Friedrich August von Alberti was a German geologist and mining engineer. Alberti was considered one of the foremost saltmining engineers, but like other German mining officials of his era, he was not only a good manager with technical capabilities but also a scientist of significant achievement.
Background
Friedrich August von Alberti was born on September 4, 1795, in Stuttgart, Germany. Alberti’s father, Karl Franz, was a colonel in Württemberg and a teacher at the well-known Karlsschule in Stuttgart; a member of the middle class, he was ennobled in 1807. His mother, Christiane Friederike, also came from the middle class; she had family connections with the princely court and was the aunt of the novelist and short-story writer Wilhelm Hauff.
Education
Alberti he was educated at the Gymnasium in Rottweil and went to the military school in Stuttgart. In 1809 Alberti entered the Bergkadettenkorps in Stuttgart, in which he received instruction in general scientific subjects as well as special training in mineralogy, geology, and mining.
Career
In 1815 Friedrich went to the saltworks at Sulz. In 1818 he supervised drilling experiments near Jagstfeld, and in 1820 he was appointed inspector of the saltworks at Friedrichshall. The first proof of his abilities came in 1823, when he drilled a rock salt deposit near Schwenningen and established the saltworks at Wilhelmshall; he became manager in 1828. In his book Über die Gebürge des Königreiches Württemberg, in besonderer Beziehung auf Halurgie (1825) he also demonstrated his scientific abilities.
In 1823, based on his perception of the area's geology, he had an idea to drill for salt in Rottenmünster. Eight months later the team had success and found salt, in a location where no one would have considered the possibility of finding salt. He also made excavations in the Roman ruins of Rottweil, the ancient Arae Flaviae. Alberti bought a house and lived in Rottenmünster, a former abbey 2 miles from Rottweil, from 1829 to 1853. While there he worked as manager for two salt companies.
Alberti was appointed mining counselor in 1836. From 1852 to 1870 he was again manager of the saltworks at Friedrichshall. There, under his direction, between 1854 and 1859 the Friedrichshall shaft was bored, and the center of Württemberg’s salt production was shifted from Wilhelmshall to Friedrichshall. His most important technical improvement was the introduction of steam heating into salt processing.
After he retired he moved to Heilbronn. After Alberti died his family stayed in Rottweil, where also a street bears his name. Today many of his descendants still live in the town.