Jānis Cimze

Jānis Cimze (German also: Zimse , born August 3, 1814 in the parish of Ronneburg (today Rauna in Latvia ); † October 22, 1881 in Valka ) was a Livonian educator and musician.

education

Jānis Cimze studied at the Weissenfels seminar and at the University of Berlin .

Lehrerseminar of Vidzeme

Jānis Cimze was the director of the "Cimze Seminar" he founded for teachers at parish schools and for sextons . The seminar was in Valmiera from 1839 to 1849 and in Walk from 1849 to 1890 . home. The lessons were held in German . The seminar played a formative role, especially during the time of the national awakening in Livonia and Estonia . Famous contemporaries such as Carl Robert Jakobson , Ado Grenzstein , Kārlis Baumanis , Mikus Krogzemis (pseudonym: Auseklis ), Indriķis Zīle , Apsīšu Jēkabs , Pēteris Hincenbergs and Adam Jende received their training there. New students were admitted every three years until 1871, and every year thereafter. The training period was initially three years and from 1871 four years. Important subjects were education and music .

In his educational work, Jānis Cimze was particularly influenced by the work of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Adolph Diesterweg . From 1848 to 1855 he held a teachers' conference in Livonia every year.

Musician and composer

In addition, he was one of the most important collectors and promoters of Latvian folk music as well as a composer. Cimze is considered to be an essential founder of the Baltic choir tradition and was one of the fathers of the first Estonian song festival in Tartu in 1869 .

Jānis Cimze was buried in the Lugaži cemetery in Valka . The tomb, made in 1914, was made by the sculptor August Volz (1851–1926). A street in the Mežaparks district of Riga is named after him, the Cimzes iela.

Web links

• Museum in the former teachers' college of Jānis Cimze (English)