Johann Wolfgang Textor

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Johann Wolfgang Textor 1763

Johann Wolfgang Textor (born December 11, 1693 in Frankfurt am Main ; † February 6, 1771 ibid) was a German imperial, city and court rulers and imperial councilor in Frankfurt and the grandfather of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .

Life

In 1693 he came as the son of the Frankfurt lawyer Christoph Heinrich Textor (1666–1716) and his wife Maria Katharina born. Appeal to the world. His grandfather was the lawyer Johann Wolfgang Textor (born January 20, 1638 in Neuenstein , † December 27, 1701 in Frankfurt am Main), who had come to the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt in 1691 as a municipal counsel .

Johann Wolfgang Textor the Elder J. attended the municipal high school from 1702 and initially studied law at the University of Altdorf , where his grandfather had been a professor for many years. 1721 he was called to the Bar at the Imperial Court in Wetzlar down and a doctorate in casting for Dr. jur. On February 2, 1726, he married Anna Margaretha Lindheimer (1711–1783), a daughter of the Frankfurt court procurator Cornelius Lindheimer (1671–1722) and his wife Elisabeth Catharina, née. Seip (1680-1759).

On December 16, 1727 he was elected to the Frankfurt Council, although at that time he did not even have Frankfurt citizenship. This led to the protest of the bourgeois parliamentary group ( bank ) in the Frankfurt council and laid the seed for later arguments about Textor's person. In 1731 he became a lay judge . In 1738, 1741 and 1743 he was elected as Senior Mayor of Frankfurt several times. He made a name for himself as aldermen and mayor before he was entrusted with the office of town school council for life on August 10, 1747 and was given the title of real imperial councilor .

As a city scholar, he held the highest and most respected office in the city justice. At the same time he was considered a skilled diplomat, denominationally tolerant Protestant and representative of the Austrian and anti-Prussian parliamentary groups in the Council. His image in public opinion was controversial. The respected contemporary Johann Christian Senckenberg , who, together with his brother Johann Erasmus Senckenberg, was one of Textor's harshest critics, made a harsh judgment . He characterized him in his diary as corrupt, vain and excessive. He was even accused of betraying the city during the Seven Years' War in January 1759 to the French army, allied with the emperor, and thus making possible its military occupation. The conflict between “Austrians” and “Fritzischen” in urban society also led to a falling out with his son-in-law Johann Caspar Goethe , who belonged to the minority of Prussian supporters. In April 1760 there was a physical argument between the two at a christening ceremony on charges of treason. Textor threw a knife at his son-in-law, who in turn drew the sword. The pastor managed with difficulty to separate the opponents from one another.

The Textorsche House in Friedberger Gasse

Johann Wolfgang Goethe draws in From my life. Poetry and truth another picture of his grandfather. He characterizes him as a calm, never angry person in ancient clothing who does not allow any changes in his surroundings or his way of life. He spends his free time in his garden, where he grows peaches and cloves .

Goethe describes in poetry and truth the castle-like property of his grandparents with its large, crenellated gate, the narrow entrance to the inner courtyard and the trellis of peach trees on the south side of the garden. The house was in Friedberger Gasse in the northeastern Neustadt , at that time a sparsely populated district compared to the old town , in which mainly the inns and stables of the carters who made quarters in Frankfurt were located. Textor's father inherited the property from his in-laws and built it on in 1714.

Johann Wolfgang Textor and Anna Margaretha Lindheimer together had five children who reached adulthood:

  1. Katharina Elisabeth (1731–1808) married the imperial councilor Johann Caspar Goethe in 1748 . She is the mother of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , who received the first names of his grandfather and godfather.
  2. Johanna Maria (1734–1823) married the Frankfurt merchant Georg Adolf Melber and had 11 children. Goethe describes Aunt Melber as warm-hearted and lively. The Johanna-Melber-Weg in Sachsenhausen is named after her.
  3. Anna Maria (* 1738) became the wife of Johann Jakob Starck , pastor at the Katharinenkirche and son of Johann Friedrich Starck in 1756 .
  4. Johann Jost (1739–1792), the only son, became a lawyer. After the death of his father he became a member of the council, in 1783 a junior mayor and in 1788 a lay judge.
  5. Anna Christine (* 1743) married the colonel and city commander Georg Heinrich Cornelius Schuler .

Three other sons and a daughter died in childhood.

Johann Wolfgang Textor suffered a stroke in August 1768 from which he did not recover. In June 1770 he resigned from his mayor's office due to the continuing handicap and died on February 6, 1771.

The Textorsche house with its large garden was damaged by French troops during the bombardment of Frankfurt in 1796. In May 1863 it was finally abandoned. Today the Grand Hotel ArabellaSheraton is located on this site .

A street and a school in the Sachsenhausen district of Frankfurt are named after Textor .

Anecdotal

  • During his time in Wetzlar, Textor was charged with adultery . During the trial, the betrayed husband threw the wig over his face as evidence that he had left behind in his mistress's bedroom during his hasty escape.
  • Textor was said to have clairvoyant abilities, especially regarding his own fate. He is said to have predicted his appointment as lay judge, which was by lot, as well as his appointment as mayor. Goethe reports this anecdote in poetry and truth

literature

Textor as a literary figure

References

  1. ↑ So all biographical sources. In a letter from Goethe to his sister, dated December 12 , 1765 (at 8 o'clock in the evening), however, it says: "Dear sister, today is grandpa's birthday and you ..."
    Source: Goethe Complete Works 1764–1775, DKV, FFM 1997
  2. ^ Richard Friedenthal, Goethe - his life and his time , p. 13. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-423-00518-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Textor, Johann Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German imperial, city and court school, grandfather of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1693
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1771
Place of death Frankfurt am Main