Ferdinand Kommerell

Ferdinand Kommerell (around 1860)

Ferdinand Kommerell (born January 16, 1818 in Tübingen ; † February 22, 1872 there ) was a mathematician . He was senior real teacher in Heidenheim and Tübingen and honorary professor at the University of Tübingen .

Life

youth

Ferdinand Kommerell was the fourth and youngest child of the goldsmith and silver worker Heinrich Kommerell (1774–1850) and his wife, Rosine geb. Gottschick (1784–1840), a daughter of the Tübingen city governor and court relative Johann Christoph Gottschick . He first attended elementary school and the Lyceum in Tübingen, where he was a remarkably good student. In 1831 he passed the state examination and was in the Maulbronn seminar until 1835 . His interest and talent for mathematics and physics became apparent early on. He would have liked to have studied these subjects - Ephorus Karl Friedrich Hauber prepared him for mathematics at the end of the seminar. A degree of this kind was rather unusual at the time, which is why his father, following the advice of his brother-in-law Johann Georg Freihofer (1806–1877), had him prepared for a normal career in theology. Ferdinand had to bow to his father's wish. So he was accepted into the Tübingen monastery and studied theology and philosophy (with Heinrich Ewald , Kern, Ferdinand Christian Baur and Eduard Zeller ), but soon he also attended mathematical (with Hohl) and scientific lectures ( physics with Johann Gottlieb Nörrenberg ). In 1840 he passed his first theological examination with the grade IIa, but he stayed in Tübingen for another semester to continue his mathematical and physical studies. In the winter semester of 1840/41 he went on a scientific trip to Berlin , where he studied both theological and scientific subjects.

Between training and work

Kommerell then took on a vicar position in Calw and, after six months, one in Kuppingen near Herrenberg. In his free time he continued to study mathematics. He was in correspondence with his former teacher Hauber, who gave him guidance. The Kuppinger pastor praised him in the leaving certificate as a "loving, impeccable, tirelessly hardworking and above all praise" person. In 1844 Kommerell received the offer to take on a teaching position at a private school in Stetten im Remstal , which he gladly accepted. He taught languages ​​and mathematics there. Through “liveliness, agility and his own zeal for the subjects presented” he was able to inspire his students, even those who were considered weak, with a desire and love to learn and thus achieve very good results. However, due to differences of opinion with the director of the institution in relation to a teacher colleague, he gave up the position after a year and returned to Tübingen. There he officially resumed the never-interrupted mathematical-physical studies in order to pass the senior realteacher exam with grade IIa in December 1846.

Julie Kommerell b. Steudel

For the prescribed probationary year, Kommerell got the position of a repetitee for higher mathematics at the Polytechnic in Stuttgart in January 1847 . In May 1847 he was also official administrator for German language and literature . In November 1847 he passed the practical part of the senior real teacher examination with the grade Ib. In the winter of 1848/49 he undertook a technologically oriented scientific trip to Belgium and France , for which he received government support of 600 fl . On the trip he visited numerous industrial and commercial properties and attended many university lectures, e.g. B. on the application of natural sciences in agriculture with Antoine Becquerel , physics with Desprez, astronomy with Leverrier, probability calculation with Lamè, physics of gases and vapors with Henri Victor Regnault , descriptive geometry with Théodore Olivier , applied mechanics with Arthur Morin and, last but not least, applied chemistry with Anselme Payen . In addition, he conducted studies in the libraries, which served as preparation and follow-up for visits to industrial objects. He wrote a 33-page report about the trip.

After returning at the end of March 1850, Kommerell first worked as an official administrator, first in Reutlingen , then in Sulz . From October 15, 1850, he got a job as a real-world teacher in Heidenheim with a salary of 700 fl plus 80 fl housing allowance annually. Thanks to this attitude, he was able to marry Julie Steudel (born September 2, 1825; † October 9, 1886, a daughter of the Esslingen merchant Immanuel Steudel and his wife Wilhelmine) on October 10, 1850 in Eßlingen , to whom he had become engaged a year earlier .

Tübingen

At the beginning of October 1852 Kommerell finally got the offer to take over a teaching and board position at the Realschule in Tübingen from October 23rd. The salary was initially 1000 fl annually. He held this position until his death, i.e. almost 20 years. He mainly taught math and science, but also taught French for many years , but sometimes history , geography and German as well. Thanks to his great commitment, he was able to strengthen the school during his tenure and bring it to its first bloom. During his tenure, the growing school moved twice: in 1853 from the former granary to the girls' school building at the collegiate church and in 1861 to the Schola anatolica on the Schulberg .

His energy was still enough for other activities. Since 1856 he was also the director of the newly founded commercial training school, where he taught mechanics and technology. Despite this workload, he found the time to write his dissertation on “ perpendicular perpendiculars in triangles and squares”, which he submitted to the University of Tübingen in 1857 and which earned him a doctorate. In response to a much-cherished request, in 1860 he founded the “Institute for Confirmed Daughters”, initially private, which later became the secondary school for girls . In addition to his previous offices, he also ran this school and taught physics there. He also taught physics at high school . From 1857 he taught geometric drawing to the pen's teacher training candidates who were preparing for secondary school . He supervised these students as part of the practices created at the secondary school from 1860 onwards. From 1867 his teaching at the monastery was expanded to include elementary mathematics . Although the faculty disagreed, the Senate of the University of Tübingen, in view of Kommerell's reputation , applied for a teaching position for him in February 1868. The Ministry of Culture complied with this request with a decree of July 1868 and Kommerell became a lecturer in descriptive geometry from the winter semester of 1868/69 . When the Mathematical Seminar was founded in December 1869 by Prof. Hermann Hankel and Privatdozent Sigmund Gundelfinger , Kommerell was part of his teaching staff and was secretary. Nonetheless, he was also a valued real teacher examiner in Stuttgart. In 1871 preparations were made at the university for the opening of a chair in technology, which Kommerell was to take over. Because of his illness, which resulted in death, it never happened again.

In addition to his active teaching activity, Kommerell wrote several writings, including two textbooks. His textbook on stereometry formed the basis of stereometry school lessons in Württemberg for 60 years . A treatise by Kommerell was published in almost every year of the "Correspondence Sheet for Scholars and Realschulen".

Kommerell initially lived in Tübingen in the Neckarhalde , in 1859 he moved to the city ​​moat opposite the Botanical Garden . The second, larger apartment also had a room that could be rented out to students. Its most famous tenant was the then doctoral student and later Nobel Prize winner William Ramsay . In the early days, an open evening was regularly held in which students were happy to participate, including B. the later Berlin professors Gustav Schmoller (economist) and Julius Weizsäcker (historian). Kommerell had friendly, informal relationships with his neighbors and their families. They met at home or went for walks. These are Prof. Wilhelm Siegmund Teuffel , Jäger chancellery, Prof. Heinrich von Weber , post office cashier Sartor, cousin consul Louis Commerell, Prof. Kraut, Prof. Müller, Prof. Bender, repeaters Gustav Wilhelm Sandberger and Demmler. After moving to the city ​​moat , Prof. Maier joined them. The brothers Carl Heinrich and Julius Weizsäcker and Chancellor Gustav von Rümelin were among the people he knew from university and with whom he had private relationships .

Kommerell was so busy that it's hard to imagine. This enabled him on the one hand to have the right mental and physical disposition, on the other hand he had support in his wife, who always supported him. The happily married couple lived in Tübingen without taking any major trips. In summer the couple usually went to see their in-laws in Esslingen. Only once, in 1870, did the couple go on vacation together to Switzerland , where they briefly relaxed on Lake Lucerne and the Rigi .

Death and remembrance

Kommerell contracted a brain abscess at the age of 54 , which became apparent with the first attack of the disease on January 2, 1872. After the initial improvement, further attacks followed, which resulted in paralysis on one side. In the end, Kommerell died shortly afterwards, on February 22nd, 1872. At the funeral on February 24th, Diaconus Seyerlen and, on behalf of the higher authority, senior teacher Fischer gave the funeral orations.

To honor the memory of this outstanding man, an appeal for donations appeared in July 1876. The donations were received in abundance. Instead of an originally planned memorial plaque, a marble bust could be donated from the money collected , for which the drawing teacher Weidle was commissioned. The bust was set up in the drawing room of the secondary school and with the celebration on February 22nd, 1881, when Kommerell's successor as director of the secondary school was Dr. Friedrich Ramsler gave a speech, inaugurated. After the construction of the new school building in Uhlandstrasse , the bust was moved to the convent room of the new building in 1910. The rest of the donations received became the basis of a commercial foundation.

power

Kommerell had not only a thorough and extensive mathematical knowledge, but also a talent for teaching. Although he worked at a secondary school, he had - thanks to the Maulbronn seminar and studies at the Tübingen monastery - a solid humanistic education that he valued. He had a very practical sense and a "warm" understanding of the youth. All of these characteristics made him an excellent teacher and headmaster. He was praised for the versatility and agility of his mind, which quickly found its way in areas that were still unfamiliar to him. Since his opinion was also valued by his superiors, he shaped the school system in Württemberg to a certain extent. He advocated early on that real teachers should study at the university. Commerically, both the tendency to progress and a sober prudence were characterized.

Kommerell was also very talented in drawing and left an abundance of drawings, which often depicted scenes from his life, from the life of his family or friends in a humorous way. From the earliest times he also made numerous portraits of his students and colleagues, as well as landscapes and architectural depictions. A Luther portrait he had drawn at the request of the parish of Kuppingen still hung in the sacristy in the 1920s. He also found the time and leisure to write poetry that expressed his delicious humor, warm feeling, and serene personality. As one of the few Swabians, Kommerell had been a staunch supporter of the unification of Germany under Prussia's leadership since his youth and was pleased to see this during his lifetime.

children

• Erwin (born September 5, 1851 in Heidenheim, † January 18, 1854 in Tübingen)
• Clara (born December 30, 1852 in Tübingen; † October 3, 1887 in Ulm; ⚭ 1880 Eberhard Nestle, clergyman)
• Eugen (November 17, 1854; † February 13, 1936 in Bad Cannstatt), doctor
• Richard (January 28, 1857 - September 12, 1940 in Stuttgart), businessman
• Elise (Elle) (July 16, 1861; ⚭ 1883 Otto Pfeilsticker, doctor in Schwäbisch Hall)
• Victor (April 17, 1866 - † May 29, 1948 in Tübingen), mathematician

Publications

• Tables for attaching circular arcs, 1854
• Thoughts of a secondary school teacher about secondary school . In: "Correspondence sheet for scholars and secondary schools" 1854
• School book of plane geometry , Tübingen: Guttenberg 1856 (three editions)
• Citizen school and secondary school . In: "Correspondence sheet for scholars and secondary schools" 1864
• Textbook of stereometry , 1864, 2nd edition, Tübingen: Laupp 1873
  • Textbook of stereometry. On the basis of Dr. Ferd. Kommerell's textbook revised and expanded by Guido Hauck , 8th edition, Tübingen: Laupp 1900, 10th edition 1909
• Collection of exercises from descriptive geometry . In: Program of the royal high school in Tübingen at the end of the school year 1868–69 , Tübingen: LF Fues 1869
• F. Kommerell's tasks from descriptive geometry , compiled by H. Bolken, Tübingen: F. Fues 1886

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Otto Kommerell: Family Chronicle Kommerell ... , p. 142
2. ↑ Otto Kommerell: Family Chronicle Kommerell ... , p. 122
3. ↑ Husband of the older sister Charlotte, dean in Nagold .
4. ↑ In the certificate it was noted that he was in good health, taller than average, with a clear pronunciation, and had easy-to-read handwriting.
5. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 30–31
6. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 31–32
7. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 32–33
8. ↑ He got to know her at a ball in honor of the flag consecration of the Stuttgart People's Armed Forces, of which Kommerell was a prime lieutenant.
9. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: "Tübinger Blätter" 17, 1922/24, p. 33
10. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 33–34
11. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 34–36
12. ↑ ^{a b} Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: "Tübinger Blätter" 17, 1922/24, p. 36
13. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 36–37
14. ↑ In the funeral address, Diaconus Seyerlen extensively praised Kommerell's happy family life and the devoted support from his wife Julie (p. 4), as well as his “admirable workforce and tireless ambition” (p. 5).
15. ↑ ^{a b} Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: "Tübinger Blätter" 17, 1922/24, p. 37
16. ↑ For the inauguration of the new gas street lighting on October 25, 1862, he wrote a humorous poem about the previous [slate oil] lanterns .
17. ↑ Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 32–37

literature

• Otto Kommerell : Family Chronicle Kommerell. Family tree with 79 pictures and 15 tables drawn up between 1915–1942 , Frankfurt a. M.: Kramer 1943
• Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell . From family papers. In: “Tübinger Blätter” 17, 1922/24, pp. 30–37
• Words at the grave of Dr. Ferdinand Kommerell , spoken by Diaconus Dr. Seyerlen, and obituary on the grave of Prof. Dr. Kommerell, from Oberstudienrath Fischer, Tübingen: Laupp 1872