Georg Samuel Dörffel
Georg Samuel Dörffel (born October 11 . Jul / 21st October 1643 greg. In Plauen ; † August 6 jul. / 16th August 1688 greg. In Weida ) - also Dörfel called - was a German Lutheran theologian and amateur astronomer .
life and work
Georg Samuel Dörffel was the third child of Friedrich Dörffel (1612–1672) and Maria Dörffel, b. Tröger (1608–1673), daughter of Plauen councilor Johann Tröger, born. Out of a total of four children, only Georg Samuel survived.
He came from a family in which the pastoral profession was a tradition. Grandfather and father, who was rector of the city school in Plauen from 1638 to 1644 and who was pastor and second country deacon for Straßberg and Oberlosa in 1644 , already practiced this profession. After attending the city school in Plauen, Dörffel also studied theology in Leipzig from 1658 and moved to Jena from 1662 , where he studied mathematics, physics and astronomy. In 1663 he obtained his master's degree there and in 1667 decided to study theology in Leipzig with a baccalaureate.
In addition to various pastoral activities, Dörffel devoted himself to astronomy in his free time - with the help of the simplest astronomical instruments. After his father's death in 1672, Dörffel took over his duties as country deacon for the communities of Oberlosa and Straßberg (now part of Plauen). In the same year he published his first astronomical work on comets . Between 1663 and 1687 Dörffel wrote theological and mathematical writings - for example, his “Handbook for Practical Bible Reading” in 1670; astronomy, which he valued, remained an intensively pursued sideline. Nevertheless, he published numerous astronomical treatises (six of them on comets alone).
In his main work “Aſtronomic observation of the great comet / which appeared in the late 1680th and early 1681st years extremely astonishing and horrific:…” (Plauen, 1681), he demonstrated from his observations that the comets move on parabolic orbits in whose focal point is the sun (see Keplerbahn ). In 1684 Georg Samuel Dörffel was appointed superintendent in Weida.
Dörffel was well off and married three times. He died in 1688 at the age of 44. His achievements were not recognized until 100 years later.
Honors
The lunar crater Doerfel , the asteroid (4076) Dörffel and the high school in his place of death Weida are named after him. In Plauen there is a memorial stone and a memorial on the Bärenstein . At his last place of work, the town church of St. Marien in Weida, a plaque commemorates him.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Pohl: On the 350th birthday of Mag. Georg Samuel Dörffel , in: Vogtländisches Jahrbuch , 11th year, Plauen 1994, p. 183/184.
literature
- Brückner: Dörffel, Georg Samuel . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 346.
- Rudolph Gerlach: Georg Samuel Dörffel. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 30 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Elvira Pfitzner: The astronomical observations of the clergyman Georg Samuel Dörffel. 1643-1688. Beier & Beran archaeological specialist literature, Weissbach 1998, ISBN 3-930036-32-0 .
- Johannes Richter (Ed.): Georg Samuel Dörffel. (1643-1688). Theologian and astronomer. Scientific colloquium "Georg Samuel Dörffel and his time", 23–24. October 1993 in Plauen (Vogtl.). Plauen, Vogtland-Verlag 1994, ISBN 3-928828-12-6 .
Web links
- Publications by and about Georg Samuel Dörffel in VD 17 .
- Literature by and about Georg Samuel Dörffel in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Georg Samuel Dörffel in the German Digital Library
- Elvira Pfitzner: Georg Samuel Dörffel (1643–1688) . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Dörffel, Samuel Georg |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theologian and astronomer |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 21, 1643 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Plauen |
DATE OF DEATH | August 16, 1688 |
Place of death | Weida |