Friedrich David Gräter
Friedrich David Gräter (born April 22, 1768 in Schwäbisch Hall , † August 2, 1830 in Schorndorf ), one of the founders of scientific Nordic studies in Germany .
Friedrich David Gräter, who came from an old bourgeois family in the imperial city of Schwäbisch Hall , attended the grammar school in his hometown, studied theology , philosophy and philology in Halle from 1786 , continued his studies in Erlangen and in 1789 became a teacher of Greek and Hebrew at the Schwäbisch Hall grammar school called. In 1804 he took over as its rector. In this position he tried hard to expand and maintain his school, but could not prevent King Friedrich I of Württemberg from demoting it to a Latin school in 1811. In 1818 he was appointed rector of the grammar school inUlm as well as the pedagogue arch of the Danube district. In 1826 he was retired, which he spent in Schorndorf . Friedrich David Gräter was in his first childless marriage with Christiane Spittler, in his second marriage with Maria Elisabetha geb. Hofmann, widowed Seiferheld and Haspel, with whom he had a daughter. In 1791 he became a member of the Pegnese Flower Order in Nuremberg under the member name "Vergißmeinnicht" and number 214, in 1792 a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin .
meaning
Gräter was in lively correspondence with personalities such as Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried von Herder . His research on German folklore and Nordic antiquity ( Scandinavian studies ) are of particular importance . He was the first in Germany to study the Norse language and literature according to strict scientific criteria. In 1789 he published an anthology of Old Norse poems under the title "Nordic Flowers" as his first work. Numerous other editions and studies on Old Norse subjects followed, especially in the magazines "Bragur" and "Idunna und Hermode" published by Gräter. Gräter also dealt with "old German studies", which meant folk songs, customs and other things in addition to older literature. With his insight into the historical character of popular tradition, he was ahead of his time. His academic merits were eclipsed by a bitter argument with the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm , whose romanticist views he contradicted. The derogatory judgment of the Brothers Grimm about their opponent, based on scientific differences as well as personal antipathy, was repeated unchecked for a long time in the history of science: "The Brothers Grimm almost succeeded in hushing up the founder of scientific Nordic studies in Germany" (Anne Heinrichs) .
Fonts (selection)
- Nordic flowers , Graeff, Leipzig 1789.
- Collected poetic and prosaic writings , Volume 1, Mohr and Zimmer, Heidelberg 1809.
- Scattered leaves , two volumes, Ulm 1822/1824.
- Letters on the spirit of Nordic mythology and poetry , Ulm 1823.
- Attempt to introduce an introduction to Nordic antiquity, especially for poets and artists, two volumes, Hilscher, Dresden 1829/1831.
- About Fulda's life, studies and his system of common roots of all human languages, Nast, Ludwigsburg 1831.
- Correspondence between Jacob Grimm and Friedrich David Graeter from the years 1810 - 1813 , Henninger Heilbronn 1877.
literature
- A. Heinrichs: The Brothers Grimm versus Friedrich David Gräter - a fatal rift . In: Württembergisch Franken Vol. 70 (1986), pp. 19-34
- Friedrich David Gräter: Scattered leaves: 1-2. Collection , 1824 (digitized from Google Books)
- Dieter Narr: Friedrich David Gräter and his contribution to folklore . In: ders .: Studies on the Late Enlightenment in the German Southwest (Publications of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg, Series B: Research, Vol. 93), Stuttgart 1979, pp. 379–403
- I. Schwarz: Friedrich David Gräter . Greifswald 1935
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Friedrich David Gräter (Württembergisch Franken, vol. 52), Schwäbisch Hall 1968, therein among others:
- Hermann Bausinger : Gräter's contribution to folk song research . Pp. 73–94 ( full text )
- Hans Dieter Haller: Friedrich David Gräter (1768 to 1830) . In: Pegasus in the country - writers in Hohenlohe . Baier-Verlag, 2006, pp. 154–159.
Web links
- Literature by and about Friedrich David Gräter in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Friedrich David Gräter in the German Digital Library
- Description of the estate in the German Literature Archive in Marbach
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grater, Friedrich David |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Founder of scientific Nordic studies in Germany |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 22, 1768 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schwäbisch Hall |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 2, 1830 |
| Place of death | Schorndorf |