Johann David Koehler

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Johann David Koehler
Johann David Köhler: Historical coin amusement published weekly from 1729 onwards
Birthplace of Johann David Köhler in Colditz

Johann David Köhler (also Köler ; born January 18, 1684 in Colditz ; † March 10, 1755 in Göttingen ) was a German historian , numismatist and heraldist .

Life

Köhler was born as the son of the Evangelical Lutheran deacon Johann Christoph Köhler (1653–1695) and his wife Rosina († 1695) in Saxony. After both deaths he moved to his uncle Christian Lehmann , superintendent in Annaberg , where he was initially tutored by private tutors. In 1697 he moved to the Princely School in Meißen and acquired the prerequisites there to begin studying. On April 28, 1703 he went to the University of Wittenberg , where he wanted to begin studying theology . However, he did not get along with the representatives of Lutheran Orthodoxy, so he studied philology and historypursued. Under the direction of Konrad Samuel Schurzfleisch , he devoted himself to classical antiquity and on October 17, 1704 acquired the academic degree of Magister in Philosophy.

In the Great Northern War , Wittenberg was also involved in this. Therefore he felt compelled to leave his previous home and made the decision to go to the University of Strasbourg . On the way there he also traveled to other university cities. Among other things, he attended the University of Altdorf , where he acquired the right to give lectures in 1707. Through contact with Daniel Wilhelm Moller , he made himself familiar with numismatics and was offered an extraordinary professorship in Altdorf, which he did not accept.

Instead, in 1707/1709 he worked as an informator and translator for the Swedish ambassador Henning von Stralenheim in Breslau and the Swedish commission he headed for the enforcement of the Altranstädter Convention, and took over the processing of the correspondence in Latin with the imperial court in Vienna. Via Regensburg he reached Stralenheim to Zweibrücken , where he dealt with genealogy . In 1710 Köhler was offered a professorship in logic at the Altdorf University of Applied Sciences, which he took up in May 1711. In 1714 he switched to the professorship of history and in this position developed an extensive literary activity. From 1726 he was a foreign member of the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences . After turning down several appointments at various universities, he accepted a request from the newly founded University of Göttingen in 1735 as a professor of history, where he remained associated with the university for 20 years until his death.

On January 14, 1737, Johann David Köler , nicknamed Herodotus, was accepted as a member ( matriculation number 467 ) of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina .

Especially as a historian, Johann David Köhler left traces in the auxiliary sciences of history. He was in connection with the Melk Benedictine monk Hieronymus Pez and was a corresponding member of the Societas incognitorum in Olomouc in Moravia. His main work was the 22-volume work "Historical Coin Amusements" in the field of numismatics. He has also written a large number of programs and essays, most of which deal with German history. He was also the editor of Marquard Freher's “Directorium historicum” and the “Noticia Procerum” by Jacob Wilhelm Imhoff (1651–1728) as well as works by other authors. In addition, he rehabilitated the forgotten inventor of European letterpress printing with movable type, Johannes Gutenberg, in a "salvation of honor" based on a study of sources in his importance for the invention.

Koehler was married twice. His wife from his first marriage in 1711 died already 2½ years after the wedding with the birth of the first child, which also died the next day. With his second wife Sophia Christina geb. Leonhardt he had 14 children. His son Johann Tobias Köhler (1720–1768) also followed in his footsteps and became a professor in Göttingen.

From 1734 he worked on the new edition of Johann Siebmacher . His contribution was the foreword to the book and three supplements.

Fonts (selection)

  • Schlesische Kern-Chronicke / Oder Kurtze, however, thorough geographical, historical and political news of the Hertduchy of Silesia. Johann Leonhard Buggel, Nuremberg 1710, ( digitized ).
  • Der Schlesische Kern-Chronicke Anderer Part / Or Continued and more-carried out news of Silesian spiritual and secular / old and new stories / privileges / rights / freedoms / monasteries / miraculous images of grace of the mother of God / noble learned and famous people / libraries / further execution of the old town convention, and other such & c. Johann Leonhard Buggel, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1711, ( digitized version ).
  • Historia genealogica dominorum et comitum de Wolfstein. Riegel, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1726, ( digitized ).
  • Convenient school and travel atlas of all universal and particular charts useful for learning about the old / middle and new geography. Christoph Weigel, Nuremberg 1719, ( digitized ).
  • Instructions for the improved New Geography / especially for the use of the Weigelian Land Charts. Christoph Weigel, Nuremberg 1724, ( digitized version ).
  • Historical coin-operated amusement published weekly in 1729. First part. Christoph Weigel's widow, Nuremberg 1729, ( digitized ).
  • Brief and thorough guidance on ancient and middle geography. Christoph Weigel's widow, Nuremberg 1730, ( digitized ).
  • Highly deserved honorary rescue of Johann Guttenberg, well authenticated from proven documents. Fritsch, Leipzig 1741, ( digitized version ).

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1984, ISBN 3-411-02149-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Koehler, Johann David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Köler, Johann David; Herodotus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian , numismatist and heraldist
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1684
PLACE OF BIRTH Colditz
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1755
Place of death Goettingen