Dionys of Green

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Wilhelm Dionys Grün (also Dionysius ), from 1875 Ritter von Grün, (born January 18, 1819 in Prerau , † February 26, 1896 in Prague ) was an Austrian geographer . Grün was the geography teacher of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and the first professor of geography at the University of Prague .

Life

Dionys came from a poor Jewish family in Moravia . He attended elementary school and, due to a lack of financial means, initially became a farmer . However, the profession could not satisfy him. Through self-study he acquired extensive knowledge, so that at the age of 20 he decided to go to the grammar school in Pressburg .

After successfully completing his degree, Grün studied philosophy and history at Prague University from 1845 . After two years he had to finish his studies for financial reasons. He accepted a position as a private tutor in Dresden . Because of the unrest during the March Revolution from 1848 to 1849, he moved to Berlin and tried to earn his living there by writing and journalistic activities. At the same time, he had the opportunity to attend lectures by the physicist and meteorologist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove and the geographer Carl Ritter at Berlin University . Especially with Ritter, his interest in geography was aroused, so that Grün made the decision to devote himself entirely to geographical science in the future. He later described himself as a pupil of Ritter. In Berlin , after careful consideration, he also converted to Catholicism .

After completing his academic studies, he returned to Austria. Some newspaper articles published in Berlin over the Hungarian uprising had incurred the displeasure of those in power, so he arrested and some time in custody was taken. However, since it turned out to be completely harmless, he was soon released again.

In 1853, Grün accepted a teaching position at the archbishop's grammar school in Leutschau in the Spis County . Just two years later he received a professorship for history and geography at the Academic Gymnasium in Vienna . He worked there for over 20 years. His first own work was the volume of poems Lerchengrüße , which appeared for the first time in 1855 and had a second edition in 1881. In 1866 Grün published a guide to geography for geographic teaching and from 1870 to 1871 a more than 1000-page country and ethnology , the second edition of which was printed in 1873. This work in particular was the reason that in 1872 he was commissioned to teach the then 14-year-old Crown Prince Rudolf in geographical subjects. Green mastered this not always easy task with success. As a result of his lessons, Rudolf awakened and promoted the love of geography that he later expressed on his travels and in several writings on geography. When the course ended in 1875, Grün was awarded the knighthood and thus the nobility in recognition of his services .

In 1875, the German University of Prague appointed Grün as a professor at the newly established Chair of Geography. In his inaugural lecture, he treated geography as an independent science . In 1885 he was forced to retire due to ongoing illnesses. Grün's successor at Prague University was Oskar Lenz . He spent his last years in Prague, where he on 26 February 1896 at the age of 77 years, of senility died. He left his not insignificant book collection to the Geographers' Association at the University of Vienna.

Publications (selection)

  • Lark greetings on April 23rd. Poems. Vienna 1855.
  • Prolog. Vienna 1859.
  • Geography. Guide for the first level of geography lessons. Vienna 1866.
  • Geography, country and ethnology. Vienna 1871.
  • The Peutinger table. Vienna 1874.
  • Geography as an independent science. Prague 1875.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Green, Dionys of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Green, from Dionysius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian geographer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Prerau
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1896
Place of death Prague