Hermann von Reichenau

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This picture is often wrongly associated with Hermann von Reichenau (right) because the person depicted is holding an astrolabe in his hand. In fact, this illustration is about Hermann von Carinthia .

Hermann von Reichenau (* 18th July 1013 ; † 24. September 1054 in Reichenau Monastery ) and the Lame Hermann , Hermannus Contractus , Herimannus Augiensis or the late Middle Ages misleading Hermann von Veringen called because it from the family of the Counts of Altshausen-Veringen came , was a Benedictine and important scientist , composer and writer of the Middle Ages .

Life

ancestry

Hermann came from the Swabian dynasty von Altshausen- Veringen . He was born the son of Count Wolfrat II and his wife Hiltrud in Upper Swabia . His place of birth is not known.

illness

Because of a handicap he was called Hermannus Contractus or Hermann the Lame . There are currently two main assumptions about his illness. Assuming that he has been disabled since birth and - as his student Berthold describes - never learned to walk, the disease is likely to be due to spinal muscular atrophy . According to another assessment, Hermann was not paralyzed and linguistically disabled from birth. This means that the onset of the disease is in his twenties. Under this assumption, Hermann probably suffered from the juvenile form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) .

Youth and old age

At the age of seven, in September 1020, he came into monastic care, probably in the Reichenau monastery , where he took the monk's vows under Abbot Berno in 1043 . He probably never left this monastery until his death. He experienced the usual monastic education at that time and developed into an outstanding expert on history, music, mathematics and astronomy . With Abbot Berno, under whom Hermann Mönch was in Reichenau, he is one of the most important and versatile scholars of his time and was named as the miracle of the century .

He died in 1054 and was buried in the family grave in Altshausen .

Hermann's relic in the castle church in Altshausen

meaning

He was one of the leading figures of his time in the transfer of knowledge in mathematics and astronomy, which until then had been handed down exclusively in Arabic, so he coined the astronomical term " Almucantarat " for a circle of the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon. Artistically he emerged as a composer and poet.

His chronicle is a major source for mid-11th century history. In view of his difficult living conditions, his achievements in being at the cutting edge of science and actively researching are certainly not to be underestimated. Nevertheless, in terms of the history of science , it is not regarded as the ingenious and gifted individual phenomenon of the 11th century. He was probably one of the leading scholars of his time and, after the German medievalist Arno Borst, was considered the universal scholar of his time, but his own contributions and inventions could hardly prevail. It achieved its actual importance primarily as a compiler , i.e. someone who made existing knowledge accessible by arranging it in a meaningful and clear manner.

Hermann as local saint

Hermann the Lame has a high status as a local saint in Upper Swabia and was depicted in numerous churches. However, a formal canonization never took place.

Representations in works of art

In sacred art, Hermann is often depicted with crutches or while composing the Salve Regina :

place Building Image description image
Altshausen Castle and parish church of St. Michael Hermann in adoration of the Christ Child , wood carvings by painter Josef Zodel from Leutkirch im Allgäu , donated by Pastor Andreas Eisenbach as a shrine for the Hermann relic (part of the skull)
Bad Buchau ( Kappel ) St. Peter and Paul Hermann writing the Salve Regina , wall painting 1934 by Josef Niklas (* 1893 in Ulm, † 1974 in Weingarten) (Niklas was severely handicapped by polio and could only paint with his left fist)
Bad Schussenried Library room of the former Premonstratensian monastery Hermann in adoration of Our Lady by Franz Georg Hermann
Beuron Maurus chapel at the Benedictine monastery Hermann as a saint
Great Walsertal St. Gerold Hermann with astrolabe , fresco by an unknown artist
Neresheim Benedictine Abbey Hermann writing the Salve Regina
St. Gallen Chapel of the episcopal residence of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Gallen , Hermann in the 7th medallion of the coffered ceiling Painter Johann Sebastian Hersche (St. Gallen court painter, around 1670)
St. Gallen Abbey library : ceiling picture Hermann and his student Berthold , on a presentation of geography as a discipline of Benedictine erudition, Josef Wannenmacher, 1762
St. Gallen St. Gallus and Otmar Hermann as admirer of Mary and musicologist next to Pope Gregory (1st yoke in the south aisle), 1762
Ottobeuren Ottobeuren Basilica , fresco in the nave dome Hermann with a text from Salve Regina , Franz Anton Zeiller, 1759
Ottobeuren Ottobeuren monastery , cloister HERMANNVS CONTRACTVS . Oil on canvas; 210 × 120 cm; 1678, Johann Friedrich Sichelbein . The paralyzed Hermann sits with his cane in his hands in front of the Mother of God who appears to him on the left, to whom he dedicates his compositions. His Salve Regina holds a putto in the foreground towards the viewer. The beginnings of the Alma redemptoris mater as well as the Salve Regina can be seen on an open book next to Hermann.
Reichenau-Mittelzell Münster rectory Hermann in Benedictine habit in his monastery cell, with a cane and goose quill, next to him a chubby angel who holds a book with staves in his hand; in the background the crowned mother of God Mary with the blessing baby Jesus. Oil on canvas; 142 × 97 cm; 1729.
Reichenau-Mittelzell Treasury in the Minster St. Maria and Markus (Reichenau-Mittelzell) Hermann as an old man with a crutch and an open book with Salve Regina in the library; Filling tile (48 × 31 cm) from a Steckborn tiled stove from 1745/46 with the inscription Beatus Hermannus Contractus Monachus Augiae a devotione Mariae celebris obiit July 19, 1054 (The blessed Hermann the Lame, monk of Reichenau, famous for his devotion to Mary, died on July 19, 1054.)
Hermann Reichenau Ofenkachel.jpg
Speyer Bronze gate of the cathedral Relief by Toni Schneider-Manzell, 1971
Stuttgart Württemberg State Library Stuttgart: HB V 4a, 60r Hermann writing the Salve Regina , colored drawing by Gabriel Bucelinus
Veringendorf St. Michael, wall painting 1st half of the 14th century by a Constance master Assumed interpretation Hermann kneels in front of the baby Jesus and Maria , the Salve Regina is assumed on the tapes above him
Veringenstadt Sgraffito on the outside facade of the school building by the Sigmaringen painter Günther Dietrich created in 1952. Hermann among his students; the Salve Regina is the text in the center of the picture; the globe symbolizes its global significance; the coat of arms of the Counts of Veringen shows his ancestry.
Veringenstadt Hermanus Contractus.jpg
Veringenstadt Glass picture in the choir window of the parish church St. Nikolaus created by Wilhelm Geyer in 1957. In the central window Maria is shown with Hermann the Lame. As in the Salve Regina "... show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your body", she indicates with her gesture the depiction of the Son of God in the upper middle window.
Veringenstadt Hermann the Lame as a glass picture in the cath. Veringenstadt rectory created by Wilhelm Geyer in 1957.
Veringenstadt Bell of the parish church of St. Nikolaus cast in 1948 by the Heinrich Kurtz bell foundry in Stuttgart Inscription: SALVE REGINA. HERMANN THE LAME
2012-11 Veringenstadt bells 5.jpg
Double folds Munster of Our Lady , gallery fresco Meinrad von Au Maria, the teacher of Pope Cölestin , in front left is Hermann with a crutch

Commemoration

theatre

The general manager and director Christoph Nix wrote the play "Hermann der Krumme or the earth is round". It is designed as an open-air theater and was premiered at the Konstanzer Münsterplatzfestspiele of the Konstanzer Theater in July 2020. For Nix, Hermann der Krumme is the Stephen Hawking of the first millennium as a scientist , and the piece is a metaphor for the crooked state of the world.

Works

Historiography

  • Chronicon : Among his works as a historian, the world chronicle Chronicon , written in Latin and depicting the time from the birth of Christ to the year 1054, stands out. In it, he not only includes himself, his birth and his start of school, but also his family history in contemporary history. After Hermann's death, his world chronicle was continued at his request by his student Berthold von Reichenau until 1080. Berthold's continuation begins with the life story of Hermann the Lame.
  • Gesta Chuonradi et Heinrici imperatorum probably not preserved; it was probably just additions to the Gesta Chuonradi by Wipo

music

  • Musica : The music theory he developed is recorded in the work Musica .
  • Sequences:
  1. Sequentia de beata Maria virgine (Oesch, p. 145: Hermann's authorship hardly provable; also attributed to Heinrich, the Gottschalk teacher; also translated into German since the 12th century)
  2. Grates honos hierarchia
  3. Rex regum Dei Agne
  4. Benedictio trinae unitati (attribution, but hardly disputed)
  5. Exurgat totus almiphonus (attribution, but hardly disputed)
  1. Afra-Officium , ed.Brambach 1892.
  2. others, probably no longer preserved, according to the vita of his student Berthold

Astronomy / math

Hermann's chronicle was continued by his pupil Berthold von Reichenau, who in it also describes Hermann's life and his scientific work, unfortunately only in summary and incomplete. Then there were works on computistics , lunar month, lunar eclipse , geometry and the sundial ( The Chronicle of Bertholds von Reichenau. Second version , 1054). The main things that have been preserved are:

  1. De mensura astrolabii
  2. De utilitatibus astrolabii
  3. Epistula de quantitate mensis lunaris
  4. De horologio viatorum
  5. Abbreviatio compoti cuiusdam idiotae
  6. Prognostica de defectu solis et lunae
  7. De conflictu Rythmimachiae
  8. Qualiter multiplicationes fiant in abaco

In texts (1) and (2), Hermann uses the information about the astrolabe that was available to him to create a high-quality text about its construction and use. Text (4) is the description of a portable sundial. The texts were edited in 1721 by the Benedictine monk Father Bernhard Pez and attributed to Hermann the Lame. Text (2) was edited by Nikolaus Bubnow , but Gerbert d'Aurillac was named as a possible author.

Writings (3), (5) and (6) contain Hermann's examination of computistics. In (3) he calculates the length of the lunar month and comes to the exact result: 

29 Tage, 12 Stunden, 29 Momente, 348 Atome.

(5) provides a concise, manual-like overview of computistics and (6) a treatise on solar and lunar eclipses. He is breaking new ground with the clear definition of the astronomical moon-sun relationship that leads to an eclipse and its calculation. Text (5) and (6) were edited by Nadja Germann in her book De Temporum Ratione .

(8) Qualiter multiplicationes fiant in abaco is a guide for pupils on arithmetic with the abacus , multiplication and division (Chapters I – V). This is followed by conversion rules for Roman fractions , from as to calcus (Chapter VI-VII). The manuscript was edited by the Karlsruhe mathematics teacher Peter Treutlein. Martin Hellmann edited the text with a translation into German in his book Hermann der Lahme. Scholar and poet (1013-1054) .

Text (7) about the medieval mathematical / musical game, the Rhythmomachia , must also be counted among the scientific works. Although he has only a few pages, it shows a deep knowledge of both the game and the underlying theories, especially the De institutione arithmetica of Boethius .

poetry

  • Opusculum Herimanni de octo vitiis principalibus : didactic poem addressed to nuns on the eight main vices (1722 verses); New edition: Hermann the Lame, Opusculum Herimanni (De octo vitiis principalibus). Introduced, edited and translated by Bernhard Hollick (= Reichenauer texts and images. Volume 14). Heidelberg 2008.
  • versus pro epitaphio matris suae as an insert in the chronicle
  • Martyrology : ed.Dümmler 1885.

Text output

  • Hermann von Reichenau: Chronicon. In: Werner Trillmich (Hrsg.): Sources of the 9th and 11th centuries on the history of the Hamburg Church and the Empire (= selected sources on German history in the Middle Ages. Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe. Volume 11). Edited by Rudolf Buchner . 7th edition extended by a supplement. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-534-00602-X , pp. 615-707.
  • Herimanni Augiensis chronicon a. 1-1054. In: Georg Heinrich Pertz u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 5: Annales et chronica aevi Salici. Hanover 1844, pp. 67-133 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  • Opusculum Herimanni (De octo vitiis principalibus). A school of verse and life (= Reichenau texts and images. Volume 14). Edited and translated by Bernhard Hollick. Mattes-Verlag, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-930978-96-0 .

literature

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Hermann von Reichenau. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 751-753.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive  on 2007-06-26)
  • Michael Bernhard:  Hermannus Contractus. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 8 (Gribenski - Hilverding). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2002, ISBN 3-7618-1118-7  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  • Walter Berschin , Martin Hellmann: Hermann the lame. Scholar and poet (1013-1054). 2nd expanded edition. Mattes, Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-930978-81-4 .
  • Michael Borgolte : About the personal and family history records of Hermann the Lame. In: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine 127 (1979), pp. 1-15.
  • Arno Borst : A research report by Hermann the Lame. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages 40, 1984, pp. 379–477 ( digitized version ).
  • Arno Borst: The medieval number fighting game , Heidelberg 1986.
  • Arno Borst: How did Arabic astronomy come to be at Reichenau Monastery? UVK, Konstanz 1988, ISBN 3-87940-355-4 .
  • Arno Borst: Hermann the Lame and the Story (1975/76). In: Ders .: barbarians, heretics and artists. Worlds of the Middle Ages. 2nd Edition. Piper, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-492-11183-1 , pp. 135-154.
  • Arno Borst: Monks on Lake Constance. 4th edition. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1994, ISBN 3-7995-5006-2 .
  • Franz Brunhölzl :  Hermann von Reichenau. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 649 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Christoph Brunhölzl: Thoughts on the illness of Hermann von Reichenau (1019-1054). In: Sudhoffs archive for the history of medicine and natural sciences 83 (1999), pp. 239–243
  • Arno Duch: The history of Hermann von Reichenau in its tradition. In: Hans Oesch : Berno and Hermann von Reichenau as music theorists. Bern 1961. pp. 184-203.
  • Nadja Germann: De Temporum Ratione. Quadrivium and knowledge of God using the example of Abbos von Fleury and Hermanns von Reichenau. Leiden / Boston 2006.
  • Heinrich Hansjakob : Herimann, the lame man from Reichenau. His life and his science. Mainz 1875.
  • Felix Heinzer, Thomas Zotz (Ed.): Hermann the Lame. Reichenau monk and universal scholar of the 11th century (= publications of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg, Series B, Research. Vol. 208). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-17-030723-0 .
  • Hermann the Lame - Count of Altshausen. Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2007, ISBN 978-3-89870-277-5 .
  • Mariane Hess, Peter Conzelmann: On the meaning of the astrolab in the writings of Hermann the Lame von Reichenau. In: Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, 62/63 (1980/81), pp. 49–63.
  • Gustav Jacobsthal : The music theory of Hermann von Reichenau. Edited by Peter Sühring with a preliminary remark . In: Music Theory. Volume 16, Laaber 2001, pp. 3-39.
  • Ian Stuart Robinson: The chronicle of Hermanns von Reichenau and the Reichenauer imperial chronicle. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages 36 (1980), pp. 84-136 ( digitized version ).
  • John L. Snyder (Ed.): The Musica of Hermannus Contractus , Edited and translated by Leonard Ellinwood, Rochester 2015.
  • Tilman Struve : Hermann v. Reichenau . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 4, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7608-8904-2 , Sp. 2167-2169.
  • Edwin Ernst Weber: A miraculous love - the special relationship between Hermann the Lame and the village and city of Veringen in pictorial representations from seven centuries. In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte 49/50 (2013/2014), pp. 35–54.
  • Maria Calasanz Ziesche: The last freedom . Sisters of Our Lady, Rheinbach near Bonn, last 14th edition, 2001, ISBN 978-3-9800449-0-5 .

Sound carrier

  • The Miracle of the Century: The Miracle of the Century. Hermannus Contractus - Hermann the Lame von der Reichenau. Ensemble Ordo Virtutum for music of the Middle Ages. Head: Stefan Johannes Morent. Edition Raumklang, 2013.

Web links

Commons : Hermann von Reichenau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Hermann von Carinthia
  2. ↑ Cf. Christoph Brunhölzl: Thoughts on Hermann von Reichenau's illness (1019–1054). In: Sudhoffs Archiv , Volume 83, 1999, pp. 239–243. “1019” in the article title is a misprint for “1013”.
  3. ↑ In the first version of his pupil Berthold, the time when the illness began: "from infantia" (from childhood). In the second version, “ab ineunte etate” (with the age of majority). Ian S. Robinson (Ed.): Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, Nova series 14: The chronicles of Berthold von Reichenau and Bernolds von Konstanz 1054.1100 (Bertholdi et Bernoldi Chronica MLIV-MC). Hanover 2003 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version ) ( review at sehepunkte.de).
  4. ↑ Loris Sturlese: The calculation of God. Hermann "the Lame" from Reichenau. In: M. Jeismann (ed.): The 11th century. Kaiser and Pope (= Beck'sche series. 4111). Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-45611-1 , pp. 73-78 ( review in the FAZ).
  5. ↑ Hermann von Reichenau in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
  6. ↑ See Walter Berschin: Hermann the Lame, Scholar and Poet. Heidelberg 2004, p. 4.
  7. ↑ Walter Schmid: People with handicaps also have a saint. In: schwaebische.de. October 21, 2015, accessed October 30, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Newsticker: Corona and the Church, May 8, 2020 ; Hermann der Krumme or the earth is round , open-air spectacle by Christoph Nix , accessed on May 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ Christoph Nix plans open-air theater in Konstanz despite the virus , St. Galler Tagblatt , April 30, 2020.
  10. ↑ digitized version
  11. ↑ David Juste: Hermann the Lahme and the Astrolabe in Felix Heinzer, Thomas Zotz: Hermann the Lahme , S, 275
  12. ^ David Juste: Hermann the Lame and the Astrolabe in Felix Heinzer, Thomas Zotz: Hermann the Lahme , p, 278
  13. ↑ David Juste: Hermann the Lame and the Astrolabe in Felix Heinzer, Thomas Zotz: Hermann the Lahme , p. 274 f.
  14. ↑ Nikolaus Bubnow: Gerberti Opera Mathematica , pp. 109–147
  15. ↑ Nadja Germann: De Temporum Ratione , p. 182, the following p. 193, 199
  16. ↑ Nadja Germann: De Temporum Ratione , p. 225 ff.
  17. ↑ Martin Hellmann: Hermann the Lame. Scholar and Poet (1013-1054) , p. 35
  18. ^ Arno Borst: The medieval number fight game , pp. 81–97, Edition pp. 335–339
  19. ↑ New CD release. "Heavenly Harmony". On the website of SWR 2 , accessed on May 11, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Hermann von Reichenau
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hermann the Lame; Hermannus Contractus; Herimannus Augiensis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION medieval scholar, poet and composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1013
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1054
Place of death Reichenau Monastery