Christian Meltzer

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Title page of the story of Schneeberg (Erzgebirge) , published 1684
Title page of the story of Schneeberg, published in 1716

Christian Meltzer (born November 25, 1655 in Selva ; † April 12, 1733 in Buchholz ) was a German pastor and an important chronicler of the Ore Mountains .

Life

Meltzer was born in 1655 as the son of the citizen and master tailor George Meltzer in the town of Selva in the Ore Mountains. By his own admission, his father was a true Israelite . At the age of five he received his first lessons and because of his quick grasp, he also received private lessons. In 1670 he moved to the high school in the Saxon mountain town of Freiberg , where he got his first insight into the diversity of mining and metallurgy. In the last two years of his stay in Freiberg he hired himself as a private tutor with the shift supervisor August Körmser and was thus able to acquire the mining knowledge that shaped his later work. At theUniversity of Leipzig , Meltzer studied theology , law and philosophy from 1676 to 1680 . In 1680 he presented his first work Vom Erzgebirgischer Silber-Bergwerck in Meißen in a public disputation. Due to the outbreak of the plague , he left Leipzig in 1680. After brief stays in Wolkenstein and Aue , Meltzer became tutor of the town counsel Hölzel in Schneeberg . Several times he gave public sermons in the local St. Wolfgang Church , in which he shone with his folklore and mining expertise. In 1683 he summarized them under the title Sermons on the Mount into a first chronicle of the town of Schneeberg. After returning to Leipzig, Meltzer was able to obtain the title Magister in 1685. His further life led back to the Ore Mountains. In 1687 he was appointed pastor in the mountain town of Buchholz, where he worked for 46 years until his death.

His main work, the Historia Schneebergensis renovata , is considered a masterpiece of Erzgebirge local history research. In addition to the presentation of the city's history, which began with the first silver finds in 1470, it contains an extensive treatment of the mining and metallurgy of the area. Then Meltzer began to write down the history of his place of work in Buchholz. The manuscript of the historical description of the St. Catharinenberg in Buchholz , however, was not printed until almost two centuries later by Heinrich Harms zum Spreckel .

Meltzer was married twice and had eight children.

Honors

In his place of activity, Buchholz, there is a simple tomb in the St. Katharinenkirche, which bears the inscription: “ Here rests a man of God who has done the commanded work of the Lord for six and forty years. His miner's mouth screamed from the dead bier: Honey! Children! Good luck! Buchholz don't forget mine! ".

A street in Schneeberg bears his name.

Works

  • Mountainous description of the Churfürstl. Saxon. freyen and Löbl in the Meißnischen Ober-Ertz-Geburge. Bergk town of Schneebergk. 1684 ( digitized version )
  • Gangraena Metallica in Hermunduris. Lipsiae 1685 ( digitized version )
  • Luck! De Hermundurorum Metallurgia Argentaria. From the Ertzgebürgisches Silber-Bergkwerck in Meissen. 1690 ( digitized version )
  • De Adulterio desponsatorum, vulgo On the adultery of the betrothed , legal dissertation, Verlag Johannis Georg, Leipzig 1692 Digitized
  • Thumian fire and consolation sermon. 1702
  • Christian Bergk sermon. 1704
  • Historia Schneebergensis renovata - Renewed town and mountain chronica of the Wohl-löbl located in the Ober-Ertz-Gebürge of the praised Meißens. Freyen Berg-Stadt Schneeberg , with Heinrich Fulde, Schneeberg 1716 ( link to the digitized version in the Dresden State and University Library )
  • Historical description of the St. Catharinenberg in Buchholz. Annaberg i. Erzgeb., Undated [1928/1930]

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Meltzer, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1655
PLACE OF BIRTH Selva (Ore Mountains)
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1733
Place of death Buchholz