Johann Ludwig Oeder

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Johann Ludwig Oeder (born September 9, 1722 in Ansbach , † June 11, 1776 in Braunschweig ) was a German educator and councilor .

Life

Johann Ludwig Oeder was the son of the theologian Georg Ludwig Oeder and his wife Margarethe Sibylle. His brothers are the headmaster Georg Wilhelm Oeder and the councilor Johann Friedrich Oeder (1729–1772).

Oeder studied at the University of Göttingen , where he received his master's degree . In 1745 he went to the Brunswick Collegium Carolinum as a professor of mathematics and physics . He was also the ducal court and chamber councilor of Brunswick.

Encounter with a ghost

prehistory
When Hofmeister Melchior Dörrien (1721–1746) was close to death on July 8, 1746, he had his colleagues call Hofmeister Johann Gottfried Höfer (1719–1796) to tell him something urgent. However, he was no longer available when Höfer hurried to him.
Heinrich Zehfuss reported the following in his book in 1825 about the appearance of the deceased in the Collegium Carolinum: “After a while the rumor spread that soon this one and now that one would have seen the deceased in the Carolino. […] Finally, in October 1746, an incident occurred that caused many to ascribe a more excellent value to the apparition […]. The late Dörrien appeared to Monsieur Höfer at the time when, according to his custom, he was walking around the college at night between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. to see whether his subordinates were in bed and whether everything was in proper order. When he came to M. Lampadius' room, he saw the deceased sitting next to it, [...]. This unexpected sight certainly shocked M. Höfer [...]. He took the courage to attack him and shine straight in his face. Now he was overcome with such horror that he could hardly pull his hand back to himself [...]. "

Höfer reported this strange incident to his colleague Oeder. This initially dismissed the whole thing as an attempt at fraud or a delusion. The two scholars decided to investigate this matter and to go on the tour together the following night. When they came back to that room, they saw Dörrien sitting there and Professor Oeder said: “There is Dörrien in person!”. However, since they did not dare to speak to him, they went back convinced that he was indeed the one who had recently died. But when this news spread and others wanted to meet the spirit, it was not seen there again. However, Professor Oeder wished to meet him again in order to ask him a few questions. About two weeks later, this figure appeared in his bedroom and woke him up. Oeder drove him away with the words: "Go away, evil spirit, what are you doing here?" But after another eight days he reappeared. The professor decided to question the spirit. After a few questions as to whether he might still have a debt to settle, the apparition disappeared again.

Oeder reported this incident to Hofrat Anton Ulrich von Erath (1709–1773), one of the curators at the Collegium Carolinum. The late Dörrien's sister lived with him and he said that all debts had been paid. Oeder called in the philosophy professor Johann Wilhelm Seidler (1718–1777) and they spent the following night together in Oeder's bedroom. The ghost appeared briefly, saw Seidler and immediately disappeared again. However, Oeder exclaimed that he should return and finally tell him what he wanted from him or that he should stay away forever in the future. The figure appeared to him a few more times. Only when he found out that shortly before his illness began, the deceased had borrowed some pictures for the magic lantern from a picture dealer and not returned them, did he finally disappear after they had been returned to the rightful owner. Since these events at the Collegium Carolinum caused unrest and fear among the students, the court masters and professors were advised to present this matter to their students as a fraud or a delusion. On January 9, 1747, the curators of the Carolinum made a report to Duke Karl on the previous investigations. The eyewitnesses were then interrogated and harassed, but they kept what they said. This was duly noted in the files and recorded in 1812 in the "History of the Collegii Carolini". It could not be proven that this incident was a "student joke", but the authorities said that there was certainly fraud involved.

Works (selection)

  • with Christoph August Heumann: Dissertatio inauguralis prodromum historiae Bogomilorum criticae exhibens. Vandenhoeck, Göttingen 1743, OCLC 165154072 .
  • Progr. De mensura virium. Brunswick 1745.
  • Progr. De vibratione chordarum. Brunswick 1746.
  • Heimbert Johann Hinze (Hrsg.): Contributions to the economy, camera and police science. From the reports of a German cameraman from his travels to Switzerland, France, Holland and England. Dessau 1782, OCLC 312416643 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Melchior Dörrien in the German National Library DNB 135696992 and Ferdinand Spehr:  Dörrien, Melchior . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 361 (biography).
  2. ↑ Johann Gottfried Höfer in the German National Library DNB 1034901109
  3. ^ Heinrich Zehfuss: The Lords of Rodenstein, together with the legend of the wandering spirits on Schnellerts and Rodenstein. Darmstadt 1825, OCLC 18719266 , p. 91.
  4. ↑ a b Spuk in a higher educational institution in Braunschweig on Wegbegleiter.de, accessed on September 19, 2013.
  5. ^ Johann Wilhelm Seidler in the German National Library DNB 143324195
  6. ^ Johann Joachim Eschenburg: Draft of a history of the Collegii Carolini in Braunschweig. Verlag Friederich Nikolai, Berlin / Stettin 1812, OCLC 45222906 .


personal data
SURNAME Oeder, Johann Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pedagogue and councilor
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1722
PLACE OF BIRTH Ansbach
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1776
Place of death Braunschweig