Carl Curtius

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Carl Curtius

Carl Curtius (born December 10, 1841 in Siebeneichen , † January 28, 1922 in Lübeck ) was a German classical philologist and librarian .

Life

Carl Curtius came from the Lübeck family of scholars and politicians Curtius . His father Adolph Curtius (1804–1888) was a pastor in Siebeneichen and taught him at home until he was 14 years old. His mother, Wilhelmine Luise, geb. Ganslandt (1811–1850), came from a reformed merchant family in Lübeck and was a cousin of Emanuel Geibel . At Michaelis 1855 he entered the tertia of the Katharineum , where he passed his Abitur at Michaelis 1860. He then studied theology for two years at the University of Erlangen , then went to Berlin , where he began studying classical philology in addition to theology , and graduated from the University of Göttingen . His main academic teachers were Ernst Curtius , a cousin of his father, and Hermann Sauppe . Michaelis 1866 he was with the dissertation De actorum publicorum cura apud Graecos Dr. phil. obtained his doctorate and passed the senior teacher examination a little later. At Easter 1866 he started his first job as a Latin and Greek teacher at the Ernestinum grammar school in Gotha . During his time in Gotha, he traveled to Northern Italy, London and Copenhagen and, during a leave of absence in the winter semester of 1869/70, a longer study trip to the ancient sites of Greece and Asia Minor, on which he collected and researched numerous ancient Greek inscriptions. Easter 1871 he moved to the gymnasium Christianeum in Altona and Michaelis same year the school in Wesel . At Easter 1874 he became senior teacher at the Katharineum in Lübeck . On September 27, 1879, the Lübeck Senate elected him as the successor to the late Wilhelm Mantels as the city librarian, who was responsible for the part-time supervision of the Lübeck city ​​library and the city's coin collection . In 1895 Curtius was appointed high school professor. In 1903 he succeeded in being completely exempted from teaching due to the increasing workload of the library. In this way he actually became the first full-time Lübeck city librarian. In 1908 he formally resigned from the teaching staff of the Katharineum.

As library manager, Curtius carried out a profound reorganization of the library: The provision in the will of the founder Heinrich Scharbau from 1759 that the books in the Scharbauische Bibliothek ( Bibliotheca Scharboviana ) had to be stored and cataloged separately from those of the city library ( Bibliotheca Publica ) had previously been in force for The result was that the library had to manage two separate collections. Curtius solved this problem by completely integrating the city library holdings in the fields of theology, classical philology, antiquity and philosophy into the Scharbau library at the turn of the century, thus creating a uniform collection without violating the provisions of the will. This made a comprehensive reorganization and cataloging of the library possible. The real catalog was completely redesigned and the previous alphabetical volume catalog was replaced by a card catalog. During Curtius' tenure, the city library's holdings almost doubled; the coin collection was also considerably enlarged. Curtius was able to increase the state subsidy from 5,000 to 6,000 marks per year. Despite the right to deposit copies of all works published in Lübeck, this amount was by no means sufficient for the new acquisitions, especially since the library, which was previously aimed exclusively at academically educated users, increasingly had to take into account the information needs of broader sections of the population. Curtius therefore built up an extensive network within the city in order to increase the inventory through gifts, bequests and the takeover of discarded books from authorities, churches and companies. In particular, there was close cooperation with the city's scientific associations. The specialist journals to which they subscribed were initially only available to members; after a few years, the no longer current volumes were taken over by the city library. An early form of interlibrary loan was implemented by concluding a loan agreement with the Hamburg City Library . The library's weekly opening hours increased from eight to 18 hours. During Curtius' tenure, the city library acquired Friedrich Overbeck's literary estate in 1899.

Curtius retired on June 30, 1919 at the age of 77, after having headed the city library for almost 40 years. He was succeeded by Willy Pieth .

Curtius published numerous smaller works, initially on topics of classical philology, in later years on Lübeck book history and numismatics .

Fonts (selection)

  • De actorum publicorum cura apud Graecos. Dissertatio quam conscripsit Carolus Curtius. GF Kaestner, Göttingen 1865 (Phil. Diss.)
  • To the speaker Lykurgos. In: Philologus . Journal for classical antiquity, Vol. 24 (1866), pp. 83–114 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Alleged find of a document lodged with Demosthenes. In: Philologus . Journal for classical antiquity, Vol. 26 (1867), pp. 190–193 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • The Metroon in Athens as the state archive. Gotha 1868. ( School program Gymnasium Ernestinum Gotha)
  • Greek inscriptions: communications from Athens and Piraeus. In: Philologus. Journal for classical antiquity, Vol. 29 (1870), pp. 691–705 ( digitized from Hathi Trust)
  • Inscriptions from Ephesus. In: Hermes . Journal for Classical Philology, Vol. 4 (1870), pp. 174–228 ( digitized from DigiZeitschriften)
  • Two Attic documents. In: Hermes. Journal for Classical Philology, Vol. 4 (1870), pp. 404-412 ( digitized from DigiZeitschriften)
  • The Attic cemetery in front of the Dipylon. In: Archäologische Zeitung, Vol. 29 (NF Vol. 4) (1872), pp. 12–35 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Inscriptions from Asia Minor. In: Hermes. Journal for Classical Philology, Vol. 7 (1873), pp. 28-46 ( digitized from DigiZeitschriften)
  • Inscription from Sestos. In: Hermes. Journal for Classical Philology, Vol. 7 (1873), pp. 113–139 ( digitized from DigiZeitschriften)
  • Inscription from Lesbos. In: Hermes. Journal of Classical Philology, Vol. 7 (1873), pp. 407-415 ( digitized from DigiZeitschriften)
  • Documents on the history of Samos (with a plaque). Wesel 1873. (School program Gymnasium Wesel) ( digitized in the Düsseldorf University Library)
  • The Altionic alphabet on Samos. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie , NF Vol. 29 (1874), pp. 159–166 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Greek epigrams from Asia Minor and the Archipelagus. In: Monthly reports of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin from 1876. Berlin 1877, pp. 341–354 ( digitized version at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences)
  • Inscriptions and studies on the history of Samos. Lübeck 1877. (School program Katharineum Lübeck)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Mantels. (Obituary). In: Biographisches Jahrbuch für Altertumskunde Vol. 2 (1879), pp. 22–28 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Mantels. A picture of life. (With list of publications.) Lübeck 1880. (School program Katharineum Lübeck)
  • About Pliny manuscripts in Lübeck. In: Historical and philological essays dedicated to Ernst Curtius on his seventieth birthday on September 2, 1884. Asher & Co, Berlin 1884, pp. 327–337 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • The Travemünde coin find. In: Numismati-Sphragistischer Anzeiger, Vol. 20 (1889), No. 5–7, pp. 36–39, 41–45, 51–54
  • The coin find at Travemünde and the Lübeck hollow coins. In: Zeitschrift des Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde Vol. 6 (1892), pp. 161–199 ( digitized version of the journal from the Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde; PDF, 55 MB)
  • From the life and travels of Prof. Friedrich Matz . Borchers, Lübeck 1891. 27 pp.
  • Description of a trip through northwest Germany to the Netherlands and England in 1683 by Jakob v. Melle and Christian Henrich Postel. (Edited from a manuscript of the Lübeckische Stadtbibliothek.) Lübeck 1891. 48 p. (Katharineum Lübeck school program) ( digitized in the Düsseldorf University Library )
  • In memory of Ernst Curtius. In: Lübeckische Blätter 39 (1897), pp. 163–166, 177–180, 187–191 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Revised by: Friedrich Jacobs: Hellas. Geography, History and Literature of Greece. Krabbe, Stuttgart 1897 ( digitized at Hathi Trust, only with US proxy)
  • Two coin finds from Lübeck. In: Zeitschrift des Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde Vol. 7 (1898), pp. 328–340 ( digitized version of the journal at the Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde; PDF, 50 MB)
  • Original editions of Schiller's writings in the Lübeck City Library. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter No. 18/1905, April 30, 1905, pp. 71–74 ( digitized version of the journal at the Lübeck City Archives; PDF, 145 MB)
  • About some of Balhorn's prints in the Lübeck city library. In: Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen Vol. 23 (1906), pp. 109–116 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • State archivist Professor Dr. Hate †. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter No. 19/1907 of May 5, 1907, pp. 73–74 ( digitized version of the journal at the Lübeck City Archives; PDF, 138 MB)
  • A coin find in the Cronsford forest district. In: Zeitschrift des Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde Vol. 9 (1908), pp. 192–208 ( digitized version of the journal from the Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde; PDF, 37 MB)
  • The coin find from Cronsforde near Lübeck. In: Berliner Münzblätter. NF, 29th year 1908, No. 82, pp. 154-172
  • Theses for a disputation in the St. Catherine's Monastery in Lübeck. In: Zeitschrift des Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde Vol. 12 (1910), pp. 69–79 ( digitized version of the journal from the Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde; PDF, 88 MB)
  • In memory of Professor Dr. Theodor Hach. In: Zeitschrift des Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde Vol. 12 (1910/1911), pp. 337–348 ( digitized version of the journal from the Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde; PDF, 88 MB)
  • Medals from the French era and the Wars of Independence in the coin collection of the Lübeck City Library. In: Von Lübeck's Towers, born in 1913, No. 11.
  • Medals on Luther and the Reformation. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter 1917, pp. 13-18 ( digitized version of the magazine at the Lübeck City Archives; PDF, 77 MB)

Honors

The Lübeck librarian and medalist Franz Weber created a portrait medal on the occasion of his 70th birthday and a portrait plaque of Curtius on the occasion of his retirement.

literature

  • Alken Bruns: Curtius family. In: Bibliographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck , Volume 10, Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 66ff. (here p. 67); also in: Alken Bruns (Hrsg.): Lübeck resumes from nine centuries. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1993, pp. 77-80 (here p. 79).
  • Franz Kössler: Personal Lexicon of Teachers of the 19th Century , Volume: Cadura – Czygan , Giessen 2007 (preprint as digital copy )
  • W. Dahms: Professor Dr. Carl Curtius. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter No. 17/1919 of May 25, 1919, pp. 65–66 ( digitized version of the journal at the Lübeck City Archives; PDF, 41 MB) (with list of publications)
  • Professor Dr. Carl Curtius †. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter No. 10/1922 of February 22, 1922, p. 37 ( digitized version of the journal at the Lübeck City Archives; PDF, 41 MB)
  • City and library. Literature supply as a communal task in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Jörg Fligge and Alois Klotzbücher. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997. (Lectures of the… annual conference of the Wolfenbüttel working group for library history…; 8) (Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry. Vol. 25). ISBN 3-447-03885-3 . (On Curtius: Fligge, pp. 79–93, "Die Ära Curtius, City Librarian 1879-1919").

Individual evidence

  1. Karl Theodor Gaedertz: Emanuel Geibel memorials . Wilhelm Friedrich Nachf., Berlin 1885 digitized , p. 176
  2. Hermann Genzken: The Abitur graduates of the Katharineum zu Lübeck (grammar school and secondary school) from Easter 1807 to 1907. Borchers, Lübeck 1907. (Supplement to the school program 1907, digitized version ), No. 579
  3. B. [Ernhard] Eschenburg: Professor Dr. Carl Curtius †. In: Lübeckische Blätter 64 (1922), pp. 45–46. - Jörg Fligge in: City and Library. Literature supply as a communal task in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Jörg Fligge and Alois Klotzbücher. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997. (Lectures of the… annual conference of the Wolfenbüttel working group for library history…; 8) (Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry. Vol. 25). P. 79 (life); Pp. 79–93 (overall library work). ISBN 3-447-03885-3 .
  4. The budget development is with Jörg Fligge in: Stadt und Bibliothek. Literature supply as a communal task in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Jörg Fligge and Alois Klotzbücher. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997. (Lectures of the… annual conference of the Wolfenbüttel working group for library history…; 8) (Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry. Vol. 25). Pp. 82–85, examined in various tables and given precise figures. P. 86f .: Budget comparison with other German libraries, 1902–1916. ISBN 3-447-03885-3 .
  5. The social stratification of users according to occupation is illustrated in a table in: Jörg Fligge in: Stadt und Bibliothek. Literature supply as a communal task in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Jörg Fligge and Alois Klotzbücher. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997. (Lectures of the… annual conference of the Wolfenbüttel working group for library history…; 8) (Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry. Vol. 25). P. 81.
  6. List of all library partners in: Jörg Fligge in: Stadt und Bibliothek. Literature supply as a communal task in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Jörg Fligge and Alois Klotzbücher. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997. (Lectures of the… annual conference of the Wolfenbüttel working group for library history…; 8) (Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry. Vol. 25). Pp. 88–90 (societies and associations); P. 90–92 (State, authorities, offices, companies, etc.) These overview lists show the broad spectrum of Curtius' contact work at the time.
  7. ^ Library of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck: Library guide for the 375th anniversary. Lübeck 1997, pp. 14-15.
  8. Vaterstädtische Blätter 47/1899 of December 10, 1899, column 376 ( digitized version of the journal at the Lübeck city archive; PDF, 88 MB)
  9. ^ Heinz Röhl: Lübeck. Medals - Brands - Signs. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 1987, pp. 129–130 (No. 310.07.1 and 310.07.2; with illustrations)