Christoph Friedrich Zilliger

Christoph Friedrich Zilliger (* in Hof (Saale) ; † November 24, 1693 in Braunschweig ) was a German printer , bookseller and publisher . In 1650 he first published the Braunschweig calendar , which is still published today , making it the oldest continuously published calendar in German-speaking countries.

life and work

Zilliger, who came from Hof ​​in the Vogtland, received Braunschweig citizenship on February 1, 1647. On April 1, 1647, he married the widow of the book printer Balthasar Gruber († 1645), who had founded a printing company in Braunschweig around 1634. With his marriage, Zilliger took over Gruber'sche Druckerei, in which he had probably already worked, and managed it very successfully in the decades that followed. Zilliger published the Braunschweig calendar, which still appears today, since 1650 and published the Braunschweigische political newspaper since 1680. In 1678 he also founded a bookstore, for which he worked for several years with the publisher Caspar Gruber, the son of his predecessor. On March 14, 1678, they jointly received a ducal privilege to export and import their books and papers through the entire principality and in the city of Braunschweig duty-free and license-free. On July 6, 1680, Zilliger and Gruber were awarded the title of ducal court printer and bookseller. In addition, Zilliger had other privileges, including an electoral Saxon calendar privilege, a newspaper privilege and privileges for printing the hymnbook and the catechism . The collaboration between Zilliger and Gruber ended in 1686, so that there were two bookstores in Braunschweig. In 1681, Zilliger bought the printing works from Johann Heinrich Duncker († 1680), which meant that his printing works in Braunschweig were unrivaled. In 1691, Zilliger employed eleven journeymen.

In his second marriage, Zilliger was married to the councilor's daughter Emerentia Wittekop from 1680 after his first wife had died in 1679.

Zilliger died in 1693. The business was initially continued by his widow and since 1708 by their son Johann Georg Zilliger . In 1716, after bankruptcy, the company became the property of the Lemgo-born printer and bookseller Heinrich Wilhelm Meyer.

literature

• Josef Benzing : The book printers of the 16th and 17th centuries in the German-speaking area. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1963.
• Luitgard Camerer and Ulrike Fischer: Book printing in the city of Braunschweig before 1671. in: City archive and public library Braunschweig: Small writings no.13 on behalf of the city of Braunschweig published by Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf, Braunschweig 1985.
• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 758 .
• Werner Spieß : History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages . From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 2, Braunschweig 1966, p. 738.
• Städtisches Museum Braunschweig (Ed.): 450 years of Braunschweig printing industry. Exhibition in the Städtisches Museum Braunschweig, February 1958, Westermann Verlag, Braunschweig 1958.
• Paul Zimmermann :  Zilliger, Christoph Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, p. 230 f.

Web links

• Publications by and about Christoph Friedrich Zilliger in VD 17 .