Johann Christoph Bekmann

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Johann Christoph Bekmann, engraving by Martin Bernigeroth
Title page of the historical description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg , second volume (1753)

Johann Christoph Bekmann (also Becmann or Beckmann ; born  September 13, 1641 in Zerbst , Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst ; †  March 6, 1717 in Frankfurt (Oder) ) was a German university professor, librarian and historian. He taught Greek, history, politics and theology at the Brandenburg University in Frankfurt and was the university's rector for many years. Bekmann published numerous works in various fields. His alphabetical catalog of the Frankfurt University Library, which appeared in 1676 and was an innovation at the time, became important. He has also made lasting contributions as a chronicler of the Principalities of Anhalt and the Mark Brandenburg .

Life

Bekmann's parents were the superintendent Christian Becmann , an advocate of the Reformed, Calvinist faith, and the council treasurer's daughter Margarete Enke. From an early age, Bekmann enjoyed extensive academic support. With his De mundo disputation in 1659 , he was able to obtain the university entrance qualification and in the same year went to Frankfurt (Oder), where he took his master's examination in 1661 under the Reformed theologian Elias Grebnitz . He began teaching that same year. Supported by an electoral scholarship, he went on a study trip to Leiden , Amsterdam , London and Oxford , where he enthusiastically got to know and appreciate the modern library systems established there.

Shortly after his return in 1667, Bekmann first became professor of the Greek language in Frankfurt. Later - depending on the source from 1670 or from 1678 - he taught history. In 1672 he received his doctorate in theology. From 1687 he was professor of history and politics, from 1690 he was also professor of theology. He was elected rector of the university eight times.

In 1673, Bekmann became librarian at the Viadrina and held this post until the end of his life. The highlights of his work for the library were the publication of the first printed library catalog ( Catalogus bibliothecae publicae Universitatis Francofurtanae , 1676) and the acquisition of the extensive Pelargus collection. In addition, in 1678, Bekmann took care of the planting of the botanical garden behind the university building. In 1697, a complete print of the Babylonian Talmud was published for the first time in Germany in his own print shop, which he had opened in Frankfurt in 1673 .

Since 1701 he was a foreign member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences . In 1707 he received the official commission from the Prussian King Friedrich I. to write a history of the Mark Brandenburg. With great personal commitment, he managed the dispatch and evaluation of numerous questionnaires. However, he did not live to see the work go to press.

Works (selection)

The historical description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg was completed by Bekmann's great-nephew Bernhard Ludwig Bekmann . The two-volume work was published in Berlin in 1751 and 1753. The manuscripts of both Bekmanns were considered lost in the war for many years and were only found again in 1996 by chance in the Märkisches Museum in Berlin. This also includes the work on the unfinished third volume.

  • Catalogus bibliothecae publicae Universitatis Francofurtanae. Frankfurt (Oder) 1676. 2nd, presumably edition, ibid, 1706.
  • Historia Orbis Terrarum, Geographica et Civilis, de Variis Negotiis Nostri potiss. Superioris Seculi , Frankfurt (Oder), 1st edition 1673, 2nd edition 1680, 7th edition 1707. Digital version of the 1698 edition at uni-mannheim.de.
  • History of the Principality of Anhalt , 7 parts, Zerbst 1710, digitized version of the ULB Halle .
    • Supplementary volume under the title Accessiones Historiae Anhaltinae , Zerbst 1716. Reprint Dessau 1995.
  • Description of the Knightly Order of St. John and its peculiar nature in the Lord's Mastery In the Marck / Saxony / Pomerania and Wendland , Franckfurth an der Oder 1726 ( digitized )
  • Historical description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg according to their origin, inhabitants, natural characteristics, waters, landscapes, towns, clerical donors, etc. Regents, their state and religious acts, coats of arms, seals and coins, well-deserved families of aristocrats and civil class, recording of the sciences and arts in it. Completed, continued and edited by Bernhard Ludwig Beckmann. Digitized version of the University of Potsdam .

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Johann Christoph Bekmann  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Johann Christoph Bekmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Becman, Johann Christoph deutsche-biographie.de
  2. ↑ a b c d Digitized version of the work Historia Orbis Terrarum, Geographica et Civilis uni-mannheim.de, see introduction.
  3. ^ A b General German biography : Becman, Johann Christoph at Wikisource.
  4. ↑ a b c Historical academy members: Johann Christoph Bec (k) mann bbaw.de
  5. ^ Werner Heegewaldt: Becmann (Beckmann), Johann Christoph, historian. In: Brandenburgisches Biographisches Lexikon. Edited by Friedrich Beck and Eckart Henning , Potsdam 2002, p. 40.
  6. ↑ Cf. Manfred Krause with the support of Uwe Winkler and Wolf Russow: The Chapter Monastery and Office Chorin from the unprinted 3rd volume of the "Historical Description of Chur and Mark Brandenburg" , in: Choriner Edition No. 2, Chorin 1998.
personal data
SURNAME Bekmann, Johann Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beckmann, Johann Christoph; Becmann, Johann Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1641
PLACE OF BIRTH Zerbst
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1717
Place of death Frankfurt (Oder)