Johann Philipp Dieffenbach

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Johann Philipp Dieffenbach (1786–1860)

Johann Philipp Dieffenbach (born June 2, 1786 in Dietzenbach , † October 25, 1860 in Friedberg ) was a Hessian teacher and historian.

Life

Johann Philipp Dieffenbach was born on June 2, 1786 in Dietzenbach as the son of the pastor of the same name and his second wife Sofie Magdalene, née. Sparschneider born. The family came from Upper Hesse . He attended high school in Darmstadt . In 1804 he began studying in Giessen , but had to break it off again in the same year due to disputes in which he was involved as a member of a country team. In the autumn of 1805 he was able to resume his studies, but in 1806 he secretly fled from Gießen to his brother Justus Wilhelm in the Rhineland. After difficulties in obtaining a position as court master there, he founded a private school in Krefeld in June 1806 , which was designed as a school for the poor.

In 1811 Dieffenbach ended his activity in Krefeld due to problems with the French administration and returned to Giessen. There he founded a girls' school, but also resumed his studies, which he finished in 1812. In the same year he was appointed tutor of the Hesse-Darmstadt hereditary prince Ludwig , who later became Grand Duke Ludwig III, and was appointed by his brother Karl . Associated with this was the appointment as court master.

Although he appreciated the activity and the contact with high-ranking personalities, he also ended this activity in 1815 because the courtly life was not his nature. He returned again to Giessen as an associate professor of philosophy and gave several historical lectures, while also completing his doctoral thesis. Because Dieffenbach was not paid for the work, he applied for the rectorate of the Augustinian School in Friedberg , which he received in 1818. He had previously married Theodora Schefer in 1816. The marriage resulted in 14 children. One of his sons, the Friedberg merchant Gustav Dieffenbach (1825-1891), later continued his scientific work.

Tomb of Johann Philipp and Gustav Dieffenbach in the main cemetery Friedberg

Dieffenbach worked in Friedberg for 42 years as rector, both in the Augustinian School until it was converted into a model school in 1838 based on the model of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , then in this one. In 1850 it was again converted into a secondary school with Latin, which he directed until his death in 1860. Since 1840 he was a member of the district school commission and the local school board. In 1848 he was a member of the preliminary parliament .

plant

Dieffenbach's activity in Friedberg was not limited to teaching. During his time he achieved groundbreaking achievements in the archeology of the Wetterau and the history of Friedberg. He researched history through excavations and long hikes and played a major role in the discovery of many forts in the Wetterau Limes . From 1841 he worked for the Historical Association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Upper Hesse. For his work Zur Urgeschichte der Wetterau (1843) Dieffenbach carried out excavations in the Hunneburg fort near Butzbach ; 1843-1846 he searched all of Upper Hesse on behalf of the association. Many first descriptions of Roman sites in the region go back to this activity. With this work, Dieffenbach paved the way for the archaeologists Friedrich Kofler and Georg Wolff, who later worked extensively in the region . In 1853 he wrote the text for a work of views of Gießen with drawings by Friedrich Heinzerling that Johann Jakob Tanner had engraved in steel.

Fonts

  • An attempt at a history of the residential city of Darmstadt. Leske, Darmstadt 1821 ( online ).
  • News about the Augustiner School in Friedberg in Hesse. Heyer, Giessen 1825 ( online ).
  • About antiquities in and around Friedberg. Heyer, Giessen 1829 ( online ).
  • On the prehistory of the Wetterau. Leske, Darmstadt 1843 ( online ).
  • Views of Giessen and its neighborhood. After original drawings by Mrs. Heinzerling, engraved in steel by JJ Tanner, together with a descriptive text by Prof. Dr. P. Dieffenbach. Emil Roth, Giessen 1853 ( online ).
  • History of the town and Friedberg Castle in the Wetterau. Darmstadt 1857 ( online ).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Archives: Members of the Pre-Parliament and the Fifties Committee (PDF file; 79 kB)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dieffenbach, Johann Philipp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hessian teacher and local historian
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Dietzenbach
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1860
Place of death Friedberg