Johann Jakob Hemmer
Johann Jakob Hemmer (born June 13, 1733 in Horbach ; † May 3, 1790 in Mannheim ) was a German Catholic clergyman, meteorologist , physicist and linguist . He also published under the pseudonym Jakob Domitor ( Latin tame, conqueror) .
Life
Johann Jakob Hemmer first studied philosophy and mathematics , then Catholic theology in Cologne . He completed his theology studies at the Jesuit college in Cologne , but without taking the religious vows . After completing his studies, Hemmer became a private tutor to the Palatine chamberlain, Franz Georg Ernst von Sturmfeder , through whom he obtained a position as court chaplain to Elector Carl Theodor in Mannheim . In 1767 Hemmer became a member of the Electoral Palatinate Academy of Sciences , which was established by the latter , whose physical cabinet Hemmer headed as director from 1776. From 1768 Hemmer was canon at St. Gangolf's monastery in Heinsberg .
In 1780 Hemmer became secretary of the Palatinate Meteorological Society ( Societas Meteorologica Palatina ), which existed from 1780 to 1795, in the Academy of Sciences. In particular, Hemmer's meteorological work earned him a reputation throughout Europe. He was not only a privy councilor at the Mannheim court, but also a privy councilor to Duke Karl August von Zweibrücken and privy councilor to King Stanislaus of Poland . In addition, Hemmer was a member of the Agricultural Society in Kaiserslautern and learned societies in Bologna , Dijon and Stockholm . In 1788 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
Meteorological work
As secretary of the Palatinate Meteorological Society, Hemmer built up a network of 39 weather stations from 1780 , which stretched from New England via Greenland and 14 stations in Germany to the Urals . Hemmer wanted to obtain uniform data from all weather stations in order to be able to compare different locations and different years. This comparability over a long period serves as the basis for observing weather and climate changes . That is why Hemmer organized the observation network according to four aspects, which correspond to the principles of modern weather observation :
- In all stations, the same measuring instruments were used, which were paid for by the elector and made according to Hemmer's ideas.
- Hemmer created uniform observer instructions.
- He set uniform observation dates, the Mannheim lessons .
- Hemmer made sure that the data that were sent to him in Mannheim were published quickly.
After Hemmer's death, the observation network gradually fell into disrepair. In 1795, when Mannheim was bombarded during the coalition war between France , Prussia and Austria, the Elector's Physical Cabinet was destroyed and the Meteorological Society was therefore subsequently dissolved. This ended the work of the Mannheim meteorological world network, whose principles and observation times are still used in meteorology today.
Physical work
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As a physicist, Hemmer became interested in electricity and carried out experiments in this area. As director of the Elector's Physics Cabinet, Hemmer also demonstrated these experiments in public, as well as attempts to melt metals with focal lenses . He also gained importance as a physicist in connection with the weather: his interest in atmospheric electricity led him to study lightning conductors (contemporary "weather conductors "), which he had installed on all powder towers and castles in the Electoral Palatinate on the order of Elector Karl Theodor in 1769 . Hemmer developed a variant of the lightning rod with five points ("Hemmerscher Fünfspitz") and, together with Johann Albert Heinrich Reimarus, paved the way for the widespread introduction of lightning protection.
Linguistic work
overview
Hemmer published several works on orthography as well as on the grammar and design of the standard German language , as well as some reviews of the works of other linguists. It built partly on the grammatical conceptions of Johann Christoph Gottsched and anticipated some of the positions of the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock on orthography. His publications sparked lively reactions. They received approval and criticism (including from Johann Christoph Adelung ) and even led to anonymous pamphlets .
Grammar and standard language
Hemmer's drafts for grammar were based on a criticism of the state of the German language, which he saw in a poor condition. He developed this criticism mainly on the basis of the spoken standard German of the Electoral Palatinate. Hemmer described dialect and Latin as unsuitable for the development and dissemination of science and art. He criticized the excessive use of foreign words and made suggestions for the “Germanization” of terms. Hemmer represented a moderate purism , as he did not reject all foreign words. In his German linguistic theory of 1775 he used the language of scholars as a model for shaping German. Hemmer described the task of grammar as deriving logical rules from language, which reflected his influence through philosophical grammar , especially the grammar of Port Royal . Many of Hemmer's concepts have been compiled from works by other grammarians such as Gottsched, Carl Friedrich Aichinger or Heinrich Braun .
Hemmer's first work, Deutsche Sprachlehre, zum Us der Kuhrpfälzischen Lande (1769), was criticized in a polemical work by an anonymous author who described himself as a “lover of truth”, which Hemmer responded to in 1771 with a defense.
orthography
Hemmer's orthographic suggestions initially supported the most accurate reproduction of the word sound through writing (orthopoetics). The aim of the orthography should be " uniqueness ", ie the assignment of only one word form for each term and only one term for each word form. In later works Hemmer also advocated orientation towards common language and reason. The latter points again to the influence of rationalistic grammar theories of the Port Royal school. Etymology and analogy as the principle of orthography remained subordinate to Hemmer. In his late work, Hemmer supported the principle of lower case letters .
Works
- Treatise on the German language for the benefit of the Palatinate (Mannheim 1769)
- Defense of his treatise on the German language, against the comments of a so-called lover of truth (Mannheim 1771)
- German language teaching, on the use of the Kuhrpfälzischen Lands (Mannheim 1775)
- As Jakob Domitor: Basic plan of a permanent spelling, Germany submitted for examination (Mannheim 1776)
- Core of the German art of language and spelling (Mannheim 1780)
- Ephemerides Societas Meteorologica Palatinae (Mannheim 1781–88)
- Concept and use of the weather ladder (Mannheim 1783)
- Instructions for creating weather conductors on all types of buildings in the safest way (Mannheim 1786)
- Rules of conduct if you are not in an armed building during the thunderstorm (Mannheim 1789)
- Briefly, the weather guide can be used by those who have been erected on the castle and the other electoral buildings in Düsseldorf / drafted by J. Jakob Hemmer'n. - Düsseldorf, 1782 ( digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf )
literature
- Academia Domitor - Study Forum Johann Jakob Hemmer e. V. (Ed.): Johann Jakob Hemmer (1733–1790) - clergyman, linguist, successful physicist, meteorologist and finisher of the lightning rod. Shaker Verlag, Aachen 2008.
- Gerhard Bauer, Kai Budde, Wilhelm Kreutz, Patrick Schäfer (ed. On behalf of Academia Domitor - Study Forum Johann Jakob Hemmer eV): "Di fernunft siget". The universal scholar of the Electoral Palatinate, Johann Jakob Hemmer (1733–1790) and his work (= yearbook for international German studies. Series A, Congress reports, volume 103). Peter Lang, Bern 2010, ISBN 978-3-0343-0445-0 ; (Limited preview)
- Jakob Franck : Hemmer, Johann Jacob . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 721.
- Hemmer, Johann Jakob. In: Herbert E. Brekle , Edeltraud Dobnig-Jülch, Hans Jürgen Höller and Helmut Weiß (eds.): Bio-bibliographical handbook on linguistics of the 18th century. Volume 4, Tübingen 1995, pp. 195-205 (extensive bibliography there).
- Friedrich Klemm: Hemmer, Johann Jacob. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 510 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Hans-Erhard Lessing: Mannheim pioneers . Wellhöfer-Verlag, Mannheim 2007.
Web links
- Literature by and about Johann Jakob Hemmer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Johann Jakob Hemmer in the German Digital Library
- Academia Domitor - Study Forum Johann Jakob Hemmer eV
- Description of an experiment by Hemmer
- Biography (PDF by Kai Budde)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hemmer, Johann Jakob |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Domitor, Jakob |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German meteorologist, physicist, linguist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 13, 1733 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Horbach |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 3, 1790 |
| Place of death | Mannheim |