Johann Christian Friedrich Graumüller

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Christian Friedrich Graumüller (* 1770 in Dennheritz near Glauchau , Saxony , † September 5, 1824 ) was a German botanist .

Life

Parentage and university education

Johann Christian Friedrich Graumüller was the son of a doctor who served as a field doctor in the Seven Years' War and then settled as a surgeon in Dennheritz. Graumüller received his first lessons at the school in his place of birth. His inclination for botany was awakened by the favorite pastime of his father, a flower lover, and he gradually brought many beautifully flowering plants from the area into his parents' garden. On the other hand, he found little pleasure in surgery , which his extremely strict father tried to force him to study. In order not to have to take up this profession, he preferred to secretly leave his parents' home and, with the knowledge of his mother, wander to Glauchau to learn the ancient languages ​​and prepare for a subject.

No sooner was Graumüller reconciled with his father through the mediation of friends and his permission to study a subject he liked was certain, than he wanted to attend the grammar school in Plauen , which in his opinion offered more opportunity for a thorough education , whereas his father was on graduation the school in Zwickau existed. Since both insisted on their will, the earlier conflict re-emerged and the son went to Plauen in the middle of winter without permission and without the support of his father. Here too the rector, Irmisch, took care of him. By giving lessons in prestigious houses he laboriously obtained the means necessary for his subsistence, but earned the respect of his teachers and other acquaintances through diligence and exemplary behavior. So when, at the beginning of 1791, as a result of too much exertion, he contracted a breast disease and the doctors deemed a stay in the country necessary for his recovery, the bailiff von Voigtsberg, with whom he had become acquainted, was ready to take him into his house.

On the outdoor walks prescribed by Graumüller, his earlier interest in botany reawakened, and he was busy collecting plants. When he traveled to Jena in August 1791 and attended some theological lectures, namely those of Döderlein's , he decided to study theology and to go to Jena University in autumn 1791 . However, he went home first to communicate this decision to his second reconciled father. However, the latter preferred Leipzig because he was expecting a grant there . But the son had a different opinion and, knowing the inflexibility of his father's will, turned to the young ruling Count of Schönburg-Glauchau, who had studied in Jena, for support. The count gave him a letter of recommendation, with which he moved to Jena in March 1792 and obtained a position in the Konviktorium and free entry to lectures.

Graumüller listened to theological, philosophical and philological lectures and hoped to complete his studies in 1795 and apply for a position as a preacher in his home country. Last year, however, he lived in a room with a medical student who received plants for his herbarium from the well-known botanist Dietrich and the gardener Klippstein . This awakened Graumüller's inclination for botany again, and a botanical excursion with Dr. Schenk increased his interest so much that he decided to give up preoccupation with theology and instead study camera science and natural history, but especially botany. The decision was easier to make than it was to be carried out, as the funds for a further stay at the university were missing. But Graumüller overcame all difficulties through the indomitable will that he inherited from his father. With the support of Professor Stumpf, who teaches camera science and whose children he taught, the well-known philologist Schütz, who at the time headed the editorial department of the Jenaer Literaturzeitung, and the professor of botany, August Batsch , who gave him free access to the botanical garden and the Having allowed use of his library and collection, he succeeded in carrying out his plan. The effort required for this almost exceeded his strength, because in addition to his studies, he had to teach Hebrew , Greek and Latin languages , geography and natural history, correct printing sheets and do other tedious work for the publishers and plant dealers to finance his living take over. However, the frequent excursions that made collecting the plants necessary strengthened his health and he finally became a doctor of philosophy at the end of 1801 .

Later career

At that time Graumüller did not have in mind to choose Jena as the place of his effectiveness, but hoped to go to Russia , where many German scholars had already made their fortune. Before that, however, he wanted to gain prominence through some writings. He began his literary career by processing the results of his excursions and published the following works:

  • Systematic directory of wild plants that grow in the vicinity and the surrounding area of ​​Jena, along with comments on their place of residence, their heyday, their fruit ripeness and their use, for prospective doctors, pharmacists, technologists, economists, garden lovers ... , Jena 1803
  • Characteristics of the plants growing wild around Jena in tabular form for use in excursions , Jena 1803

Count Ludwig von Glauchau, to whom Graumüller dedicated the first-mentioned document, appointed him Schönburg Forestry Council in 1803 and promised him further promotion; but the war of 1806 dashed Graumüller's hopes in this regard. After the battle of Jena and Auerstedt (October 14, 1806), he lost most of his belongings, his library and his collections to the looting. Since this momentarily irreplaceable loss forced him to give up his trip to Russia, he decided in 1807 to work as a private lecturer in the subjects of camera science and natural history at the University of Jena. For years he has given lectures on general natural history, forest natural history, zoological terminology, entomology , economic zoology , botany, history of botany, plant physiology , natural history of cryptogams , economic botany, forest science , political geography, and other related subjects. Nevertheless, he could not obtain a professorship and thus also not a permanent and carefree position.

Graumüller continued to love botany. Only in this area was he active as a specialist author and was also successful in doing so. As his here belonging writings are noteworthy:

  • Presentation of a new method of natural plant prints , as a test piece , Jena 1809
  • New method of natural plant prints of domestic and foreign plants, for demonstrating the botanical art language in schools, as well as for self-teaching for friends of botany. First issue , Jena 1809
  • Tabular overview of the old Linneische plant system and the improved von Thunberg, as well as the natural systems of Jussieu and Batsch, designed for his lectures , Eisenberg 1811
  • Diagnosis of the best known and especially European plant genera according to the improved Linneische systems. For analytical use for his lectures, as well as for self-study. Along with a preface by Gruner , Eisenberg 1811
  • Handbook of pharmaceutical-medical botany for self-teaching for budding doctors, pharmacists, chemists and others , 5 volumes, Eisenberg 1813-20, with register volume
  • Flora pharmaceutica Jenensis, or directory of the medicinal plants growing in the wild around Jena and grown in gardens and fields, common in older and more recent times, with a note on their duration and collection time, for doctors, pharmacists, druggists and medicinal plant collectors , Jena 1815
  • Flora Jenensis or description of the plants growing in the wild near Jena and a large part of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach and the Duchy of Altenburg, including precise details of their place of residence, flowering time, fruit ripeness, duration and their various uses for budding doctors ... First volume , Eisenberg 1824

The last-named work was not completed because the author died on September 5, 1824 while the second volume was being worked out, when only about a third of it was ready for printing.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Graumüller, Johann Christian Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German botanist
DATE OF BIRTH 1770
PLACE OF BIRTH Dennheritz near Glauchau , Saxony
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1824