German master gunsmith and hunting arms manufacturer (1689–1742)
Johann PeterBoßler [ˈbɔslɐ] also written Bossler and Bosler (born between 6 and 9 April 1689 in the liberty of castle
Lichtenberg; died 31 July 1742 in
Darmstadt)[1] was a German master
gunsmith and hunting arms
manufacturer. He was in the service of the
House of Hesse-Darmstadt and is considered an outstanding figure in the history of hunting in
Hesse-Darmstadt.[2]
Even before his son
Friedrich Jacob, Johann Peter Boßler had been the most famous
European specialist for
air rifles. Even while he was still alive, his elegant and engineeringly outstanding air guns were imitated by other gunsmiths.[3][4]
It is also known that Johann Peter Boßler made hybrid air-powder
rifles that could be used with
explosive material and with air rifle mechanisms.[5]
Family and early life
Johann Peter Boßler is said to have learned the gunsmith's trade in
Zella in
Thuringia. He is also said to have been born there, which can be read in much of the older literature.[6][7] A documentary source on Boßler's place of birth and training is not to be found in any of these books.[8]
When Johann Peter Boßler took over the godparenthood of a son of the master gunsmith Andreas Boßler the Elder (1673 – 1741) in Umstadt in 1719, he was named as the brother of the child's father.[9] The origin of Johann Peter Boßler is therefore beyond doubt, since his brother Andreas Boßler the Elder clearly came from Lichtenberg and Johann Peter Boßler was confirmed there in 1701.[10][11]
The ancestry of Boßler was thoroughly investigated by a relative. In the process, a Boßler gunsmith family from Lichtenberg (
Fischbachtal) has been reconstructed, which held the
court office of the
Burgrave of Lichtenberg and from which Johann Peter Boßler also descended. Thus the court gunsmith belongs to the Lichtenberg tribe of the hessian
Boßler family.[12][13]
The historical shotgun on display in the Dresden Armoury is masterfully crafted from both a technical and aesthetic point of view. Especially the impressive technical construction shows that Johann Peter Boßler was ahead of his time in terms of
engineering. On the
gun barrel of the shotgun, surrounded by six
heraldicfleurs-de-lis, is a
red deer, Boßler's master mark. Next to it is the signature BOS/LER crowned with the crown of the
Hessian landgraves.[18]
Not only Johann Peter Boßler explicitly used the signature Bosler a Darmstadt, but also his son Friedrich Jacob Boßler used it to sign his windchests.[19]
Another wind rifle in the Dresden Armoury, erroneously attributed to Johann Peter Boßler in the older literature, was correctly made by his son Friedrich Jacob Boßler. The air rifle shows that the signature Bosler a Darmstadt was not used exclusively by Johann Peter but also by his son.[20]
^Boßler, Marcel Christian (2023). "Die hessischen Büchsenmacher Boßler Teil II – Drei Brüder, ein feurig-pulvriges Kunsthandwerk und die europäisch funkende Vetternschaft von Heinrich Philipp Boßler mit Friedrich Maximilian Klinger". Archiv für hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (in German). Neue Folge Band 81: 72–73.
ISSN0066-636X.
^Boßler, Marcel Christian (2023). "Die hessischen Büchsenmacher Boßler Teil II – Drei Brüder, ein feurig-pulvriges Kunsthandwerk und die europäisch funkende Vetternschaft von Heinrich Philipp Boßler mit Friedrich Maximilian Klinger". Archiv für hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (in German). Neue Folge Band 81: 48–49, 58.
ISSN0066-636X.
^Boßler, Marcel (2020). "Der berühmte Sturm-und-Drang-Dichter Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger aus Frankfurt mit geklärten Odenwälder Wurzeln". Hessische Genealogie. 3 (2): 28–29.
ISSN2626-0220 – via Hessische familiengeschichtliche Vereinigung.
^Schneider, Hans (1985). Der Musikverleger Heinrich Philipp Bossler 1744–1812. Mit bibliographischen Übersichten und einem Anhang Mariane Kirchgeßner und Boßler (in German). Tutzing. p. 15.
ISBN3-7952-0500-X.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)