Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier

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Georg Caspar Kirchmajer, engraving by Melchior Küsel after Daniel Schneider

Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier (also Georg Casper Kirchmayer ; * 1635 in Uffenheim ; † September 27, 1700 in Wittenberg ) was a German polymath.

Life

Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier was born in Uffenheim in 1635 as the son of the Brandenburg town and bailiff Georg Abel Kirchmaier. After he was educated by private tutors, he attended school in Ansbach from 1649 and - supported by a scholarship - moved to the University of Wittenberg on July 14, 1655 . There he attended the lectures of Johann Sperling , August Buchner , Michael Wendler , Christoph Notnagel and Andreas Sennerts . After two years, he acquired the degree of master's degree on October 15, 1657 . He also attended theological lectures with Johannes Scharff , Abraham Calov , Johann Meisner and Andreas Kunad . He must also lectures at the Law Faculty at Caspar Ziegler , Christian Klengel and I. Wilhelm Leyser visited. Kirchmaier also dealt with chemistry, contributed to the representation of phosphorus and became a member of the Leopoldina on January 22, 1677 with the nickname Phosphorus II .

Because he had given well-attended private lectures in Wittenberg, he was accepted as an adjunct in the philosophical faculty on November 5, 1660 and was appointed professor of rhetoric in 1661 . In this way the reputation of the university increased, and in the summer semesters of 1672 and 1692 he was also given the organizational tasks of the rector of the Wittenberg Academy. He was also dean of the faculty of philosophy on several occasions . Kirchmaier enjoyed an even greater reputation, especially among his foreign specialist colleagues.

He corresponded with Johann Heinrich Boecler (1611–1672) and Hermann Conring , with the French astronomer Ismael Boulliau and the secretary of the London Royal Society Heinrich Oldenburg . His friends included the philologist and critic Johann Georg Graevius from Naumburg, the Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch and the learned politician and diplomat Nicolaas Witsen . A trip to Holland, which he did not long before his end, marked the main direction of his contacts abroad, which he cultivated thanks to his knowledge of French, Italian, Dutch and English.

The writings of the universal scholar range thematically from classical literature and philology to physics, mining and metallurgy to the animal world, botany, mythology, history, law, folklore and theology. Between 1661 and 1699 he wrote over 600 programs on behalf of the university that contain valuable information on the history of the Wittenberg Academy. In the field of public teaching, Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier naturally felt bound by his actual area of ​​vocation, the declaration of the classical authors.

In 1663, Elector Johann Georg II of Saxony gave him permission to deal with the historical and political background of those authors in private lectures and public disputations. From this his comments on Roman historians and speakers grew. He considered it his right to privately read and argue about logic, metaphysics, pneumatics, history and other topics. His Exercitium Logicum brought him into conflict with the logician Christian Trentzsch .

On November 20, 1661, he married Elisabeth, the daughter of Christoph Notnagel . From this marriage there were three daughters and seven sons. The son Georg Wilhelm Kirchmaier also gained importance and published the collected works of his father. In addition, the sons Karl Christian, Georg Kasimir and Heinrich Julius are known.

Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier died in Wittenberg in 1700 and was buried in the Wittenberg Castle Church.

Selection of works

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member entry by Georg Kaspar Kirchmaier at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on May 10, 2017.
  2. ↑ Gundolf Keil , with the participation of Johannes G. Mayer and Monika Reininger: "a little Leonardo". Ulrich Rülein von Kalbe as a humanist, mathematician, mining scientist and doctor. In: Würzburg specialist prose studies. Contributions to medieval medicine, pharmacy and class history from the Würzburg Medical History Institute [Festschrift Michael Holler]. Edited by Gundolf Keil and edited by Johannes Gottfried Mayer and Christian Naser, Würzburg 1995 (= Würzburg medical historical research , 38), pp. 228–247; here: p. 244.
personal data
SURNAME Kirchmaier, Georg Kaspar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kirchmayer, Georg Kaspar; Kirchmeir, Georg Kaspar; Kirchmaier, Georg Kaspar; Kirchmeier, Georg Kaspar; Kirchmeyer, Georg Caspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German polymath
DATE OF BIRTH 1635
PLACE OF BIRTH Uffenheim
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1700
Place of death Wittenberg