Friedrich Zimmermann (Buddhist)

Friedrich Albert Oswald Zimmermann (born April 8, 1852 in Degerloch near Stuttgart ; † June 30, 1917 in Stuttgart) has the first Buddhist textbook in German under the name “Subhadra Bhikschu” or “Subhadra Bickshu” : “ Buddhist Catechism for Introduction in the teaching of Buddha Gotama ”and is considered one of the pioneers of Buddhism in Germany .

Life

Friedrich Zimmermann was married, a mathematician by profession and later an editor, was a co-founder of the “Literary Club” in Stuttgart and came to Buddhism through reading Schopenhauer . His pseudonym suggests that he would have liked to become a monk ( bhikkhu ) himself , but his marital status and a heart disease prevented him from doing this.

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Buddhist Catechism 1888

His book consists (in the first edition in 1888) of 170 questions and answers on the subject of Buddhism, starting with “1. Which religion do you profess? " Up to " 170. Such as "should, in the words of the teaching of the true Bickshu be? . In the introduction Zimmermann refers to the German edition of “Buddhist Catechism” by Henry Steel Olcott , published a year earlier, and justifies the publication of his book with the same title as follows: “Although the Olcott catechism was originally only for the first teaching of Sinhala and Burmese Was intended for children and therefore naturally could not quite meet the demands of educated European readers, the edition was quickly sold out, thus providing evidence that interest in the Buddhist religion is also beginning to stir in the West. "

Zimmermann's pioneering work met with great interest, especially outside academic circles interested in Buddhism, and achieved several German editions, as well as translations into English (London 1890, New York 1895 and 1908 also one in Ceylon by the Mahabodhi Society), French (Paris 1889, Genève 1898), Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Czech, Hungarian and even into Japanese. Two Russian translations were printed but immediately suppressed by the censors.

Friedrich Zimmermann pursued a plan to found a Buddhist monastery in Europe in 1910/11 and called for donations for the project. "Although Zimmermann, one of the most prominent members of the scene, called, only nine German Buddhists donated 570 marks."

Web links

• Literature by and about Friedrich Zimmermann in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Subhadra Bhikshu: Buddhist Catechism, foreword to the twelfth to fourteenth edition by K. Seidenstücker, Leipzig: Max Altmann, 1921. p. 6
2. ↑ Subhadra Bhikshu: Buddhist Catechism, Foreword to the twelfth to fourteenth edition by K. Seidenstücker, Leipzig: Max Altmann, 1921.
3. ↑ Volker Zotz : On the blissful islands. Buddhism in German culture. Berlin 2010, p. 175