Johann Friedrich Camerer

Johann Friedrich Camerer (* 1720 in Oettingen , in the Donau-Ries district , † November 6, 1792 in Hadersleben ) was a German playwright , lawyer , court officer, folklorist and an archaeological pioneer of the 18th century. He attended museums, devoted himself to literature, and wrote tragedies , speeches, and self-critical books and treatises. He is probably the author of the work Der Fall Struensee .

Life

Camerer was born in Oettingen (Swabia) in 1720, studied in Göttingen and was an honorary member of the Göttingen German Society and "public court master" at the Collegium Carolini . Through his work at the Collegium Carolini he was friends with Johann Arnold Ebert and Karl Christian Gärtner , who belonged to Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's circle of friends and introduced him to Klopstock. Later he was a war assessor , correspondent for the Royal British Society of Sciences in Göttingen, Flensburg and Leipzig. In 1751 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1752 he became an auditor and court officer in the Royal Danish Leibregiment Dragoons under Conrad Wilhelm Graf von Ahlefeldt and in 1761 a war councilor in Hadersleben. It died on November 6, 1792 in Hadersleben.

Working as an archaeologist

Camerer's drawing of finds from the island of Sylt and near Schuby

made for Professor Seidler from Braunschweig

He was particularly interested in the west coast and the island of Sylt with its large megalithic tombs . Over time, he met academics in the field with whom he shared his interests. In Tønder he met the doctor Christian Fabricius , who was collecting archaeological objects. Camerer accompanied him on his excavations and together with him investigated the location of the gold horns of Gallehus . In 1752 they visited the island of Sylt, which at that time was littered with barrows from the Bronze Age , and secured various finds from robbery and destruction. After he returned to Tondern, he received an excavation permit from the local bailiff Ulrich Adolph Graf von Holstein and examined the burial mounds and barrows near Årøsund, Arrild , Schuby and along the Ochsenweg and later also the barrows near Ostenfeld , Husum and on Sylt.

Encouraged by his excavations, he took the view to protect the graves, as in many places barrows and burial mounds were endangered by grave robbers. They looted the old graves and either destroyed the objects they found, melted them down, or illegally transported them abroad by sea. In Holstein there was also another problem: the ever more intensive use of agriculture. Graves such as the grave mounds near Chemnitz and the grave field of Langeln were destroyed or plowed over by greedy landowners. One of these was Georg Christian Otte (1702–1778), 1st Mayor of Schleswig and head of Otteschen companies in Schleswig. He owned a large area of ​​land near Selk , on which he intended to build a large estate , and ruthlessly had the barrows that stood in his way for the construction of the estate removed. Camerer wanted to prevent such behavior so that posterity would not lose all historical memories.

In the period from 1754 to 1755 he developed an archaeological research project in which he proposed that all planned excavations should be regulated by law. His plan was to first determine in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from east to west where there are still antiquities. This procedure was later to be carried over to the entire Holy Roman Empire . He also tried to find a sponsor to support his pioneering archaeological work. But unfortunately nobody was found who was enthusiastic about this idea.

In 1756 Professor Seidler from Braunschweig asked him to publish his drawings of objects that he made during the excavations with Christian Fabricius. These drawings were so precisely and carefully executed that they are still used today in standard archaeological works.

Camerer occupied himself with antiquity well into old age. So he published writings on it in the late 1780s. He also noted that illegal and improper excavations were still going on, although there was the Danefæ law, which stipulated that all metal finds, especially gold and silver, must be handed over to the king or the state. The graves and archaeological sites were destroyed and the finds are still being shipped abroad via Holland . Sometimes found objects were simply thrown away or taken home and carelessly put in the corner because they were of no value to the finder. Camerer therefore suggested that the Royal Art Chamber in Copenhagen should buy up these and other collections in order to secure them for posterity. At the same time, the Kunstkammer was to be expanded with its own museum for antiquities. But it was not until 1807 that the construction of the Danish National Museum began, the old Kunstkammer dissolved in 1821 and the collection reorganized.

Working as a local researcher

Despite his military training, he was considered a subtle, highly educated and sensitive person who was stationed in the Schleswig area from 1752 to 1755 and in Uetersen from 1756 to 1761 . He used his ample free time for extensive historical and contemporary studies in Schleswig . There he wrote down his studies as a "competent observer" about the country and its people in the form of letters, which later appeared in the book Six Writing of Some Curiosities of the Holstein Regions (1756). In 1756 he was stationed in Uetersen near the monastery and also made there as an "evaluator" studies on the country and people in the Holstein region . Camerer paid particular attention to the monastery and the former town of Uetersen, to which he wrote 271 pages of his later, 872-page book Mixed historical-political news in letters from some strange areas of the duchies of Schleßwig and Hollstein, their natural history and other rare antiquities dedicated. Today, both books are considered to be the first comprehensive presentation that deals with the parts of the country, the culture, flora and fauna as well as the inhabitants of today's Schleswig-Holstein .

Only after 135 years appeared with the book Schleswig-Holstein meerumschlungen in words and pictures of Hippolytus Haas , Hermann Krumm and Fritz Stoltenberg , another comprehensive representation of the culture and history of the country, which was provided with numerous illustrations.

Fonts (selection)

• Octavia a tragedy. With a few translations of some of the thoughts of Herr von Voltaire on the plays. Johann Christoph Meißner, Wolfenbüttel 1748, ( digitized version ).
• The reward of virtue. To Mr. Justitz-Rath Ericius. sn, slna (around 1750).
• The fourth happy day. Sermons on behalf of society. sn, sl 1751.
• The hypocrite. Boößel, Göttingen 1751.
• Talk. Boößel, Göttingen 1751, ( digitized version ).
• as translator: Montesquieu : The Temple of Gnidus. Translated in bound speech. Grund and Holle, Hamburg u. a. 1751, ( digitized version ).
• as editor: taste and manners. A weekly journal. Boößel, Göttingen 1752-1753, ZDB -ID 350997-7 .
• The happiness of the beautiful sciences in the north. A prelude. Boößel, Göttingen 1753.
• The very latest heroic poem was The Witch of Endor. Calicut (ie: Göttingen), sn 1753.
• Writing to a distinguished person, with the intention of some peculiarities of the Holstein areas. Johann Christoph Meißner, Wolfenbüttel 1755, ( digitized ).
• Thoughts from duels. Johann Christoph Meißner, Leipzig a. a. 1756.
• Six letters from some peculiarities of the Holstein regions. Johann Christoph Meißner, Leipzig a. a. 1756, ( digitized version ).
• Magazine for the mind, the taste and the heart. David Iversen, Altona 1758-1759, ZDB -ID 525769-4 .
• Mixed historical-political news in letters from some remarkable regions of the Duchies of Schleßwig and Hollstein, their natural history and other rare antiquities. Part 1-2. Johann Christoph Korte u. a., Flensburg u. a. 1758–1762, ( digitized part 1 ; digitized part 2 ).
• Attempt at a complete register and repertory of all Royal Danish Highest Regulations, as far as they concern the military budget. With an appendix of many other unprinted rescripts, mandates, Hochfürstl. Marggräfl. Orders, Canzeley and Commissariat letters. Joachim Friederich Hansen, Schleswig 1760.
• Letters to friends from the quarters of the Danish Army. David Iversen, Altona a. a. 1762, ( digitized version ).
• Reflections on various objects. Michael Christian Bock, Hamburg 1763, ( digitized ).
• Examples of the formation of a soldier. Piece 1. Michael Christian Bock, Hamburg 1764.
• My boredom. Luckander, Hadersleben 1764.
• News from the Baltic Sea. From the realm of erudition, moral theory, housekeeping, the fine sciences and arts, to promote common use. Luckander, Hadersleben 1765-1767, ZDB -ID 1418151-4 .
• Particular news from the victims of states as well as from the victims of justice of this eighteenth century; but especially by Count Struensee and von Brandt who were executed in Denmark that year. Korte, Pelim (ie: Flensburg) 1772, ( digitized ).
• Something about the burial mounds in the duchies. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Heft 4, 1787, ZDB -ID 575453-7 , pp. 444-451 .
• Conjectures and thoughts about the promotions of domestic life on the coasts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in the islands lying in the West Sea. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Issue 5, 1787, pp. 599-611 .
• Concerns about the downsizing of the big goods. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 2, Vol. 2, Heft 5, 1788, pp. 168-173 .
• About the collection of amber on the western coast of the Duchy of Schleswig; caused by the message from Mr. Wolf in the second year of the Prov. Ber. Issue VS 137. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 3, Vol. 2, Heft 4, 1789, pp. 13-25 .
• About the amber on the Danish and Schleswig-Holstein coasts; Sentences and inferences, evidence and questions from a lover of this product. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 3, Vol. 2, Issue 6, 1789, pp. 225-228 .
• Contribution to the latest news about amber on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein; in relation to the continued news of Mr. P. Wolf, in the second of this year. Issues p. 140. In: Schleswig-Holstein Provincial Reports. Vol. 4, Vol. 2, Issue 4, 1790, pp. 225-228 .

literature

• AD Jørgensen: Camerer, Johan Friedrich . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 3 : Brandt – Clavus . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1889, p. 349 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
• Johann Georg Meusel : Lexicon of the German writers who died from 1750 to 1800. Volume 2. Gerhard Fleischer d. J., Leipzig 1803, pp. 10-12 .
• Friedrich Raßmann : Short literary dictionary of the deceased German poets and writers belonging to beautiful literature in eight periods, from 1137 to 1824. Wilhelm Lauffer, Leipzig 1826, p. 158 .
• Hans Ferdinand Bubbe : Attempt of a chronicle of the city and the monastery Uetersen. Volume 1. Part 1–4. Heydorn, Uetersen 1932–1934.
• Wilhelm Ehlers (ed.): History and folklore of the Pinneberg district. Groth, Elmshorn 1922.
• Margarete Eichbaum, Jörg Eichbaum: dat body to heest. Heist. Contributions to the history of a village. Heydorn, Uetersen 1983.
• Elsa Plath-Langheinrich : When Goethe wrote to Uetersen. The life of the Conventual Augusta Louise Countess zu Stolberg-Stolberg. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1989, ISBN 3-529-02695-6 .
• Chronicle of the parish of Shirtingen.
• Information sign of the State Office for Prehistory and Early History of Schleswig-Holstein in Langeln.

Web links

Commons : Johann Friedrich Camerer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Johann Friedrich Camerer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Six letters from some curiosities of the Holstein regions (1756)
• The Temple of Gnidus (1751)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Publishing message - DNB 1022023357
2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Philological-historical class. Part 3, 246 = treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Mathematical-physical class. Part 3 , 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 55.
3. ↑ See: Maria Teresa Monti (ed.): Catalogo del Fondo Haller della Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense di Milano. Part 1: Libri. Volume 1: A-F (= Filosofia e scienza nel Cinquecento e nel Seicento. Series 1: Strumenti bibliografici. 6, ZDB -ID 1492514-X ). Angeli, Milan 1983, no.1462.
4. ↑ The author is unsure, see: Michael Holzmann, Hanns Bohatta : Deutsches Anonymen-Lexikon. Volume 1: 1501 - 1850, A - D. Society of Bibliophiles, Weimar 1902, 4445.
5. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Martina Kessel : Langeweile. On dealing with time and feelings in Germany from the late 18th to the early 20th century. Wallstein, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-89244-382-3 , p. 47, note 58.