Hencke was born in Driesen,
Brandenburg (later
Drezdenko, Poland). He volunteered in the
Wars of Liberation (
Befreiungskriege) for
Prussia and was wounded at
Lützen. Thereafter he served as post official at various places and finally was elected post master. After his retirement at age 45 for health reasons he lived in his city of birth where he served as city court judge. Two years later he discovered his second asteroid
6 Hebe. He also worked on the improvement of star maps. He died at the age of 73 in the Prussian town of
Marienwerder. The asteroid
2005 Hencke – a main-belt asteroid of the
Eunomia family, discovered by Swiss astronomer
Paul Wild in 1973, was named in his memory (). == References ==