Christine Kirch

Christine Kirch (* April 1697 in Guben ; † May 6, 1782 in Berlin ) was a calendar maker and astronomer in Berlin.

Live and act

She was the daughter of Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margaretha Kirch and sister of Christfried Kirch and Margaretha Kirch . Christine was introduced to astronomical research, which was organized by division of labor, at an early stage. As a child, she initially worked primarily with her mother. For this she noted the results of the observations and acted as co-observer. In the course of this division of labor within the family, she, like her brother, acquired specialist knowledge that remained important for research throughout the 18th century.

Christine Kirch supported the brother in his work. In addition, like her mother and other female members of the family, she carried out independent observations. After her brother's death in 1744, she and her sister Maria (in the sources) initially appeared as petitioners at the Academy of Science . After that, the sisters continued the brother's work for the academy. Unlike the male members of the family, Christine was never officially a member of the academy. From the initial emergency solution, a close collaboration developed over decades.

From 1744 Christine Kirch received a regular salary from the institution now trading under the name Academie royale. The sisters received a basic salary of twenty-five Reichstalers per quarter. Christine Kirch received another one hundred and fifty Reichstaler over the decades for drawing up the calendar for Silesia . From 1759 Christine Kirch was the only recipient of the payments and was considered to be the head of the astronomical household. In addition to family members, this consisted of auxiliary staff such as a clerk. From 1769 the household received an unspecified annual bonus of one hundred Reichstalers. Overall, the household came to an income of four hundred Reichstalers, which was just as much as some academy members received alone.

Although male astronomers at the royal observatory finally took over the official astronomical observation, the sisters also continued this part of their work for special assignments. Among other things, they recorded important events such as the appearance of comets in their records. While the sources suggest that the records were intended for publication, it is unclear where and if they were published.

In 1772 it became increasingly clear that Christine Kirch was no longer up to the strenuous work. The Academy thanked her in a very polite letter for her work and asked her to train the later famous astronomer Johann Elert Bode as an assistant. Two years later, Bode married Johanna Christiane Lange (1754–1782), the granddaughter of a sister of Christine Kirchs. His second wife was her older sister Sophie Dorothea Lange.

literature

• Monika Mommertz: Shadow Economy of Science. Gender order and work systems in astronomy at the Berlin Academy of Sciences in the 18th century . In: Women in academia and science. Places of work and research practices 1700-2000 . Berlin, 2002 p. 31 ff. Digital version (PDF; 9.4 MB)
• Londa Schiebinger: Beautiful spirits. Women in the dawn of modern science . From the americ. by Susanne Lüdemann and Ute Spengler. - 2nd edition - Stuttgart: Klett - Cotta, 1993, p. 128 ff. ISBN 3-608-91259-2
• Siegmund Günther:  Kirch, Gottfried . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 787 f. (Family item)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Friedhelm Schwemin: The Berlin astronomer . Life and work of Johann Elert Bode (1747–1826). Ed .: Wolfgang R. Dick, Jürgen Hamel . 1st edition. Acta Historica Astronomiae Vol. 30. Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-8171-1796-5 , p. 136-137 .