March 13

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

March 13, 1741

Birth of Joseph II in Vienna, Austria. The Habsburg, Joseph II was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1765-1790. Until her death in 1780 Joseph ruled attuned to the strong advice of his mother, Maria Theresia. He strengthened the University of Vienna, introduced a universal code of civil law in 1786, ordered the end of serfdom, granted freedom of the press and established religious equality under the law. After the civil war in Poland, in an agreement with Friederich the Great of Prussia and Catherine II of Russia, Poland was divided between the powers.

March 13, 1781

Birth of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Brandenburg, Germany. Schinkel was a painter and architect. He became the state architect of Prussia in 1815. He designed the Altes Museum, the mausoleum for Königin Louise and the Werderschekirche in Berlin. He was also active in city planning in Berlin.

March 13, 1848

Under pressure from the revolution Klemens Fürst von Metternich resigns his position as Austrian state chancellor.

March 13, 1860

Birth of the composer, Hugo Wolf, in Windischgraz, Austria (now in Slovenia). Wolf wrote approximately 300 Lieder incorporating the poetry of such writers as Goethe, Heine, Mörike, Eichendorf, etc. At times during his lifetime he was close to Mahler, Wagner and Brahms.

March 13, 1883

Death of Karl Marx in England.

March 13, 1979

The European currency system takes effect.

March 13, 1990

Death of Bruno Bettelheim in Silver Spring, Md., U.S.A. (born in Vienna, Austria). Bettelheim did pioneering work in the treatment of children with emotional illness, especially autism. He was placed in Nazi concentration camps but was released in 1939, immigrated to the United States and joined the staff at the University of Chicago. In 1943 he examined the psychology of prisoners in concentration camps.