Eduard Vieweg

Eduard Vieweg

Hans Heinrich Eduard Vieweg (born July 15, 1797 in Berlin , † December 1, 1869 in Braunschweig ) was a German publisher and owner of Vieweg Verlag .

education

Eduard Vieweg was the son of the publisher Friedrich Vieweg (1761–1835) and his wife Charlotte, b. Camp. In Braunschweig, where the publishing house was relocated in 1799, he received an upbringing under the influence of his grandfather Joachim Heinrich Campe , which was primarily aimed at physical training and practical efficiency.

Vieweg attended grammar school here, but joined the elite company of the Brunswick hussar regiment on December 14, 1813, when the rightful Duke Friedrich Wilhelm returned. Promoted to sergeant on January 1, 1814, he took part in the campaign to Brabant, but had to be on leave in July 1814 because of a foot ailment caused by riding and was probably discharged entirely in April 1815. As a result, he had to spend several years in the camp and kept a stiff ankle.

After initial training at his father's publishing house, Eduard Vieweg worked from 1821 to 1823 at Hoffmann and Campe, his uncle Julius Campe's publishing house in Hamburg. He then went on trips to France and England. In Paris he got to know Justus von Liebig , with whom he remained in business and friendly terms throughout his life. In England it was shaped primarily politically. On May 23, 1825, he married Luise Campe, a daughter of the Leipzig Finance Councilor Heinrich Wilhelm Campe (1771–1862).

Activity as a publisher

Eduard Vieweg

In 1825 Eduard Vieweg became a partner in what was now the publishing bookstore Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn and first modernized the printing company. He had brought an iron press from Paris in 1822 and a Columbia printing press from England the next year , one of the first in Germany. He acquired a patent for the latter and had it produced in the iron works in Zorge am Harz, from where it was delivered to many printing works.

In addition to good pressure, Vieweg also paid attention to proper equipment. Woodcuts , which were used to clarify the texts, were made in our own workshop from 1841. With his brother Karl, a farmer, he founded his own paper mill "Gebrüder Vieweg" and a windmill on the Wendhausen castle and estate . The castle and estate, which they leased for 99 years in 1836, was acquired by his son Heinrich in 1873.

Eduard Vieweg mainly included scientific works in the publishing program, preferably by the leading scholars in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology, natural history, mathematics and technology. In doing so, he recognized upcoming talents and cultivated friendships with the authors, who valued him because of his technical demands. In addition to standard scientific works such as the Concise Dictionary of Chemistry , which was initially published by Hermann Kolbe and later by Hermann Christian von Fehling , he also published books that were intended to ensure further dissemination and practical application of scientific knowledge.

Newspaper publisher

Politically, Eduard Vieweg was moderately liberal and strove for a united Germany on a federal and liberal basis under the leadership of Prussia. To this end, he published the “German National Newspaper from Braunschweig and Hanover” from August 23, 1831 under the editorship of Karl Heinrich Hermes , which ceased its publication around the end of 1840 due to censorship . On March 20, 1848, the "Newspaper for the German People" appeared, from July 1 as the Deutsche Reichs-Zeitung under the editorship of Karl Andree and later Hermann Baumgarten . After Prussia had annexed Schleswig-Holstein in the German War of 1866 and Vieweg found himself increasingly abandoned with his convictions, he stopped the publication of the Reichszeitung on August 2, 1866, “until better days”.

Political activity

Eduard Vieweg was a member of the accounting committee of the German Booksellers Association from 1838 to 1850, and was often a member of specialist committees. His concerns were the freedom of the press, a secure literary legal status and an appropriate organization of the German book trade.

Vieweg has also been active in local politics since his youth. In the turmoil of 1830 he became adjutant to the commander of the newly established civil guard; For many years he was the church leader of the Reformed congregation (1829–69), city councilor (1839–55) and member of the state assembly (1848–67). He was also involved in founding the Braunschweiger Bank in 1852, of which he was a member of the board of directors until 1861. When the plan temporarily emerged in Braunschweig to hand over the top management of the city as an honorary position to a respected citizen, Vieweg was considered for this position.

Eduard Vieweg was active in German politics in the autumn of 1849 as a member of the German Imperial Party in Gotha and was elected almost unanimously as a member of the Erfurt parliament in 1850. When the Schleswig-Holstein question emerged, Vieweg was on the Congress of Representatives in Frankfurt in 1863 and was a member of the central committee of the 36ers.

Death and succession

On the night of October 28 to 29, 1866, Eduard Vieweg suffered a stroke and remained bedridden until his death on December 1, 1869. His widow survived him until May 16, 1888. The publishing bookstore Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn was passed on to the only descendant Heinrich Vieweg .

literature

• Manfred Dittmann, printing presses from Zorge in the Harz , Iffland-Verlag, Nordhausen 2013
• Kai Drewes: The insurmountability of censorship. An unknown letter from the Braunschweig publisher Eduard Vieweg to Karl Marx from 1846 . In: Archives for the history of the book industry . Volume 66, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 3-11-025105-1 , pp. 155–164 ( also available online as postprint )
• Gabriele Henkel: Vieweg, Hans Heinrich Eduard . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (Hrsg.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries . Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, p. 629
• Lütjen, Andreas: "The bookseller Mr. Eduard Vieweg, (...) travels for pleasure from here via Hamburg to Bergen and further" - two passports of the Braunschweig publisher Eduard Vieweg (1796–1869) from the years 1864 and 1866 as reflected in contemporary sources. In: Beate Nagel (Ed.): 265 years University Library Braunschweig - 65 years Dietmar Brandes; Festschrift for Dietmar Brandes. Braunschweig 2013, pp. ISBN 978-3-927115-72-9 , pp. 307-332
• Edgar Rosen: Eduard Vieweg - life and work . In: Werner Pöls, Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): Modern Braunschweigische Geschichte . Olms, Hildesheim 1982, pp. 95-107
• Paul Zimmermann :  Vieweg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 39, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1895, pp. 689-693.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gerd Biegel : " Involved in political life with energy "