small room. The outward decorations of the houses is not very special, but all the more ornaments and splendour can be seen inside the houses.
It is a well-known fact that the Dutch love cleanliness, but sometimes they overdo it. I was amazed to see how two girls in aprons spent more than an hour cleaning the pavement in front of the entrance door. It was the evening before Sunday, which is why the girls were so diligent and keen on cleanliness and order.
Leyden
Here I stayed for several months, giving me opportunity to enhance my knowledge of herbs and natural sciences. The contacts with several professors of this famous academy were of great advantage to me.
They have outstanding men in all departments. The medical department consists of five persons, of whom four (Gaubius[3], van Royen[4], de Winter, and Albinus[5] the Younger) are students of the great Boerhaave[6]. The Academy has greatly decreased in significance after the death of Boerhaave and the famous Vitriarius[7]. Whereas previously the lectures of Boerhaave attracted more than 100 listeners, less than half that number of listeners, most of them Dutch, attend the classes of equally famous lecturers today, while these classes used to be gathering places for foreigners from nations far and wide. Yet the decline of the University of Leyden is not caused by the University of Göttingen, notwithstanding Göttingen’s medical department and the reputation of the great Haller[8], who attracts many foreign students.
The Institute of Anatomy is a small building, containing many bodies prepared by Ruysch[9], among which are many treasures. Skeletons of several animals can be found here, including one of a whale. The Botanical Garden is quite big and well-maintained under the supervision of Mr Van Royen. In a special room, several strange animals and other rarities can be found.
The library is quite small, and apart from many manuscripts no special works can be found here. The books are almost all in old bindings and badly ordered, while the library is unpretentious. The supervisor Dr Gronovius[10] assured me that Count Bentinck[11], the Director of the Library, would soon make the necessary arrangements to enrich and decorate the library.
For the rest, Leyden is a rather dull place where hardly anything ever happens. The academy is what keeps the place and most of its inhabitants alive. The alleys and streets for pedestrians in the city, called “singels” (streets alongside canals) are very pleasant, and so are the surroundings of the city, where many excellent gardens can be seen.
Cabinets in Leyden
In Leyden, several beautiful cabinets can be found, among which especially the cabinet of Jan Frederik Gronovius and his son Jacob are worth seeing with their excellent collections. The collection of indigenous fish of Gronovius junior, on which he started in 1744, is very interesting. The fish are dried and kept in something like a herbarium.
The collection of Prof. Musschenbroek[12] of various physical instruments is worth seeing, as a more complete collection would be difficult to find. With unending diligence this great and eminent physicist has contributed greatly to physical science, and has earned new fame with his electrical experiments. He is held all the more in esteem by many because he lacks the pride and arrogance so common to most scientists.
Prof. Allamand[13], lecturer of natural science at this University, possesses a large collection of useful and curious instruments, which he partly brought from England, and partly had custom-made. The professor showed me several interesting scientific instruments:
- The “fire knife” invented by Willem’s-Gravesande, with which temperature grades can be determined with great accuracy.
- Special steel magnets by which experiments can be executed by means of a magnetic ray and not by the magnet itself. The professor also changed the magnet poles in my presence, which is an important discovery of great interest to any natural scientist.
- Several kinds of microscopes.
- A complete “frog-machine” made of brass, calibrated according to J. N. Lieberkühn[14], but better still.
- Various mechanical, hydraulic and hydrostatic instruments.
- Excellent English prisms. The professor gave a demonstration of experiments based on ‘s-Gravesande’s research, making a combined light ray out of several coloured light rays, which I found greatly amusing.
- A collection of thermometers, among which the best Fahrenheit-thermometer made by Printz in Amsterdam, and a Réaumur-thermometer from Paris.
- An electrical maschine with an iron wire of almost 1 inch diameter, relaying electricity.
Professor Allamand started some years ago with a collection of objects of interest to the natural sciences for the University. Twice a week he gives a public lecture about various aspects of the natural sciences, for example about mineralogy or the animal kingdom, which inspire many young interested people to pursue a study in the natural sciences.
Smallpox prevention in The Hague
In The Hague, I made the acquaintance of the brothers Schwenke[15], the elder of which is specialized in anatomy and surgery, the younger in botanical science. The elder has introduced inoculations against children’s smallpox in this place, thanks to the support of the most eminent persons of the city, with fortunate results. With his new method, he causes a soft outbreak of a benign form of smallpox by inoculating people with a special cocktail of vaccines, which moreover produce just few pockmarks in the face.
Hydraulic machine invented by Geunete
Here I must mention the hydraulic machine of Mr Geunete[16], who is presently staying in The Hague. Geunete is an outstanding mechanic, who has a thorough understanding of hydraulics and hydrostatics. He has worked for many years on this machine, which is designed to pump the Lake of Haarlem (Haarlemmermeer) dry. Although many expenses have already been made and Mr Geunete has demonstrated the working of this machine, the work has not yet been realized. Yet he has continued to improve the machine with new applications, for example to move stagnant water in the canals. The stagnant water in the canal can be very noxious, especially in summer, as the foul vapours, made worse by the heat, cause unbearable smells, infect the air, and cause many diseases. As there is not enough wind to make water move, Mr Geunete has come up with the idea of installing hydraulic machines at the places in cities where the canals are connected with lakes, the sea or large shipping canals, pumping water from the lakes or large canals into the smaller canals in the cities. The water is thus moved through the canals, making the waters in the canals flow evenly from one hydraulic pump installed at one end of the city to one at the other end.
The obvious benefits of this useful invention raise Mr Geunete’s hopes that this plan will be realised. A cleaner air as a result of flowing water and a better and healthier living environment should be sufficient reasons to execute this plan. It would also be pleasant for the inhabitants of the cities to watch the clean water under their widows flow by and enjoy the fresh air, so that they can open their windows safely without bad vapours coming in. I was amazed to find that the canals in this place, after all a seat of government, are not kept in better order and cleaned. I even often saw medical doctors, who should know better how to take precautions, dirty, covered with a thick layer of filthy mud.
First published in Beyond Traditional Borders. Eight Centuries of Latvian-Dutch relations, Apgāds Zelta Grauds, Riga, 2016. Made available here with a kind permition of the author, Dr Aija Taimiņa
Photo: Didzis Grodzs
[1] Himsel, N. von, (1729 Riga – 1764 Riga). Nicl:v.Himsel, der Atzney Gelahrheit Doctors, Hinterlaßener, eigenhändigen Nachrichten. I.Theil von seinen, nach einen, von Ao. 1747 bis 1754 gemächten Accademischen Auffenthalt, und nach seiner hierauf erfolgten Zurückkunfft, aufs neue untergenommenen Reisen durch Churland, Preußen, Teutschland, Holland, die Niederlande, Frankreich un Italien. Von Ao.1752. Mart bis May Ao. 1754., p.618. II.Theil von seinen fernerwit angestellen Reisen, durch Italien, Schweitz, Teutschland, Elsaß, Lottringen, und Niederlande, nach Eingelland. Von Ao. 1754 May bis April Ao. 1755. p. 539, Abb. III. Theil von seinen angestellen, und durch Engelland, Holland, Teutschland, Dännemarck, Schweden, Rußland, und zurück nach Liefland unter-nommenen Reißen von Ao. 1750 April bis MartiiAo. 1757, p. 504. Latvian Academical Library, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Ms. 188, I-III.
[2] Stradiņš, J., Cēbere, Dz. Zinātnes un augstskolu aizsākumi Rīgā (līdz 19. gs. pirmajai pusei). // Senā Rīga: pētījumi pilsētas arheoloģijā un vēsturē. Vol.3. Rīga: Latvijas vēstures institūta apgāds, 2001, p. 382.
[3] Gaubius, Hieronymus David (1705? – 1780), an internationally renowned professor in Medicine and Chemistry in Leyden.
[4] Royen, D. van (1727 – 1799), professor of botany at Leyden and director of its botanical garden.
[5] Albinus, B. S. (1697 – 1770), German anatomist, professor in Leyden.
[6] Boerhaave, H. (1668 – 1738), Dutch physician, anatomist, botanist, chemist and humanist, one of the most influential clinicians and teachers of the 18th century, who was the first in Europe to emphasise the importance of the natural sciences for the study of medicine.
[7] Vitriarius, J. J. (? – 1745), professor of law in Leyden. Rector magnificus of the University of Leyden from 1737 onwards.
[8] Haller, A. von (1708 – 1777), Swiss anatomist and physiologist, professor in Leyden.
[9] Ruyisch, F. (1638 – 1731), a leading anatomist who also pioneered forensic medicine. Like Swammerdam, he developed technique for preserving dead bodies. Ruysichs preparations were the talk of the age and particularly intrigued Peter the Great of Russia, who bought Ruyisch’s collection (some of his preparations still exist). He also made a number of macabre arrangements of skeletons and various bits and pieces, some of which were drawn.
[10] Gronovius, J. F. (1690 – 1762), senator of Leyden, a wealthy physician with a passion for botany.
[11] Bentinck, W. (1704 – 1774), Count of Rhoon and Pendrecht.
[12] Musschenbroek, P. van (1692 – 1761), professor of physics and mathematics at the university of Leyden, independently created the electric condenser, named the “Leyden Jar” by Abbe Nollet.
[13] Allamand, Frédéric-Louis (1736 – after 1803), Swiss botanist. Born in Payerne, Switzerland, he moved to Leyden, the Netherlands in 1749 to live with his uncle, Jean-Nicolas-Sébastien Allamand (1731 – 1791). He started to study literature at the university of Leyden, however later changed to study medicine. He was a correspondent of Carolus Linnaeus, and described several plant genera himself. The genus Allamanda is named in his honor.
[14] Lieberkühn, Johann Nathanael (1711 – 1756), German anatomist. In 1739 obtained his medical doctorate at the University of Leyden. In 1738 invented a microscope to be used in illuminating opaque objects. It was based on the principle of Fahrenheits solar microscope.
[15] Schwenke (Schwencke), Thomas (? – ?), german Dr. med. in Leyden.
[16] Geuneté or Genneté or Gluneté (? – ?), physicist and mechanic in Leyden and The Hague.