German Society of Greifswald

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The Royal German Society of Greifswald was an 18th century language and scholarly society in Swedish-Pomerania . It was the first scientific law firm in Pomerania and at the same time the longest existing. The aims of the society were to promote science in the sense of the Enlightenment and the German language . The older German societies in Leipzig (1727) and Jena (1728) served as models .

history

In the 1730s, there were repeated disputes between Swedish and German academics at the University of Greifswald over the occupation of the chairs. The Greifswald scholars oriented themselves primarily towards the intellectual and scientific development in Central Germany, where candidates for professorships were also wanted. Professors like Christian Nettelbladt , who called for a closer connection between Swedish Pomerania and Sweden , were opposed to the forces that were more oriented towards Pomerania and Germany. Augustin Balthasar , Professor of Law, was one of the main characters in these disputes. With a German society he was able to strengthen his position and at the same time support the Greifswald University's claim to be a university of German nationality.

On September 2, 1739, the constituent meeting took place in Balthasar's house, at which he gave the opening speech. On November 7, 1739, the first ten members joined. On August 18, 1740, confirmation was given by King Frederick of Sweden , who released the company's publications from the obligation to “assess and approve”. The first president, actually honorary chairman, was the 15-year-old Malte Friedrich, Count zu Putbus . As a representative of the first class he should help the young society to gain more respect. At the end of the following year the society had 24 members. The total number of members is said to have been around 150. In addition to Greifswald professors and high officials in Swedish Pomerania, well-known people from other German-speaking countries were also members of the society.

The example of the Leipzig and Jena German Societies is reflected in the statutes of the Greifswalder Society, whose goals, structures and working methods are largely the same. The Articles of Association provided for weekly meetings of the Society to read speeches, poems or other work that was evaluated by the members. At the suggestion of Johann Carl Dähnert , who became secretary and later head of the society in 1743, these works were published from 1741 to 1746 in the Critical Attempts to Adopt the German Language . In its publications, the German Society of Greifswald took part in the scientific debates that were important at the time. This included the Zurich literary dispute between Johann Christoph Gottscheds and the Swiss Johann Jakob Bodmer and Johann Jakob Breitinger , in which the Greifswald authors supported the Swiss point of view.

After the end of the Critical Trials , the general activities of the Society also declined. Following developments in other societies, attempts were made to renew society by opening it up to a broader scientific field beyond its preoccupation with German language and literature. From 1750 to 1756 Dähnert published the Pomeranian Library as a supplementary monthly .

Around 1757 the company was dissolved. No activities took place during the Seven Years' War . In 1763 Dähnert tried unsuccessfully to re-establish the German Society without Augustin von Balthasar, who had gone to Wismar as Vice-President of the Tribunal .

The society's archive has been lost. The Society's library was transferred to the Greifswald University Library at the beginning of the 1750s .

Known members

Foreign members

literature

  • Robert Hasenjaeger: "From the literary and scientific life of Greifswald in the second third of the eighteenth century". In: Rügisch-Pommerscher Geschichtsverein (Hrsg.): Pomeranian year books . Vol. 8, Julius Abel, Greifswald 1907, pp. 135–158.
  • Richard Schultz: The Royal German Society of Greifswald . Dissertation, Greifswald 1914.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Detlef Döring : German Societies in Pomerania in the Age of Enlightenment. In: Jens Olesen (Hrsg.): The University of Greifswald in the educational landscape of the Baltic Sea region. Lit-Verlag, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-0189-2 , p. 126f. ( Google books ).
  2. ↑ Werner Buchholz : Pomerania. In: Werner Buchholz (ed.): The end of the early modern era in “Third Germany”: Bavaria, Hanover, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, the Rhineland and Saxony in comparison. (= Historical magazine. Supplement 37) Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-486-64437-8 , pp. 97-98 ( Google books ).