Johannes Franke (doctor)

Johannes Franke (born January 1, 1545 in Hildesheim , † April 12, 1617 in Budissin ) was a German doctor and botanist .

Life

Franke, who called himself " Hildesius " because of his town of origin , came to Kosel in the Silesian Principality of Sagan when he was 12 years old and was enrolled at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in 1565 , where he studied for three years. In 1568 he moved to the high school in Wittenberg . He is said to have studied there for two years and graduated with a master's degree. Around 1570 he studied in Strasbourg, where he studied philosophy and medicine. There he had contact with the doctor Michael Schütz called Toxites and the city ​​lawyer Johann Nervius .

During his time in Strasbourg, Franke traveled to several cities, including Basel (to Adam von Bodenstein ) and also to Paris .

From 1572 to 1575 Franke was vice principal at the school in Sorau in the Lausitz. From 1576 he studied in Montpellier and Valence and received his doctorate in Montpellier in 1577 as Doctor Medicinae. After his return from France he was appointed physician to the Anhalt Prince Joachim Ernst († 1587) and from the city council of Zerbst to physicist. In 1581 he was employed as the city ​​physician of Kamenz , where he became a citizen in 1590. During his time in Kamenz he had contact with numerous botanists, especially with Leonhard Thurneysser zum Thurn, and also undertook numerous excursions here, which formed the basis for his main work, the " Hortus Lusatiae ". In addition, he conducted historical and regional studies during this time.

Because of disputes with the town clerk from Kamenz, Franke moved to Budissin in 1600, where he lived until his death and where he also found his final resting place.

meaning

In his “ Hortus Lusatiae ” from 1594, one of the earliest floral works, Franke not only lists numerous species that occur in Lusatia, he also gives indications of where they grew from numerous species. So he describes Cirsium palustre as follows: Carduus palustris, procerus, tricubitsalis, a long thistle sex so very common in damp places . In addition to wild plants and species of garden flora, Franke also lists 17 clans of fungi , such as Coprinus micaceus : Fungus clipeiformis lethalis, manure gifftige pältz . He also mentions smut fungi and understands them as pathological growth of plants.

In addition to the “ Hortus Lusatiae ”, the traditional correspondence with Leonhart Thurneysser zum Thurn and with Caspar Bauhin is an important source for Franke's botanical and natural history research.

swell

• Heinrich Dörfelt , Heike Heklau: The history of mycology . 1998.
• Johannes Franke: Hortus Lusatiae: Bautzen 1594; with a biography. Newly edited, interpreted and explained by Rudolph Zaunick and others Bautzen: Naturwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Isis. - 1930. - VI, 296 pp.
• Erich Große : The Kamenz city physicist Johannes Franke and his "Garden of Lusatia" . Contributions to local history of West Lusatia (issue 6, 1995).