Christoph Froschauer
Christoph Froschauer (* around 1490 probably in Kastl near Altötting ; † April 1, 1564 in Zurich ) was a German (Bavarian) printer and publisher . He was the first printer of the Reformation in Zurich and in particular printed the “ Zurich Bible ”, which was translated under the direction of Zwingli .
Life
Froschauer probably learned the typesetting and printing trade from his uncle Hans Froschauer in Augsburg . He came to Zurich around 1515 and first worked as an employee at Hans Rüegger, where he set up a printing company. After Rüegger's death, Froschauer married his widow in 1517, took over the printing company and was granted citizenship of the city in 1519.
As a result, he received print jobs from the city-state of Zurich . He printed works by Erasmus von Rotterdam , Luther, and especially Zwingli , translated into German . Zwingli used the new medium very skillfully and had sermons and other programmatic writings printed by Froschauer in a short time. Froschauer thus became an important supporter of the Reformation in Zurich.
During Lent 1522, the " sausage eating " took place in Froschauer's house in the presence of Zwingli , a planned provocation for which he had to defend himself before the city council.
Froschauer was first married to Elise Rüegger-Zimmermann († 1550), after her death to Dorothea Locher; both marriages remained childless. Froschauer died of the plague in 1564 . The printing company was continued by his nephew Christoph Froschauer the Younger and after his death in 1585 changed hands several times over the centuries.
Works
Between 1520 and 1564, Froschauer's print shop printed almost a million copies of over 700 titles, including richly furnished Bibles such as Luther's New Testament in 1524 , Old Testament in 1525 , and the “ Zurich Bible ” with around 100 illustrations based on models by Hans Holbein the Elder in 1530 . J. One of the highlights from Froschauer's printing works is the magnificently illustrated “Swiss Chronicle” (1547/48) by Johannes Stumpf . Most of these illustrations (400 woodcuts) were created by Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder . Froschauer also gained importance as a publisher of cartographic works: the Bible of 1525 already had a map of the Holy Land. In 1546 he reprinted Johannes Honterus ' cosmography from 1541, and the maps in the Stumpf Chronik also appeared separately as "land tables".
Froschauer not only printed, but also cut his own typefaces , set up a type foundry , took on bookbinding work and the distribution of the works in his own bookstore. With the lease of the municipal paper mill on the Papierwerd in the Limmat , he produced his own paper.
various
Most of his printer's stamps show a tree with climbing frogs, a picture puzzle that can be read in two ways, in that the tree represents a willow that stands on a meadow (homonym to willow), thus a frog willow on a frog meadow.
The building complex on today's Froschaugasse (house number 4 was the medieval synagogue ) was named "Zur Froschau" after the abolition of the St. Verena convent and the sale of the building to Christoph Froschauer in 1551.
Today's Orell Füssli (publisher, bookstore, card and banknote printing) traces its beginnings back to Froschauer's print shop.
Reception in the film
- Zwingli's legacy . Feature film, 2018, 55 min., Production: Eutychus Production, director: Alex Fröhlich
literature
- Helmut Meyer: Froschauer, Christoph. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Paul Leemann-van Elck : Froschauer, Christoph the elder. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 664 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Ernst Kelchner : Froschauer, Christoph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, p. 148 f.
- Christoph Reske: The book printers of the 16th and 17th centuries in the German-speaking area, based on the work of the same name by Josef Benzing . Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2007, pp. 1039-1040.
- Manfred Vischer: Bibliography of the Zurich publications of the 15th and 16th centuries . Koerner, Baden-Baden 1991 ( Bibliotheca bibliographica Aureliana , 124), ISBN 3-87320-124-0 .
- Paul Leemann van Elck: The Froschauer Offizin: Zurich's famous printing house in the 16th century. A contribution to the history of printing on the occasion of the half-millennium celebration of its invention . Bureau of the Antiquarian Society in the Swiss National Museum (ed.), Zurich 1940.
- Paul Leemann van Elck: The decorative initials in the prints of the Froschauer-Zürich office . Special print from: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 1938, pp. 143–158. Zurich 1938.
- Edmund Camillo Rudolphi: The Froschauer family of printers in Zurich 1521–1595. With a list of the printed works that have emerged from their office . Zurich 1869.
- Joachim Staedtke: Christoph Froschauer: the founder of the Zurich book industry . OF, Zurich 1964 DNB 1045420271 .
- Paul Heitz: The Zurich book brands up to the beginning of the 17th century. Zurich 1895
- Urs B. Leu: Reformation as an order, the Zurich printer Christoph Froschauer d. Ä. (ca.1490-1564) ; in: Printing and Reformation in Switzerland , ed. by Urs B. Leu and Christian Scheidegger; Theological Publishing House, Zurich 2018; IX, 445 pp., Ill. ( Zwingliana ; 45), ISBN 978-3-290-18218-2 , pp. 1-80
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Matthias Reuter: Sausage eating. In: Zwingli-Lexikon from A to Z. Zurich Evangelical Reformed Church, August 24, 2016, accessed on January 7, 2019 .
- ^ With Manfred Vischer: Bibliography of the Zurich publications of the 15th and 16th centuries (= Bibliotheca bibliographica Aureliana , 124). Koerner, Baden-Baden 1991, ISBN 3-87320-124-0 : pp. 32-242, 712 prints are listed
- ^ Frank Muller: Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder (1490–1556) aspects of his life and work. Special print from the yearbook of the Histor. Association Dillingen ad Donau, XCII. Year 1990, pages 204–205.
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^ Paul Heitz: The Zurich book brands up to the beginning of the 17th century. Zurich 1895.
Manfred Vischer: Bibliography of the Zurich publications of the 15th and 16th centuries (= Bibliotheca bibliographica Aureliana , 124). Valentin Koerner Verlag, Baden-Baden 1991, illustrations pp. 542–549. - ↑ On the trail of the medieval synagogue in Zurich. Archaeological research in the house at Froschaugasse 4. (No longer available online.) Media release by the City of Zurich, August 8, 2002, archived from the original on December 23, 2015 ; accessed on January 7, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Froschauer, Christoph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss book printer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1490 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kastl near Altötting |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1, 1564 |
| Place of death | Zurich |