Christoph Kaufmann

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Christoph Kaufmann; Painting by Anton Graff , 1794.

Christoph Kaufmann (born August 14, 1753 in Winterthur ; † March 21, 1795 in Berthelsdorf near Herrnhut), known as the "Apostle of Genius", was a Swiss philosopher and physician as well as an original figure from the "era of genius" of the late 18th century. The term “ Sturm und Drang ” goes back to him .

Life

Christoph Kaufmann; Copper engraving from the circle of Johann Kaspar Lavater .
Christoph Kaufmann; Copper engraving around 1775 by Georg Friedrich Schmoll .

Christoph Kaufmann was born the son of the Winterthur master tanner, grand councilor and governor Christoph Adrian Kaufmann. Due to personal difficulties, Christoph Kaufmann did not graduate from school and from 1767 learned the profession of pharmacist's assistant in Bern . In 1774 Kaufmann found a job in Strasbourg , where he found access to academic circles. Out of enthusiasm for Basedow's educational reform efforts and Jean Jacques Rousseau's educational novel Emile , Kaufmann founded the educational reformist brotherhood in Strasbourg. In 1775 Kaufmann returned to Switzerland and found in Johann Kaspar Lavater , who saw in him an extraordinary pedagogical talent, a patron and sponsor. With a letter of recommendation from Lavater, Kaufmann traveled through the empire to Dessau in 1776/77 to teach at Basedow's institution, the Philanthropinum . After furious first appearances in which he demanded a return to a simple life and a vegetarian diet, he did not succeed in convincing personalities such as Duke Karl August and Goethe in Weimar . Kaufmann was also unable to gain a foothold at the Philanthropinum. In 1777, after another wandering in Switzerland, Kaufmann withdrew to Glarisegg , frustrated, in order to live as a simple farmer , following the example of little jogging . In 1778 he married Elise Ziegler in Schaffhausen . During this time, Kaufmann turned to the Moravian Brethren . The break with Lavater followed in 1780. From 1781 on, Kaufmann attended some medical lectures at the University of Breslau. With the fleeting medical knowledge he had acquired during these months, he looked after the Moravian Brethren and gained a reputation through his commitment until his death in 1795.

Kaufmann published little and with little aftereffect. Its importance lies in its function as a pacemaker and role model for the literary movement of Sturm und Drang , which he gave its name rather casually. The exaggeration of Kaufmann, initiated in particular by Lavater, led to his later defamation as the “apostle of genius” or “Panurg”: A true Panurg ( panúrgos: Greek “Allestuer” ), after a Rabelais ' person of this name, a sly, mischievous person, rogue; Panurgic, mischievous, devious, able to do anything he wants, wanting everything he can , he pretended to have been in contact with an earlier generation and not to need any sleep, lived only on vegetables and milk, performed miracle cures as a doctor , told of his heroic deeds in Persia , maintained an extensive correspondence and searched everywhere for good childish people, for whose detection he claimed to have a special gift, therefore he was introduced and satirized in painter Müller's Faust under the name of God's tracker dog as an acting person. According to Riemer, Goethe's Satyros (subtitle: or The deified forest devil ) should also mean merchant.

In the well-known story “Lenz” by Georg Büchner, Kaufmann conducts the famous “art talk” with the poet Lenz , in which Lenz represents his anti-idealistic conception of art.

Works

  • All collected from speeches and manuscripts by men and women . Frankfurt and Leipzig 1776–1777. 2 volumes, print edition published anonymously. (Microfiche edition: Saur, Munich et al. 1994, ISBN 3-598-51402-6 ISBN 3-598-50015-7 (part of the education), ISBN 3-598-50077-7 )

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ulrich Holbein : Christoph Kaufmann. In: U. H .: Narratorium. 255 images of life. Ammann, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-250-10523-7 , pp. 509-514.
personal data
SURNAME Kaufmann, Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Apostle of Genius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss wandering world improvers of the "genius era"
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1753
PLACE OF BIRTH Winterthur
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1795
Place of death Berthelsdorf