Christoph Daniel Praetorius

Christoph Daniel Prätorius (born February 26, 1733 in Coburg ; † October 16, 1810 in ibid.) Was a German lawyer and educator.

Life

Christoph Daniel Prätorius was the son of Johann Christoph Prätorius († 1753), orphanage sub-inspector, and his wife Anna Barbara, b. Berold. His brother was the philologist Theodor Prätorius (1737–1779).

He received his first lessons at the Ratsschule in Coburg and then attended the academic high school Casimirianum Coburg , his teachers there were Erhard Andreas Frommann , Christoph Joseph Sucro (1718–1756), Johann Friedrich Gruner , Kessel, Bonifacius Heinrich Ehrenberger (1681–1759) and Theodor Berger (1683–1773).

In the spring of 1758 matriculated he at the University of Leipzig and studied law and for this purpose heard lectures at Johann Gottlob Boehme and Christian Fürchtegott Gellert , which is particularly promoted him, and in August Friedrich Müller (philosophy), Johann August Ernesti (humanism), in the theoretical and practical law studies with father and son Ferdinand August Hommel and Karl Ferdinand Hommel , Christian Heinrich Breuning , Johann Gottfried Bauer , Johann Tobias Richter (1715–1780), Thomasius, Friedrich Gottlieb Zoller and Johann Gottfried Sammet (1719–1796).

On the recommendation of Professors Böhme and Gellert, in 1761 he became court master of the two Princes Wilhelm and Peter Friedrich Ludwig of Duke Georg Ludwig of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf , who was in Leipzig at the time. He accompanied the family to Coswig , who stayed there for three months in the princely castle and then traveled on to Königsberg in Prussia , where he stayed until the beginning of 1762 and made the acquaintance of various Prussian generals who were previously prisoners of war by Russia. After the death of the Empress Elisabeth of Russia on January 5, 1762 , the family traveled on to St. Petersburg to attend the funeral services. In St. Petersburg he made the acquaintance of Burkhard Christoph von Münnich , who was originally exiled to Siberia and who had been brought back to St. Petersburg after a general amnesty and was appointed field marshal .

Together with the family he accompanied their uncle, Emperor Peter III. to Oranienbaum Castle and watched his arrest on June 28, 1762 when leading officers rebelled; here the duke was also briefly arrested. He traveled with the ducal family to St. Petersburg for some time before they returned to Germany. In Hamburg he asked for leave to visit his own relatives and during this absence he learned of the death of the Duke and Duchess, so he decided to ask for his release, which he was granted.

After he wrote his inaugural dissertation de origine principum eorumque successione in territor on September 20, 1763 . imperii germa nici , he received his doctorate in law at the University of Erlangen, and on October 31, 1763 he defended his dissertation de illustritutela praecipue principum in imperio germanico in a public disputation, so that he could now give legal lectures at the university In the following years he also produced procedural documents for various imperial knightly families. In the following year he received the extraordinary professorship in law, but shortly afterwards he was hired by Duke Ernst Friedrich von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld as a teacher in legal studies of the Hereditary Prince Franz , for which he returned to Coburg in autumn 1764 and was in appointed ducal council on October 13th the same year and was not only the instructor of the prince but also of his siblings.

In 1766 he was elected by the Coburg city council as municipal syndic . In late autumn 1803 he asked for his retirement, which he was granted.

In autumn 1769 he had married the eldest daughter of Privy Councilor Hofmann; together they had several children, two of whom were still alive when he passed away. His wife died in the spring of 1807.

Honors

On July 13, 1770, the duke appointed him court counselor

Fonts (selection)

• De illustri tutela praecipue principum in imperio germanico - resp. Yo. Henr. Frid. Reinmann, Merz . Erlangen 1763.
• D. inaug. - quaestiones selectae de origine principum eorumque successione in territorium imperii germanici . Erlangen and Coburg. 1765.

Literature (selection)

• Christoph Daniel Praetorius . In: Ducal Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld Government and Intelligence Journal v. December 1, 1810. Coburg, Ahl 1810. P. 781 f.
• Christoph Daniel Praetorius . In: Georg Wolfgang Augustin Fikenscher: Complete academic scholarly history of the royal Prussian Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen , Volume 3. Nuremberg 1806. S. 20