Johann Wilhelm Klein

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Johann Wilhelm Klein, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1831
Stele in memory of Johann Wilhelm Klein in the center of the village of Alerheim
Birthplace of Johann Wilhelm Klein in Alerheim
Grave site of Johann Wilhelm Klein in the Central Cemetery in Vienna

Johann Wilhelm Klein (born April 11, 1765 in Alerheim near Nördlingen , † May 12, 1848 in Vienna ) was a pioneer in education for the blind .

Life

After his teenage years he attended high school, then he studied law at the " Hohen Karlsschule " in Stuttgart. After completing his studies, Klein initially earned his living as a secretary at the Princely Oberamt in Alerheim .

The Napoleonic campaigns of conquest brought great misery and bitter hardship to Klein's homeland. He tried hard to help, but had to realize that he was not able to fight the plight of the population on his own.

In 1799 he then traveled by ship to the imperial city of Vienna, where he would spend the rest of his life. The progressive conditions in Austria under Emperor Joseph II may have attracted him.

Little is known about the first four years in Vienna. It is known, however, that he lived in a very poor economic situation and earned his living as a tutor for the son of Count Valais .

He was called up as a poor district director on a voluntary basis and so Klein had to do with many blind people, who made up a large proportion of the poor.

power

On May 13, 1804, Klein began to teach a young blind man, Jakob Braun , in his own home with government support. Thus the first institute for the blind in the German-speaking area came into being. From now on, Klein's life's work was concerned with caring for the blind, with upbringing and professional orientation in order to make them “full members of the world of work”.

In 1807 Klein presented his “Stachel-Typ-Apparat”, a printing device with which he could press the capital letters of the Latin script in dotted form into the paper. This font, also called spiked font due to the shape of the types , could be read by the blind and the sighted alike. For the blind, however, this writing was not easy to read and even the sighted could hardly write it by hand. Klein rejected Braille because of its dissimilarity to the script for sighted people.

In 1826 he established a “care and employment facility for adult blind people” in the Vienna suburb of Josefstadt .

In the midst of the civil war-like turmoil in 1848, Klein had to admit pneumonia and died on May 12, at the age of 83. He was buried in the Schmelzer Friedhof and later reburied in a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 0, row 1, number 19).

Honors

Many honors after his death commemorate Klein's work:

  • In 1862 the Kleingasse in Vienna- Landstrasse (3rd district) was named after him.
  • Since August 1st, 1984 the "Johann-Wilhelm-Klein-Volksschule" in his place of birth Alerheim has been named after him.
  • On May 8, 1988, a stele created by Ernst Steinacker was consecrated in Alerheim and there is a memorial plaque on the house where he was born.
  • In 2006 the Johann Wilhelm Klein-Akademie GmbH was founded in Würzburg , a further training facility in the field of education for the blind and visually impaired.

Works

Klein's literary activity should also be mentioned. In 1819 he wrote a “ textbook for teaching the blind ”. It was considered a guide for generations of teachers for the blind.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klein on the website of VG Ries (municipality of Alerheim) , accessed on June 10, 2020

Web links

Commons : Johann Wilhelm Klein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Klein, Johann Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian pioneer in education for the blind
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1765
PLACE OF BIRTH Alerheim near Nördlingen
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1848
Place of death Vienna