Helfrich Bernhard Wenck

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Helfrich Bernhard Wenck; contemporary engraving

Helfrich Bernhard Wenck (born June 19, 1739 in Idstein ; † April 27, 1803 in Darmstadt ) was a German educator , librarian , historian , rector and consistorial councilor . Because of its three-part Hessian state history , it is also known as the "father of modern state history".

Life

Helfrich Bernhard Wenck attended the Darmstadt Pedagogy , where his father, the pedagogue Johann Martin Wenck , was the rector. From 1757 he studied half years in Giessen , Göttingen and Heidelberg theology , but without being a theologian in the true sense. After completing his studies in 1761 he found a job as a collaborator at his former school, the Darmstädter Pädagogium (Ludwig-Georgs-Gymnasium), of which he was sub-principal from 1766 and with which he remained associated until the end of his life. From 1765 Wenck acted in addition to his job at the school as a teacher to the Hereditary Prince Ludwig and his siblings. In 1768 he was appointed prorector of his school before the rectorate with the title of professor the following year. The Histographie devoted Wenck 1775; This was preceded by ideas about writing a German, especially Hessian, regional history and how this could be implemented in the grammar school program.

Pedestal for Helfrich Bernhard Wenck in the arcades of the De la Fosse building of Darmstadt Palace

In 1777 he found employment as a court librarian . He was characterized by a clever acquisition policy. As a result of his insistence, more and more books were bought at auctions. The purchase budget could be increased fivefold. Wenck created the first four-volume complete catalog, which was structured according to subjects. He arranged for the library to be opened to the general public. The inventory grew to 16,000 volumes in 1789.

As director of the Pedagogy and Consistorial Counselor, Wenck pushed through ideas of his curriculum reform in 1778, which was based on humanistic ideals and whose aim was to force the teaching of classical languages ​​and to enable a more comprehensive education for all social classes. In 1783 he was accepted into the Electoral Palatinate Academy of Sciences in Mannheim and 18 years later he held the post of High School Council and Secret Consistorial Council.

One of his best-known works is the Hessian State History , which appeared in three volumes between 1783 and 1803. His two-volume Latin grammar for schools also attracted greater attention.

Works

  • News of the current establishment of the Princely Pedagogue in Darmstadt (1774)
  • Diplomatic news from the extinct dynasts of Eppenstein (1775)
  • The renewed statutes of the Princely Pedagogue from 1629 (1778)
  • Hessian regional history (1783–1803)
  • From the court library in Darmstadt and some peculiarities of the same (1789)

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Helfrich Bernhard Wenck  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Anniversary of the death of Helfrich Bernhard Wenck" in Bildungsland Hessen ( Memento from March 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Wenck, Helfrich Bernhard. Hessian biography. (As of April 27, 2010). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  3. ↑ State and address manual for the Fürstl. Hessen = Darmstädtischen Lande also set up for statistical use. , Verlag der Invalidenanstalt., Darmstadt 1795. State and address manual ... 1795, (Google Books online)
  4. ↑ Acta Academiae Theodoro-Palatinae , Volume 6, 1790, page 12
personal data
SURNAME Wenck, Helfrich Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Konsistorialrat, rector, educator, historian
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1739
PLACE OF BIRTH Idstein
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1803
Place of death Darmstadt