Ernst Bischoff (classical philologist)

Ernst Bischoff (born May 2, 1858 in Leipzig ; † May 16, 1922 there ) was a German classical philologist and grammar school teacher who worked at the Nicolaigymnasium from 1884 . He is particularly prominent through studies of the Greek calendar system .

life and work

Ernst Bischoff, the son of Oberpostsekretär Wilhelm Bischoff, first attended the community school, then from 1870 to 1879 the Leipzig Nicolaigymnasium . At the suggestion of his teachers, he then studied classical philology at the University of Leipzig . There he belonged to the philological proseminar and seminar under Ludwig Lange and Otto Ribbeck . He also heard German lectures from Eduard Zarncke , pedagogical lectures from Friedrich August Eckstein and archaeological lectures from Lange and Justus Hermann Lipsius ; The latter also introduced Bischoff to epigraphyone that was of great importance for its scientific development. On August 5, 1884, he was with the dissertation De fastis Graecorum antiquioribus Dr. phil. doctorate , which appeared in the Leipzig Studies for Classical Philology . On October 24, 1884, Bischoff passed the teaching examination in Greek, Latin and German.

After completing his studies, Bischoff returned to the Nicolaigymnasium as a trial candidate on December 1, 1884, where he spent his entire career. In addition to German, Greek and Latin, he occasionally taught geography, history and writing. At Easter 1885, Bischoff was appointed extraordinary professor of the Sexta; on July 1, 1888 he was employed on a regular basis and on July 1, 1891 promoted to senior teacher. From Michaelis 1888 he also managed the student library for the lower classes of the grammar school. In 1903 he was appointed high school professor.

As a high school teacher, Bischoff continued to work scientifically. His research focus, due to the influence of his academic teacher Lipsius, was the Greek calendar system , knowledge of which had made great progress in the 19th century through the numerous new discoveries of inscriptions. In particular, the calendars of the cities outside of Attica had previously not been well known. In his extensive doctoral thesis, Bischoff already collected numerous references and published several individual studies on the Greek calendar system in specialist journals, including a commemorative publication for Justus Hermann Lipsius. Bischoff also supported him in the revision of a standard work, the 4th edition of Georg Friedrich Schömann's Greek antiquities : In the second volume of this work ( International Relations and Religions ), Bischoff revised the chapter on state cults and festivals (pp. 454-568 ). From 1910, Bischoff wrote numerous articles on Greek month names for Paulys Realenzyklopädie der Classical Antiquities (RE).

In addition, Bischoff wrote a paper on the teaching staff of the Nicolaigymnasium in Leipzig 1816–1896 / 97 (Leipzig 1897), in which he gave short biographies of the teachers from 1816 to 1896. The work is an important source for the history of this high school in the 19th century.

Fonts (selection)

• De fastis Graecorum antiquioribus . Leipzig 1884 ( Leipzig Studies on Classical Philology 7, pp. 313-416; = dissertation)
• The teaching staff of the Nicolaigymnasium in Leipzig 1816–1896 / 97: Biographical and bibliographical contributions to school history . Leipzig 1897 (including autobiographical information, p. 51; digitized version )

literature

• New Leipzig Newspaper . May 17, 1922

Web links

Wikisource: Ernst Bischoff  - Sources and full texts