Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching

Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching

Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching (born September 19, 1783 in Berlin ; † May 4, 1829 in Breslau ) was a German archaeologist, Germanist and folklorist.

Life

Büsching's father, the grammar school director and senior consistorial advisor Anton Friedrich Büsching (1724–1793), is considered to be the founder of the political-statistical method of geography. The mother came from a family of theologians. Büsching, the 12th of 13 children, was orphaned at the age of ten. His brother Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching, 22 years older than him, from his father's first marriage to the poet Christiana Büsching geb. Dilthey was the Lord Mayor of Berlin.

Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching studied at the Friedrich-University of Halle and the Friedrich-Alexander University of Law . In 1803 he became a member of the Berlin Society (Erlangen) . In 1806 he became a government trainee in Berlin. His real interests, however, lay elsewhere. Encouraged by his friend Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen , he began to study ancient languages. With Hagen he published a collection of German folk songs (1807), German poems of the Middle Ages (1808) and a book of love (1809).

Secularization Commissioner

In 1809, in search of manuscripts, he traveled to "klosterreiche Silesia ". In the Silesian monasteries he discovered numerous important old books, but was appalled by the neglected state of the archives and came up with the plan for a Silesian central library and art collection to take over and process the material from the monasteries. The Ministerial Section for Public Education of the Prussian Ministry of Culture was impressed by the proposal; its realization was only possible through the edict of October 30, 1810 on the confiscation of spiritual goods ( secularization ). On November 8, 1810, Büsching received the order from State Chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg to take over the inventory and storage of art objects, archives and libraries in Breslau at the main commission for the confiscation of spiritual goods in Silesia, chaired by Chief President von Massow. When he arrived in Breslau on November 23, 1810, he was faced with a complicated situation: up to 6,000 documents and pictures, art objects and other antiquities from 91 monasteries and monasteries had to be processed as quickly as possible because goods and buildings were to be sold.

Büsching had the materials given a designation of origin and transported to the monastery of the Augustinian canons in Wroclaw, where large quantities of books and art objects soon piled up, to the displeasure of his superiors. After materials had arrived from 35 monasteries and monasteries, the main commission ordered on September 6, 1811 to stop the transports and to select and catalog the material on site. Büsching tried to oppose this decree because it made an orderly viewing of the material almost impossible. This earned him a reprimand for hiding, after which he continued his work with increasing reluctance. Two years later the materials were brought to Wroclaw after all. However, the inadequate accommodation and the hasty and inexperienced selection resulted in great losses of archival material.

archivist

On June 1, 1812, Büsching was appointed archivist and supervisor of art objects with a salary of 600 thalers. His superior was the chief librarian Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider , a classical philologist with whom Büsching didn't get along. On May 3, 1812, Büsching was given supervision of the painting collections, and on December 6, 1814, also of the collections of copper engravings and antiquities. On October 27, 1815, the archive was attached to the University of Breslau as a separate institute .

In 1822 the Provincial Archives became independent. However, there was also constant friction with his co-ordinate colleague Stenzel, which ended on April 7, 1825 with Büsching's release from the archives service.

professor

Habilitated in Breslau in 1816 , Büsching received an extraordinary professorship for medieval art history and historical auxiliary sciences in 1817 . The salary of 200 thalers was increased to 400 thalers in 1821, with the obligation to also read about art history. On August 6, 1822, he was appointed full professor “in recognition of his meritorious efforts, especially in the field of art and German antiquities” (Seger 1929, p. 173) . In his courses he mainly dealt with medieval art and diplomacy, but also folklore topics. From 1820 Büsching also offered events on German antiquity. He is considered to be the first professor of prehistoric archeology.

title of the event	Number of events
Diplomacy	12
History of German art in the Middle Ages	9
History of old German architecture	8th
History of the German knighthood	7th
German antiquities using the antiquities collection	8th
Popular festivals, customs and traditions since the introduction of Christianity and comparisons with the customs of other peoples	4th

(According to Halub 1997)

When Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen , Professor of German Language and Literature, was transferred to Berlin in 1824, Büsching took over the professorship for which the Philosophical Faculty had wished Jacob Grimm , Karl Lachmann or Hoffmann von Fallersleben to be his successor. However, Büsching did not hold any events on Germanic topics. Nevertheless, he is considered an early Germanist , mainly because of his philological research during his time in Berlin .

After Büsching's death in 1829, the Prussian Ministry of Culture initially refused to fill the professorship for German language and literature. Finally, on March 18, 1830 Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874) was appointed associate professor for German language and literature.

Antiquity collection

From 1817 to 1825 Büsching mainly worked on building up the antiquities collection of the University of Breslau . In the linguistic usage of the time antiquity was understood to mean objects that came from the early modern period, the Middle Ages and the "pagan prehistoric times". Büsching's collection activities focused particularly on prehistoric and early historical artefacts.

A few pagan antiquities came from the dissolved monasteries, especially Sagan , and antiquities from the collection in Frankfurt (Oder) . In 1818 Büsching had 60 thalers available for purchase purposes, later significantly less. In correspondence with other antiquarian booksellers, Büsching sought to get casts and exchanged antiquities, a common practice at the time. He was particularly interested in pagan "idols". According to Prussian land law (Part 1, Title 9 of the Prussian Code of Law, Section 8), “treasures” belonged entirely to those who found them on their own land, half of them if they were found by others. However, on April 24, 1818, the Ober-President Merckel instructed those who found pagan antiquities in Silesia to leave them to the university collection or to sell them.

Most of the Silesian artefacts were won by Büsching in planned excavations . In a petition dated February 17, 1819, he justified that his own excavations were necessary and demanded 500 thalers for it. The ministry approved the excavations, but made only 166 thalers and 20 silver groschen available. In 1820 he received 133 thalers and 10 silver groschen, later only 70 thalers. Excavations were now often financed from the funds of the next year or out of pocket.

Collection growth:

year	Clay pots	Other fabrics	Extra-Silesian finds
1818	187	127	5
1820	800	260	10
1822	1300	705	180
1823	2350	800	242
1829	1500	864	696

Büsching created an exemplary catalog for the antiquities collection. "In this directory, all antiquities sent in according to their material, dimensions, shape, drawing, location and the name of the sender are kept by Dr. Büsching described that even if the objects should be lost, they will always remain an important file for the Silesian antiquities. ”In 1819 the historian Friedrich Kruse, who taught in Breslau, wrote about it .

Through extensive correspondence, Büsching was in contact with numerous Silesian archaeologists and received constant news about new finds. This information was partially used by the aforementioned Kruse in his Budorgis , which can be considered the first attempt at an archaeological survey of the land.

Scientific contacts

Büsching was in correspondence with the Danish antiquarian Christian Juergensen Thomsen about the three-period system developed by him for the temporal structure of the non-scripted prehistory; However, he had developed his own classification system, which he presented in detail in the outline . It was also based on the material ("mass") of the artifacts, but did not attach any chronological significance to it. Büsching also corresponded with Goethe .

Association for Silesian History, Art and Antiquities

In 1818 Büsching founded the Association for Silesian History, Art and Antiquities , which soon had an astonishing number of 600 members, and published the papers for the entire Silesian antiquity , which were lost in 1822. The company, whose annual contribution was 1 thaler, financed, among other things, the printing and reproduction costs of Kruses Budorgis . After Büsching's death, there was no evidence of activity from the association.

Private life

Büsching married in 1812. The marriage produced five children. After Büsching had won 20,000 thalers in a prize draw, he began to buy up endangered monuments and have them restored. In 1823 he bought the Kynsburg as a holiday home, which was also open to visitors after the renovation. From 1825 onwards Büsching developed a liver disease with ascites . He restricted his activities more and more and died of inevitable heart failure .

Publications

In 1820 Büsching published a correspondence of the Silesian Society , but only the first volume and the first issue of the second volume appeared. News of antiquity took a large place there.

Monographs

• German poems of the Middle Ages . 1808.
• Book of love . Berlin 1809.
• Folk sagas, fairy tales and legends . Carl Heinrich Reclam, Leipzig 1812 ( digitized ).
• The image of the god Tyr found in Upper Silesia . Wroclaw 1819.
• The antiquities of the pagan times of Silesia . Volume 1, Breslau 1820.
• The castle of the German knights at Marienburg . Berlin 1823 ( digitized ).
• Abstract of German antiquity . Weimar 1824.
• Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen and Johann Gustav Büsching: literary outline for the history of German poetry from the earliest times to the sixteenth century . Berlin 1812.

items

• About the art treasures in the Protestant churches in Wroclaw . In: Schlesische Provinzialblätter 1811.
• News from the Wroclaw painting collection . In: German Museum . 1812/2, pp. 39-59.
• Attempt to explain an antiquity to be found in several places in Germany, with some related news . In: German Museum . 1813/4, pp. 77-83.

Transcripts and editions

Albrecht , Titurel . Copy of the print from 1477 [Strasbourg: Johann Mentelin ] by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching. 398 pages, bound in half leather binding with spine imprint: title, copyist. P. 397: Description of the original from Büsching, Breslau (?) June 20, 1806. Halle University Library , Yg 2 ° 31.

In 1811 Büsching found the original and copy of the three-volume memorial book of the Silesian nobleman Hans von Schweinichen (1552-1616), which he published between 1820 and 1829, in the library of Count Hochberg zu Fürstenstein and in the library of the St. Bernhardinkirche in Breslau .

Büsching also copied a late medieval manuscript from 1528 (Toruń University Library, Rps 49 / IV), which in turn was a copy of an earlier print from 1512 (VD16 H 2448, printed in Strasbourg by Johannes Grüninger). The manuscript contains the Minner speech 'Die Mörin' and the didactic-satirical text 'Von der Ee'. The manuscript copied by Büsching is now in the Berlin State Library, Ms. germ. Qu. 366.

literature

• L. Bluhm: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching - a "dilettante" in the dispute in early German philology. A case study. In: Śląska Republika Uczonych - Silesian Republic of Scholars - Slezská Vĕdecká Obec . Volume 1. Ed. By Marek Hałub and Anna Mańko-Matysiak. Breslau 2004, pp. 355-380.
• B. Bönisch-Brednich: Büschings folklore research in Silesia. A history of science . Marburg 1994.
• Conrad Buchwald : Büsching to Goethe. In: Old Silesia . Volume 3/1, 1930, pp. 87-90.
• J. Lambert Büchler: Advertisement of the Silesian Association founded by Professor Büsching in Breslau to support the publication of a collection of old German monuments of history and art. In: Archive of the Society for Older German History . Volume 1, 1819/20, p. 161 online
• Hans Gummel : History of Research in Germany . Berlin 1938, register.
• Marek Halub: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching, the University of Breslau and the Viadrina. In: Krystyna Gabryjelska, Ulrich Knefelkamp (ed.): Building bridges. Cultural studies in Frankfurt / Oder and Breslau. Lectures of the first joint lecture series of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and the University of Breslau. Spectrum of Cultural Studies, Volume 3, Berlin 2000, pp.? - ?.
• Marek Halub: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching . In: Przegląd Zachodni . Volume 3, 1998, pp. 228-229.
• Marek Halub: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching 1783–1829. A contribution to the foundation of the Silesian cultural history . Uniwersyteta Wrocławskiega, Wrocław 1997, ISBN 83-229-1624-8 . (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 1978).
• M. Hecker: From the early days of German studies. The letters of Johann Gustav Büsching and Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagens to Goethe. In: Yearbook Goethe Society . Volume 15, 1929, pp. 100-179.
• Johanna Kinne: Classical archeology and its professors at the University of Breslau in the 19th century. A documentation. Neisse Verlag, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-940310-68-2 , pp. 23-72.
• Friedrich Kruse: Budorgis, or something about old Silesia before the introduction of the Christian religion, especially in the times of the Romans, according to antiquities found and according to information from the ancients . Leipzig 1819, p.?.
• Alwin Schultz :  Büsching, Johann Gustav Gottlieb . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 645 f.
• H. Seger : Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching on the hundredth anniversary of his death. In: Old Silesia . Volume 2, 1929, pp. 70-180.

Web links

Wikisource: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching  in the German Digital Library
• Works by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching at Zeno.org .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilhelm Michel:  Büsching, Anton Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 3 f. ( Digitized version ).
2. ^ Ernst Meyer-Camberg: The Berlin or Märkische Gesellschaft in Erlangen . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 25 (1980), p. 138
3. ↑ Habilitation thesis: Historiae artis medii aevi rerumque diplomaticarum