Erduin Julius Koch

Erduin Julius Koch (born June 13, 1764 in Loburg , † December 21, 1834 in Creuzburg ) was a German literary historian and classical philologist .

Life

Erduin Julius Koch was born on June 13, 1764 in Loburg, the son of a preacher, and spent his childhood and youth in Berlin. During his school days he came into contact with Middle High German literature through his teacher Christoph Heinrich Müller . For his part, Müller was a student of the important Swiss collector and editor of old German-language sources Johann Jakob Bodmer in Zurich. Koch thus had one of the most important connoisseurs of Middle High German poetry as a teacher. After his school days in Berlin he studied theology in Halle, followed by classical philology with Friedrich August Wolf . After completing his studies, Koch taught Greek, Latin and German language and literature from 1786 to 1793 at the pedagogy of the Königliche Realschule in Berlin. At the age of 29 he took on a preaching position at the Marienkirche in Berlin and gave up teaching. On July 16, 1795, Koch married a daughter of the war and domain council Randel. In 1810 he was removed from office because of his increasing alcohol consumption. In 1815 he got a job as a dietitian at the newly founded library in Breslau, but was soon removed from service here too. He died impoverished on December 21, 1834 in Creuzburg in the royal country poor house.

Koch as a literary historian

Compendium of German Literature History

Koch published his main work in two volumes, the first of which appeared in May 1790 (2nd edition 1795), the second in 1798. This work is important on various levels. On the one hand as a compilation of countless titles, on the other hand as an expression of the methods and scholarship at the end of the 18th century. In addition, the “Compendium” is an important testimony to literary instruction at that time. Koch can be counted among the pioneers of didactics in German language and literature, as he was one of the first to teach German in the history of literature.

Erduin Julius Koch compiled the knowledge of his time in this biographical-bibliographical handbook. He was supported in this by friends, collectors and librarians who made an important contribution to his own research in numerous archives and libraries. The “Compendium”, however, remained a fragment, because while the original plan was to write such “Compendia” for all areas of knowledge, only the area of ​​poetry was dealt with. All other subjects remained a wish and fell victim to the literary historian's unfortunate circumstances.

The “Compendium” is almost 400 pages long and, in addition to the preface, is divided into an introduction and two parts. The introduction provides information about the terms, scope, purpose and method of the work as well as sources used, resources and previous knowledge of antiquarianism. The two published parts of the “Compendium” are divided into a “Chronological Overview of German Literature and Language History” (Part 1) and the “Scientific Outline of German Literature and Language History” (Part 2).

The first part provides a chronological outline of political history and places these dates in line with those of literary and linguistic history. Academic and scientific institutions and important scientific inventions are also taken into account. The second part is the actual main part. Here Koch describes the works of the genre poetry known to him in the "Scientific Floor Plan" and provides them with brief information about the type and edition of the books, their structure and, in the case of manuscripts, also provides an overview of which libraries contain which copies. He arranges the works of the poets according to generic forms and types of poetry so that the works of an author can be memorized in the context of the genres.

The “History of the Beautiful Sciences” should be added to the section “A. Poetry "also includes the section" B. History of honesty and that of eloquence ”, because that is how far Koch's“ supply of materials ”reached. But Koch found neither the time nor the appropriate circumstances for this second section.

The investigation ends with the year 1781, because "since that point in time our literature has taken a tendency to sink, which we have to watch for a few decades before we can establish a new epoch in our literary history." (From the preface to second edition of the compendium)

About German language and literature

This publication appeared in June 1793, three years after the first volume of the "Compendium". Even more than in his foreword, Koch describes in this essay the main features of his scientific work in the literary field. After introductory words, in which Koch flatters the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II , the first section “German Language and Literature” follows. According to Raabe, this section represents "the forgotten birth certificate of German studies as a historical science of German language and literature." In this document, Koch demands that every linguist who wants to study German language and literature first be trained in Latin and Ancient Greek should graduate. In addition to this requirement, Koch suggests the chronological processing of German-language literature.

Only three copies of this font are known: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Bibliothèque nationale de France Paris, Trier City Library . In Paul Raabe's essay , it is available in slightly abbreviated form as a diplomatically accurate copy.

Appreciation

Erduin Julius Koch's reputation in the world of scholars decreased with increasing age. While as a 26-year-old teacher he had presented a scientific standard that had never existed before, he increasingly fell victim to alcoholism and thereby lost both the position of preacher in Berlin and the position of dietitian at the Breslau library. Until his death he had largely sold his extensive collection of books in order to be able to finance his living and his addiction. “He died on December 21, 1834, quietly and without pain. He had used up his books and left nothing behind, ”was how Gustav Freytag ended the résumé begun by Hoffmann von Fallersleben in an unflattering way in the general German biography. With this formulation one of the cornerstones for the forgetting of Erduin Julius Koch and the misunderstanding of his pioneering work in literary history was laid. Had Koch succeeded in pursuing his plans, he would have become a central figure in the history of German literary studies, but “he appeared like a comet in the sky of early Romanticism and sank. (...) He was no longer involved in the new beginning of German research. "(Raabe, p. 142)

Works

• Compendium of the German History of Literature , Berlin (1790)
• Hodegetik for university studies at all faculties. Berlin in the Frankesche Buchhandlung (1792)
• On German Language and Literature , Berlin (1793)
• Outline of a history of the language and literature of the Germans from the earliest times up to Lessing's death / 1 , Berlin (1795) (also 2nd edition of the compendium from 1790)
• Outline of a history of the language and literature of the Germans from the earliest times up to Lessing's death / 2 , Berlin (1798)

Secondary literature

• Wilhelm Scherer :  Koch, Erduin Julius . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 375.
• Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben : Erduin Julius Koch. A contribution to the history of German philology in the 18th century. In: Weimarisches Jahrbuch für deutsche Sprache, Literatur und Kunst I. Weimar 1854, pp. 58–72.
• Uwe Meves: On the reception of old German literature at the schools of learning in Prussia at the end of the 18th century. In: Peter Wapnewski (ed.): Medieval reception. A symposium. Stuttgart 1986. pp. 473–497 (German symposia. Report volumes. 6)
• Alexander Gillies: Wackenroder's Apprenticeship to Literature. His teachers and their influence. In: German Studies. Presented to Professor HG Fiedler. Oxford 1938, pp. 188ff.
• Volkmar Braunbehrens : National Education and National Literature . On the reception of 17th century literature from Gottsched to Gervinus. Berlin 1974.
• Paul Raabe : Erduin Julius Koch's plans to research the German language and literature. In: Studies on German Literature. Festschrift for Adolf Beck on his seventieth birthday. Edited by U. Fülleborn and J. Krogoll. Heidelberg 1979. pp. 142-157.

Web links

• Literature by and about Erduin Julius Koch in the catalog of the German National Library