Kreutzberger, Hans (15.. – ....)

« Hans Kreuzberger (also Creutzberger; † 1591) was active in Augsburg and later in Vienna. Together with Mang Seutter he worked in the horse medicine school which was founded in Augsburg by Marx Fugger around 1560; both were pupils of Fugger‘s famous horse doctor Veit Foster (also named Dufft or Tufft). In 1562 Kreuzberger published his Gebissbuch’ in Augsburg with the title Warhafftige und eygentliche Contrafactur, und Formen, der Zeümung und Gebiss in Augsburg. Probably at the request of Maximilian II, founder of the well-known ‘Wiener Hofreitschule’, to whom Kreuzberger had dedicated his ‘Gebissbuch’ in 1562, Kreutzberger moved to Vienna around 1570 where he also established his own printing house. The second edition of his Warhafftige und eygentliche Contrafactur was printed in Vienna in 1575, by ‘Hans Kreutzberger, in meiner aignen Druckerey’, 202 ff., 6 double- leaves, and 412 numbered woodcut illustrations (with printed captions); Kreuzberger dedicated this second edition to the son of Maximilian, Rudolph. The third and fourth editions both appeared in Vienna in 1591 with the title Eygentliche wolgerissene Contrafactur und Formen des Gebiss … (Vienna, Nicolaus Pierius, 1591; VD16 K-2378 (203 ff., 412 woodcuts) and 2379 (224 ff.)), the fourth with the addition ‘Jetzt auffs new gebessert’, in which Kreutzberger named himself ‘Rö. Kay. May. &c Hoffsporer’ (Court spurmaker). Like Fugger and Grisone , Kreutzberger is referring to the harsh methods of the school of horse training in his book and he emphasizes the importance of the art of riding in wartime. The equipment of horses used in battle is therefore equally important, especially during the so-called ‘Türkenkriege’ (Turkish wars), which seriously threatened Europe in the 16th century. » Dejager (2014)