Friedrich Daniel Behn
Friedrich Daniel Behn (* 1734 in Lübeck ; † October 5, 1804 in Lübeck) was a German educator , rector of the Katharineum in Lübeck and a representative of the Enlightenment .
Life
Behn studied philosophy and theology at the University of Jena . During his studies he became a member of the "German Society" founded in 1728 to promote the mother tongue and German rhetoric, of which Lessing and Klopstock were also members. The Society later made him an honorary member , as did the German Society in Leipzig .
After completing his master's degree, Behn returned to Lübeck and in 1763 became sub-rector of the Katharineum under Johann Daniel Overbeck ; Vice-Rector since 1779 and succeeded Overbeck as Rector in 1796.
He was married to Catharina Margarethe, b. Käselau (1746–1806), daughter of the wealthy Lübeck businessman Hermann Peter Käselau. Of his sons was Hermann Friedrich Behn (* 1767) Pastor and 1829 as Senior Chief minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lübeck; Georg Heinrich Behn became a doctor in Lübeck.
Act
In 1778 Behn emerged as an opponent of Lessing in the fragmentation dispute , for which he earned his ironic criticism and Johann Melchior Goezes praise. He was also critical of Immanuel Kant's thoughts.
Nevertheless, he developed into one of the most important promoters of enlightenment ideas in Lübeck. He combined educational commitment with observation of nature and society. For example, he published his Notes on the Northern Lights and looked at coinage and how the introduction of government bonds in Great Britain and the state lottery in France affected the finances of these countries.
As rector, Behn succeeded in completely reforming the Katharineum, which in 1798 only had 27 students. He expanded the curriculum, which had previously only been aimed at the training of scholars, by setting up real classes and introducing more contemporary teaching methods. Another part of the reform was the abolition of the cantor's council in 1801 and thus the end of the obligation for students to perform liturgical singing in Lübeck's main churches, which had existed since 1531 .
He was one of the founders of the Literary Society, from which a little later the Society for the Promotion of Charitable Activities emerged . Behn was also active in the natural sciences. He translated Jakob Theodor Klein's "Classification and Brief History of the Four-Footed Animals" and its "Preparation for a Complete Bird History" from Latin and provided them with extensive additions. Both works appeared in 1760. He used them to create very early natural history works in German. Most of the books on animals and plants had previously only been published in the scientific language of Latin and were therefore not accessible to many people.
Tomb
Behn belonged to the group of enlightenment-minded personalities in Lübeck who, as part of a reform movement, laid out grave sites in the churchyard of St. Lorenzkirche , which was previously only used as a plague and poor cemetery . His classicist tomb in the form of a stepped sandstone obelisk has been preserved and is a monument to the grave culture of the Enlightenment period. The inscription pays tribute to him:
Proven by pure pious mind, bright insight, thorough knowledge, rare professional loyalty,
generous citizen, zealous teacher, affectionate husband, feeling father.
Respected, loved, adored, his own, alas, unforgettable.
In addition to the inscription, numerous symbolic jewelry adorns the stone: on the front a beehive (the symbol of the charitable ) and on the back a compass, triangle and square measure, which indicate Behn's membership in a Masonic lodge. In addition, there is an ouroboros and a winged hourglass on the stone below the top of the obelisk . The stepped base contains a round-arched niche on both sides of the tomb. On the front it contains an urn with the inscription: “They are only resting” and on the back a hanging oil lamp. Next to the urn there is a tear bottle in each of the gussets.
Fonts (selection)
- Attempt of a poem about the lust for the countryside. Lübeck: Böckmann 1754
- Jakob Theodor Kleins, Secretary of the City of Danzig, the Royal Society in London, and the Bolognese Academy of Sciences Member, Classification and Brief History of the Quadruped Animals. Lübeck: Schmidt 1760
- The Northern Lights: In addition to a picture as it appeared on January 18th in Lübeck in 1770. Lübeck: Donatius 1770
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Defense of the noblest truths of the Christian religion primarily against the new attacks in Lübeck: Donatius 1778 (Behn's contribution to the fragments dispute)
Digital copy of the copy from the Berlin State Library ( VD 18 digital) -
Defense of the biblical story of the resurrection of Jesus against the well-known Wolfenbüttel attacks. 2nd edition Hannover, 1778
digitized copy of the Berlin State Library ( VD 18 digital) -
Anti-Lessing. [s. l.] 1778
digitized copy of the Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen ( VD 18 digital) - Thoughts of the Mysteries of the Trinity. 1781
-
The different ways that Great Britain borrowed for a few years through its government bonds and France through its lottery of 1783: presented impartially and held against each other. Lübeck: Donatius 1786
digitized copy of the Lower Saxony State and University Library in Göttingen - The beginnings of coin science especially in relation to the Lübeck coin base. Lübeck: Donatius 1789
- Proposals for the reform of the Lübeck high school according to pedagogical principles. Lübeck: Bohn, 1801
- Life and merits of Hans Bernhard Ludwig Lembke Physicist of the city of Lübeck. Lübeck: Römhild 1803.
Behn wrote the text of the evening music from 1771:
- The shepherds in the field of Bethlehem: from the second chapter of the Evangelist Lucas from the 10th to the 15th verse; a sacred song poem in the usual evening music of the city of Lübeck in the main church of St. Mary for the year 1771 for the building / performed by Adolph Carl Kunzen . [Preliminary report by Friederich Daniel Behn] Lübeck: Green 1771
literature
- Sylvina Zander: Eternal Life: Religious symbols on the tombstone of an enlightener. In: Ohlsdorf - magazine for mourning culture . Volume 92, 2006
- Sylvina Zander: "May we have a rural churchyard!" The "non-profit" and the vision of a new burial culture around 1800. In: Der Wagen . 2006, pp. 273-288.
Web links
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Johann Daniel Overbeck |
Rector of the Katharineum in Lübeck 1796–1804 |
Christian Julius Wilhelm Mosche |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Behn, Friedrich Daniel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German educator, rector of the Katharineum in Lübeck and representative of the Enlightenment |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1734 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lübeck |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 5, 1804 |
| Place of death | Lübeck |