Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Grattenauer

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Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Grattenauer

Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Grattenauer (born March 30, 1773 in Stargard in Pomerania , † May 23, 1838 in Breslau ) was a German lawyer and anti-Semitic publicist and writer.

Life

Grattenauer was a son of the Stargarder pastor Johann Friedrich Grattenauer (1741-1813) and nephew of the publisher Ernst Christoph Grattenauer .

From 1788 he attended the Francke Foundations in Halle and then studied law there. In this subject he received his doctorate in 1797. He worked first as a higher regional judge in Insterburg , then from 1797 as judicial commissioner at the higher court and notary in Berlin . In 1800 he also gave lectures on bill of exchange law. Due to differences with his colleagues he was dismissed in 1804 and then settled in Breslau as a lawyer. In addition, he began a lively publication activity in Wroclaw. Many of his writings were published by Johann Jakob Korn .

Grattenauer was married to Anna Philippine Elisabeth Grohmann and had three children, including the doctor Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Grattenauer (born August 3, 1799 Berlin, Jerusalem parish).

Anti-Semitic Journalism

A book against the emancipation of the Jews , published anonymously in 1791 , On the Physical and Moral Constitution of the Jews of Today, is attributed to him by more recent authors, while contemporaries did not list it among his works. Grattenauer was only 18 years old when it appeared. The author, on the other hand, writes that he had already written parts of the book in 1786 and that he has now stopped holding a public office. He especially treated Berlin Jews whom he knew personally, such as Moses Mendelssohn, in a derogatory manner. Moses Hirschel wrote in reply: Apology of Human Rights, Zurich 1793.

The 1803 publication, Against the Jews , initially appeared anonymously, but Grattenauer later confessed to it after his name became known. It was published six times, sparked an even bigger scandal than the 1791 script and even caused the government to take censorship measures. Among the counter-writings was For the Jews by Johann Wilhelm Andreas Kosmann and Bellerophon or Der geschlagene Grattenauer , Hamburg 1803. Grattenauer's dismissal from civil service followed on February 16, 1804. The reason given is “irregularities in the collection of bankruptcy funds” (Goedeke). He has apparently not started the two-year imprisonment to which he was sentenced.

Grattenauer demanded that the Jews either be expelled or (as for him only the second best solution) ghettoization. He denied Jews fundamental human qualities such as righteousness, honesty and loyalty and compared them to orangutans .

He made "enemies in countless numbers" not only among Jews. So he waged a bitter feud with Ludwig Devrient , which is passed down in the memories of Heinrich Anschütz .

After August Varnhagen , Grattenauer is also the author of Countess Lichtenau's apology (1808), which is otherwise attributed to Johann Gottlieb Schummel .

reception

In the obituary of Ladislaus Tarnowski it says: "As a writer he was extremely active, lively, as a critic fiery, enthusiastic and eccentric, as a person original, but very brusque and derogatory." (New Nekrolog der Deutschen)

Ph. J. Külb considered his writings on the law of exchange and occupation law to be useful (Erf / Gruber).

Today his legal work has been forgotten, whereas his anti-Jewish writings make him a prominent exponent of anti-Semitism . Because of his rejection of baptized Jews, represented in "Wüsten [n] Pamphlete [n]", he was "probably the first racist-anti-Semitic author in Germany".

Fonts

anonymous: About the Political, Religious and Moral Constitution of the Jews (1798).
The Saxon State Library - State and University Library Dresden assigns the copy to Julius Friedrich Knüppeln .
  • About the physical and moral condition of today's Jews. 1791.
  • About the exchange procura. Berlin 1800.
  • Contributions to the explanation of the right to change. 2 volumes. Berlin 1802/03.
  • About the concept of suggestive questions. Berlin 1803.
  • Against the Jews. Berlin 1803.
  • Explanation to the audience about my writing: Against the Jews. Berlin 1803.
  • First addendum to his explanation of his writing. Against the Jews an appendix to the 5th edition. Berlin 1803.
  • Revision deduction in legal matters of those ... nobles who are claimed by ... Solomon Moses Levy's widow and heir ... Glogau 1804.
  • Treatises and essays on various subjects of law. Glogau 1805.
  • About the latest standpoint and the principle of the legal doctrine of compensation for war damage at the same time as an experiment about the basic rights of public society. s. l. 1806.
  • About the Nothwehr: a contribution to the scientific treatment of criminal law. Wroclaw 1806.
  • About the older and newer exchange laws of the city of Wroclaw. Wroclaw 1806.
  • Exner's death: a strange criminal case of legitimate self-defense. Wroclaw 1806.
  • About neutrality, preservation and safety of baths and healing springs in times of war, with a special reference to Silesia. Wroclaw 1807.
  • About generational cult and special moratoriums. Wroclaw 1807.
  • France's new bill of exchange regulations: translated according to the legal texts of the official edition. Berlin, Leipzig 1808.
  • Necessary appendix to the text: on general indult and special moratoriums, especially in the Prussian states. Wroclaw 1808.
  • About sagacity as the ruling principle of time. Glogau 1808.
  • The duty of the government with regard to spectacles. Wroclaw 1808.
  • Order for all cities of the Prussian monarchy. Wroclaw 1809.
  • About the compensation for war fire damage by fire insurance companies. Wroclaw 1809.
  • About general indult and special moratoriums. 2nd Edition. Wroclaw 1809.
  • Repertory of all recent laws and ordinances relating to war burdens, war damage and war billing, together with complete literature. Wroclaw 1810.
  • Weekly theater news or Wroclaw Miscellen. Wroclaw 1810.
  • For the women: a New Year's Eve evening speech to the men. 3. Edition. Wroclaw 1811.
  • High Allied Powers' peace treaty concluded with France. Breslau 1814 (German and French, Weimar 1814).
  • From the tribe of Aaron and its alleged privileges: a contribution to the Jewish world. Jerusalem: David, 1817.
  • The exchange stamp laws in the Prussian states. Wroclaw 1818.
  • About the Prussian real coin and its numerical value in internal traffic. Breslau 1810, 1818.
  • Aphorisms on cruelty to animals. Wroclaw 1828.

In addition, numerous newspaper articles.

swell

Web links

credentials

  1. ^ Entry in Varnhagen's copy, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
  2. ↑ Micha Brumlik , Deutscher Geist und Judenhaß, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Munich 2000, p. 78
personal data
SURNAME Grattenauer, Carl Wilhelm Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer and anti-Semitic publicist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH Stargard in Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1838
Place of death Wroclaw