Johann Wilhelm von Berger

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Johann Wilhelm von Berger

Johann Wilhelm von Berger (born September 1, 1672 in Halle (Saale) , † April 27, 1751 in Wittenberg ) was a German philosopher, rhetorician and historian.

origin

Berger was born as the son of the former rector at the grammar school in Halle Valentin Berger (born January 18, 1620 in Ohrdruf † May 22, 1675 in Halle (Saale)) and his wife Margaretha Katharina (née Faschen from Arnstadt; † 1695), who was married in 1655 . Growing up in the vicinity of intensive educational support from his parents' house, which his no less famous brothers Johann Gottfried von Berger and Johann Heinrich von Berger also experienced, he has been shaped in this way since his youth.

Life

On October 17, 1690, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg , where, as a student of Konrad Samuel Schurzfleisch, he was particularly concerned with the "Studium humaniorum artium". On April 29, 1695, he acquired a master's degree in philosophy , was accepted as an adjunct at the faculty of philosophy on August 31, 1699, and became professor of poetry on September 2 of the same year.

In 1708 Berger took over the teaching post for rhetoric (eloquence). In this context he gained the reputation of being "one of the greatest speakers" of his time and was considered "a special ornament" of the Wittenberg University. He saw it as his task to set up patterns for the conduct of life of the educated and especially of that part of them who, within the framework of the roles assigned by God, are professionally fully absorbed in learned studies. In it the university rhetorician appears with him as a teacher of cultural practice. He also describes the travel culture of scholars who buy books on the way, visit libraries, read rare manuscripts, look at coins, precious stones and works of art made of marble.

Berger himself had made trips to Holland and England in 1705 and to Italy in 1728 . Returning from the south, he reported to the audience about the current state of scholarly Italy, about monuments, libraries and museums in Rome , Florence and Naples . But also about the many cabinets and collections in Dresden, the capital and residence of the Electoral Saxon hereditary lands, which found great interest among many Wittenberg lecturers. Johann Wilhelm Berger was the first to make local works of art the subject of lectures.

As a professor of rhetoric, Berger also dealt with the use of the learned journalism for efficient work, for the mastery of the growing wealth of information on the European literature market by the individual scholar. The reviews contained in magazines seemed to him to be a convenient means of gaining knowledge of books within a short time.

This is how Johann Wilhelm von Berger made a name for himself as a historian, philologist and speaker. He wrote about poetry and rhetoric, poets and rhetoricians of antiquity, and renewed the memory of princes and scholars in his speeches. In 1721 August the Strong appointed the Emperor Charles VI. Those who have just been raised to imperial counsel to his counsel and historiographer with the right to read and debate “in historia” publicly. Already after his trip to Holland and England, which was also dedicated to history studies, Berger had lectured in history in addition to the "Eloquence privatim". The official designation of his chair no longer seemed to satisfy the erudition of the owner, because August the Strong referred to Berger as "Professor Eloquentiae et humaniorum" as early as 1721.

Works

  • Virgilium oratorem , Wittenberg 1704 ( digitized in the digital library Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
  • De monimentis veribus Musei Dresdensis regii , Wittenberg 1745
  • Orationes lectiores varii argumenti , Wittenberg 1749
  • Stromateus academicus , Wittenberg 1745

List of his writings with Johann Christoph Adelung, continuations and additions to Christian Gottlieb Jöchers Allgemeine Gelehrten Lexikon Volume 1 Leipzig 1784 Column 1717–1719, CG Volume 11 Column 193–199.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Berger, Johann Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher and rhetorician
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1672
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1751
Place of death Wittenberg