Johannes Reiske

Johannes Reiske , Latinized Reiskius, (born May 25, 1641 in Gera , † February 20, 1701 in Wolfenbüttel ) was a German educator and historian.

Live and act

Johannes Reiske attended high school in Gera and studied at the University of Jena . From 1672 he was first rector of the princely school in Weimar, then rector at the Johanneum Lüneburg and finally from 1679 until his death in 1701 rector of the high school Groß Schule Wolfenbüttel .

In addition to his successful work as a school principal, Reiske's lasting importance is primarily based on his historical work. As a polyhistor, he dealt with, among other things, educational, theological, philological, historical and natural history issues in his 34 or so writings. His work on the emergency fire , published in 1696, is of national interest and is still considered a pioneering achievement today.

For the history of the city of Wolfenbüttel and the history of the state of Brunswick, his "history of Wolfenbüttel castle [and] town" plays an important role, which dates back to 1686ff. originated. The Latin manuscript with the original title Historia Wolfenbüttelensis castri, urbis et viciiae in tres diversas periodos digesta remained unprinted; One of the four surviving copies is in the holdings of the Lower Saxony State Archives in Wolfenbüttel. Reiske's 256-page city chronicle is divided into 23 chapters and provided with extensive sources and literature. The focus is on genealogy as well as life and deeds of the rulers of the local, castle and residence region of Wolfenbüttel.

Reiske maintained a wide variety of contacts, e. B. to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , with whom he corresponded about the history of Wolfenbüttel.

In 1687 he published a book in which he tried to refute the correct thesis of Nicolas Steno and Fabio Colonna of the organic origin of fossils ( Glossopetren ) with philosophical arguments (he was a follower of Aristotelianism ) .

Works (selection)

De glossopetris Lüneburgensibus ad [...] Joh. Georg. Hieronymi [...] epistolica commentatio cum appendice addendisque aliis sub finem , Leipzig 1687
Kurtze as well a historical as a reasonable investigation, of the old German heydnisches Nodfyr, and the today's Nothfeur , Frankfurt 1696

literature

Dieter Lent : Reiske, Johannes . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 582
Dieter Lent: Johannes Reiske and the early modern beginnings of historiography on the medieval history of Wolfenbüttel . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, pp. 245-267
Günter Scheel: Leibniz and Reiske on Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, pp. 269–281
Paul Zimmermann : Reiske, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 128 f.

Web links

Jean Gaudant, Geneviève Bouillet, Johannes Reiskius (1687): Une tentative de réfutation aristotélicienne des idées de Fabio Colonna et Nicolas Sténon sur la nature organique des glossopètres , Comité Francais d´Histoire de la Géologie, COFRHIGEO, 2004, Annales des Mines website, French

Individual evidence

^ Paul Zimmermann: Reiske, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 128 f.
↑ Cf. Dieter Lent: Reiske, Johannes . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 582.
↑ Cf. Dieter Lent: Johannes Reiske and the early modern beginnings of historiography on the medieval history of Wolfenbüttel . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, pp. 245ff., Especially pp. 247ff, 254ff. mwNew.
↑ Günter Scheel: Leibniz and Reiske on Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, p. 269ff. mwNew.

personal data
SURNAME	Reiske, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Reiske, Johann; Reiskius, Johann; Reiskius, Johannes; Tatius, Matthaeus; Reiskius, Joannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German educator and historian
DATE OF BIRTH	May 25, 1641
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gera
DATE OF DEATH	February 20, 1701
Place of death	Wolfenbüttel

[1] Paul Zimmermann: Reiske, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 128 f.

[2] Cf. Dieter Lent: Reiske, Johannes . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 582.

[3] Cf. Dieter Lent: Johannes Reiske and the early modern beginnings of historiography on the medieval history of Wolfenbüttel . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, pp. 245ff., Especially pp. 247ff, 254ff. mwNew.

[4] Günter Scheel: Leibniz and Reiske on Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . In: Ulrich Schwarz (ed.): On the way to the ducal residence. Wolfenbüttel in the Middle Ages . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003, p. 269ff. mwNew.