Julius Springer

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Julius Springer 1817–1877

Julius Springer (born May 10, 1817 in Berlin ; † April 17, 1877 there ) was a German bookseller and publisher in Berlin.

youth

Julius Springer was the only child of the businessman Isidor Springer and his wife Marianne, who died in childbed. The father of Jewish origin had acquired citizenship in Berlin and was baptized. Julius spent the first years of his life in the care of his grandmother. Further upbringing and development were shaped by the Cauersche Anstalt , a boarding school based on reform pedagogical principles ( Pestalozzi ), and the grammar school at the Gray Monastery , which he attended until 1832. He then completed an apprenticeship in the Enslin bookstore. Years of apprenticeship and traveling followed, during which he got to know various bookshops in Switzerland and abroad (Zurich, Stuttgart, Paris).

Bookstore

On May 10, 1842 - his birthday - at the age of 25, Springer opened the Julius Springer assortment and commission bookstore in Berlin at 20 Breiten Strasse (today house number 11). The foundation was carefully prepared and financially well secured. The contribution of his silent partner A. Faudel alone amounted to 3,000 silver thalers, which, according to contemporary Friedrich Harkort , the industrialist and educational politician, corresponded to the equivalent of 100,000 school primers. As a bookseller, Springer published the first books. In addition, he published brochures and pamphlets on current issues, which brought him into conflict with the Prussian censorship authority on several occasions.

publishing company

After the bookstore was sold in 1858 and moved to Monbijouplatz, Springer devoted himself exclusively to the publishing business. School books, non-fiction and specialist books, but also books for young people and works of fiction were increasingly being published by the “Verlag von Julius Springer”. Springer was the publisher of Jeremias Gotthelf . There was a special affinity for the game of chess. For this purpose Springer published a number of textbooks, some in multiple editions. The later publisher's signature has its origin here.

The further development of the publishing house also under the following sons Ferdinand Springer senior and Fritz Springer as well as the grandchildren Ferdinand Springer junior and Julius Springer the elder. J. was characterized by service to science and technology, which made Springer-Verlag ( Springer Science + Business Media ) one of the largest science publishers in the world. Heinz Götze , who joined the publishing house in 1949, played a significant role in this and, as managing director and later also as partner, pushed the publishing house's global orientation. The authors of Springer Verlag include over 170 Nobel Prize winners.

Family and publishing history

Julius Springer is the progenitor of the widespread Springer family, which in addition to booksellers and publishers has also produced engineers, lawyers, artists, gallery owners and scientists. With his wife Marie (née Oppert) Springer had ten children, three of whom reached adulthood: Ferdinand (1846–1906), Fritz (1850–1944) and Ernst (1860–1944). Ferdinand and Fritz followed their father in the publishing house. Ernst embarked on a legal career. The two younger ones were victims of Nazi arbitrariness at the old age of 94 and 84 respectively. Before the impending deportation, Fritz Springer chose to commit suicide by poison (Stolperstein Straße zum Löwen 12). Ernst Springer died in the Theresienstadt ghetto (Stolperstein Boothstrasse 33). The two grandchildren Ferdinand Springer junior and Julius Springer the elder who worked at the publishing house were also persecuted and disenfranchised . J. , both combatants in the First World War . Julius Springer (bearer of the Iron Cross ) was briefly interned in the Oranienburg concentration camp. The publishing house was Aryanized under Tönjes Lange. Thanks to his loyal attitude, the Springer family's publishing house was retained, so that the two publishers could resume their work after the end of the war.

From the founding family, the great-grandson Konrad Ferdinand Springer was most recently active in the publishing house. Other great-grandchildren of high rank were the American publisher Bernhard Springer, New York (Springer Publishing Company), the painter Ferdinand Springer in Grasse, France, the Berlin gallery owner Rudolf Springer and the immunologist and cancer researcher Georg F. Springer , Illinois / USA.

Public work

Springer was a political person throughout his life. The first publications were pamphlets for more civil rights, democracy and freedom. He escaped imprisonment for several weeks only because of the general amnesty decreed after the revolution (1848). He saw himself not only as a man of words, but also as a man of action and so he accepted public offices whenever he was called. For 26 years - from 1848 to 1874 - Springer was a member of the board of the Berlin Booksellers Corporation, which still exists today, of which he was also a founding member. In 1867 the German Booksellers Association elected Springer to be its head. He held this office until 1873. Springer is regarded as a pioneer of national and international copyright law. From 1848 to 1851 and again from 1869 until his death (1877) Springer was a member of the Berlin city ​​council . For decades he was a member of the church council of the Sophiengemeinde Berlin.

death

Julius Springer died after a serious illness on April 17, 1877 and was buried in Cemetery II of the Sophiengemeinde Berlin . His grave no longer exists. It was destroyed in the course of the construction of the Berlin Wall and the barriers on Bernauer Strasse .

Plaque

Memorial plaque on the house at Breite Strasse 11 in Berlin-Mitte

The inscription on the memorial plaque in Breite Strasse 11 in Berlin-Mitte :

Julius Springer
1817-1877
Publishing bookseller, founded at this point
Springer Verlag on May 10, 1842,
today one of the largest science publishers in the world.

Honors

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Felix Eberty: Memories of the youth of an old Berliner. Berlin 1925, p. 157 f.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Springer, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1877
Place of death Berlin