Joseph Fischer (geographer)

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Joseph Fischer SJ (also Josef ; born March 19, 1858 in Quadrath ; † October 26, 1944 in Wolfegg ) was a German-Austrian historical geographer .

Life

Joseph Fischer, the son of the decorative painter Gustav Fischer (1826–1890) and Elisabeth born. Kürten (1819–1902), attended high school in Rheine and studied philosophy and Catholic theology at the universities of Münster , Munich and Innsbruck from 1878 to 1881 . In 1881 he entered the Jesuit order in Exaten in the Netherlands and then attended the Jesuit schools at Bleijenbeek Castle (1884–1886) and Ditton Hall in England (1888–1891). In 1891, the year of his ordination, he traveled to Wolfegg Castle to see the Jesuit Father Friedrich von Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee . There he discovered world maps by Martin Waldseemüller and Jodocus Hondius from the 16th century. Since then he has been concerned with the history of cartography all his life and studied geography at the University of Innsbruck.

From 1895 to 1934, Fischer taught at the Stella Matutina Jesuit school in Feldkirch ( Austria ). Research trips took him to Italy, France and England (1903/1904 and 1909/1910). After the Stella Matutina was closed by the National Socialists in 1938, Fischer moved to Munich in 1939 and to Wolfegg Castle in 1941 , where he looked after the house archive until his death.

Fischer's research encompassed occidental geography and cartography from antiquity to the early modern period . Particular emphasis was placed on the maps by Claudius Ptolemäus and Martin Waldseemüller , which he also published as a facsimile .

Vinland map (excerpt)

Joseph Fischer was one of the best experts on Western cartography of his time. His historical, cartographic and palaeographic knowledge was the reason that the Norwegian cartography historian Kirsten A. Seaver included him in her considerations about the authenticity of the Vinland map . This map of the world, which appeared in 1957, shows part of North America and is said to date from the late Middle Ages; their authenticity is, however, heavily doubted by experts. After extensive research, Seaver put forward the thesis that Fischer could have forged the Vinland card due to his knowledge and living conditions.

Honors

Joseph Fischer has received numerous honors for his scientific achievements at home and abroad: He was a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (1934), the Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia , corresponding honorary member of the Royal Geographical Society , a fellow of the American Geographical Society and an honorary doctorate (Dr . phil. hc) from the University of Innsbruck (1935). The Society for Geography in Berlin awarded him the silver Carl Ritter Medal in 1933 .

Fonts (selection)

  • The Linz Day of 1605 and its significance for the history of the Austrian household and empire . Feldkirch 1898 (school program)
  • The main comparison of the inheritance of the sons of Ferdinand II of Tyrol and the Philippine Welser from May 20, 1578 . Innsbruck 1898
  • The discoveries of the Normans in America. With special consideration of the cartographic representations . Freiburg 1902 ( voices from Maria-Laach Supplement 21)
    • English translation by Basil H. Soulsby: The discoveries of the Norsemen in America: with special relation to their early cartographical representation . London 1903
  • with Franz von Weiser: The Cosmographiae Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller in Facsimile. Followed by the four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, with their Translation into English, edited by Charles George Herbermann . New York 1907. Reprinted by Ann Arbor 1969
Editing
  • The "German Ptolemy" from the end of the XV. Century in facsimile print . Strasbourg 1910
  • Konstantin Cebrian: History of Cartography. A contribution to the development of the map image and map system. Antiquity: From the first attempts at mapping countries to Marinos and Ptolemy . Gotha 1923
  • Claudii Ptolemaei Geographiae Codex Urbinas Graecus 82 phototypice depictus consilio et opera curatorum Bibliothecae Vaticanae . Four volumes, Leiden / Leipzig 1932

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Joseph Fischer (Geographer)  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kirsten A. Seaver: Maps, myths, and men. The story of the Vinland map . Stanford University Press, Stanford 2004, p. 297
personal data
SURNAME Fischer, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian historical geographer
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Square
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1944
Place of death Wolfegg