Johann Georg Knie

Johann Georg Knie (born January 13, 1794 in Erfurt , † June 24, 1859 in Breslau ) was a German teacher for the blind and topographical writer. For many years he was the head of the Institute for the Blind in Wroclaw.

Life

He was born in 1794 as the son of a court dentist and went blind at the age of ten as a result of a leaf infection . He had to move more often because of the war times at the time and the young Johann Knie therefore received lessons for sighted people in several places and gained valuable knowledge and the basis for greater independence through his many trips.

At the age of 15, Knie entered the Institute for the Blind in Berlin , where he stayed for five years and received a corresponding technical education in both scientific and mechanical subjects. Because he wanted to support his fellow students and was encouraged from several sides, he made the decision to become a teacher for the blind. To prepare for this profession, he attended the University of Wroclaw with the support of several well-meaning men , studied mathematics , history and geography and already practiced teaching. As a result of his excellent memory, he learned languages ​​very easily, kept the academic lectures he had heard with great fidelity, and acquired a wide range of knowledge.

The support he had received so far remained with him when he founded an association in 1817 to improve the fate of the blind. The purpose of the institute was to teach the warriors, who went blind in the campaigns of 1813-1815, how to do handicrafts and then to create income for them. Since the funds were plentiful, the admission was expanded to include children and elderly blind people from civil status.

In 1819, Knie, who was appointed as a teacher, began teaching two pupils both in school subjects and in various handicrafts.

In 1835, Knie went on an extended journey without any company. He visited the cities of Dresden , Prague , Vienna - where he stayed with Johann Wilhelm Klein for a long time - Linz , Munich Augsburg , Stuttgart , Frankfurt am Main , Weimar , Jena , Halle and Berlin and arrived home safely after three and a half months of absence . He first visited the existing institutions for the blind, but also other humanitarian institutes, and in 1837 published a paper about this trip in print.

power

Johann Knie, who seems to have been a very lively person, had paid particular attention to the improvement of existing teaching aids and the invention of new ones, and had brought about some useful things. He worked tirelessly to find and introduce worthwhile occupations for the blind. He invented new machines to make the work of blind people more successful. Knie also paid a lot of attention to the printing of books, geometrical drawings, etc., and he was, like the teachers of the blind of the time almost generally, a great fan of spiked writing . At first he vehemently rejected Braille . Knie conducted a lively exchange of letters in order to keep up to date with all incidents in the field of the blind. He was very busy literary. He translated and commented on some of the most interesting writings on the blind into German. Knie died on June 24, 1859.

One of the textbooks published by Knie for sighted people is the “ Brief Geographical Description of Silesia ”, the first volume of which he wrote himself and the following volumes with descriptions of the places he edited together with JML Melcher.

Publications

• Experiment on the teaching of the blind, or developing presentation of the procedure used in teaching the blind, translated from the French (by Guilie) , Breslau 1821
• Brief geographical description of Prussian Silesia, the County of Glaz and the Prussian Margraviate of Upper Lusatia or the entire province of Prussian Silesia: For use in schools. First ribbon . Breslau 1831 ( e-copy )
• Educational journey through Germany in the summer of 1835 , Stuttgart 1837
• An autobiography , Essen 1838
• Experiment on the physical, moral and spiritual condition of the blind-born by PA Dufau
• About the blind and their upbringing by E. Niboyet, translated into German by JHK, Berlin 1839
• Instructions for the appropriate treatment of blind children , Berlin 1839; in the fifth edition, Breslau 1858
• Memories of a person born blind and the educational history of the two deaf and dumb blind people Laura Bridgman and Eduard Meystre . After the French, Breslau 1839
• Alphabetic-statistical-topographical overview of all villages, towns, cities and other places in the royal family. Prussia. Province of Silesia, including the Margraviate of Upper Lusatia, which now belongs entirely to the province, and the County of Glatz; together with the attached evidence of the division of the country into the various branches of civil administration . Graß, Barth and Comp., Breslau 1830 ( e-copy ).
• Alphabetical-statistical-topographical overview of the villages, towns, cities and other places in the royal family. Prussia. Province of Silesia, along with the appended division of the country into the districts of the three royal governments, the principalities and districts contained therein, with details of the area, the central elevation above the sea surface, the inhabitants, buildings, the livestock, etc. 2nd edition, Breslau 1845 ( E-copy )

Knie's interesting correspondence with Klein in Vienna was published in its remarkable parts by Alexander Mell in “ Blinden-Freund ” in 1891.

literature

• Alexander Mell: Enzyklopädisches Handbuch des Blindenwesens , published by A. Pichler's widow and son, Vienna and Leipzig 1900, page 417/418

Web links

Wikisource: Johann Georg Knie  - sources and full texts

• Biographical article