Johann Just Winckelmann

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Johann Just Winckelmann (born August 29, 1620 in Gießen ; † July 3, 1699 in Bremen ) was a German writer.

Life

Johann Just Winckelmann was the youngest son of Johannes Winckelmann (1551–1626) and his fourth wife Barbara geb. Stump. After his father died, his mother sent him to relatives near Butzbach , where he attended Latin school from 1632. In 1633 he switched to the Marburg pedagogy . 1637 he enrolled also at the local university , where he joined the theology , philosophy , jurisprudence devoted and history. He also heard lectures there from Johann Balthasar Schupp , who was known as a satirical writer.

After Winckelmann had received his master's degree in 1639, after a study trip in 1640 he went to Herborn for further studies and to the universities in Amsterdam , Utrecht and Leiden . He then made further trips through the German states to East Prussia and Denmark . For a while he was in military service and took part in a campaign in Flanders . Subsequently in the service of Landgrave Georg II and took part in the storming of Butzbach on April 20, 1646. However, a dispute with Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein , his commanding general, ended his military career. He then turned back to scientific occupation and suggested to the Landgrave that he work out a history of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Landgraviate. Georg II approved the project and appointed Johann Just Winckelmann as its historiographer . However, since the remuneration for the position was insufficient, Winckelmann also entered the service of Count Anton Günther von Oldenburg at the end of 1653 . In Oldenburg Winckelmann was also appointed as a historiographer on January 1, 1654, whereby he was allowed to continue working on his Hessian national history.

In the following time he fulfilled his assignment to write a comprehensive chronicle of Anton Günther's reign and had access to the count's archive as well as to information about individual events from the count himself. The latter roughly determined both the main content and the assessment criteria the events described in the work and proofread the finished parts of the manuscript. In 1671, four years after the death of the count, who had also ordered the work to be completed in his will, the 600-page work, illustrated with copperplate engravings and a map of Oldenburg, was published with the title "Oldenburg Peace and Neighboring Oerter Wars".

In addition, Winckelmann wrote a large number of genealogical treatises during his time in Oldenburg, which showed the family relationships of the count's house to almost all European princes, as well as political science manuals, extensive notes on Saxon-Westphalian history and theological studies, which, according to his biographer Hans Friedl, were rightly included in the BHGLO Have been forgotten. According to Friedl, however, a lively description of the Ammerland in spring is an exception, which can be regarded as an attractive example of Oldenburg baroque poetry.

At the same time, Winckelmann continued to work on his Hessian history and was able to send extensive parts of his manuscript to his clients in the mid-1650s. However, they did not agree with his presentation at all and set up a censorship commission, to which Winckelmann had to appear repeatedly and justify himself. In order not to have to give in to the excessive change requests, Winckelmann finally published the work himself, turned down several other job offers and, after Anton Günther's death, moved to Bremen, where he worked on the printing of the manuscript, which ate up all of his savings. Before it was completed, he died completely impoverished on July 3, 1699.

Mnemonics

Under the pseudonym Stanislaus Mink von Weunßhein (or Wennshein or Wenusheim or Winusheim) he dealt with mnemonics and improved the numerical code that Pierre Hérigone had already introduced in Europe based on the Indian model. Today's major system was later developed from this . Since it was decisive for the spread of the numeric code, it was called the "Winckelmann numeric code".

family

Winckelmann married on May 10, 1664 in Delmenhorst Anna Margaretha Balich (1643–1695), the daughter of the Swedish doctor Anton Günther Balich († 1646) and the Bremen merchant's daughter Catharina born. Schweers. The couple had nine children, most of whom died early; Anton Günther (1673–1718) later became a ducal Braunschweig councilor and bailiff.

literature

  • Julius Pistor:  Winckelmann, Johann Just . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 363 f.
  • Hans Friedl: Winckelmann, Johann Just. In: Hans Friedl / Wolfgang Günther / Hilke Günther-Arndt / Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg. Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 803-804 ( online )
  • Stanislaus Mink von Weunßhein: Relatio novissima ex Parnasso de Arte Reminiscentiae [etc. etc.] , 1648.

Web links

Endnotes

  1. ↑ Hans Friedl: Winckelmann, Johann Just. In: Hans Friedl / Wolfgang Günther / Hilke Günther-Arndt / Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg. Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , p. 804 ( online )
  2. ↑ Ulrich Voigt: Esels Welt - Mnemotechnik between Simonides and Harry Lorayne , Hamburg 2011, pp. 170–172.
personal data
SURNAME Winckelmann, Johann Just
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1620
PLACE OF BIRTH to water
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 1699
Place of death Bremen