Karl August Schleiden

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Karl August Schleiden (1990)
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Karl August Schleiden (born May 9, 1928 in Burbach ; † May 6, 2009 in Saarbrücken ) was a German regional historian , art collector , private scholar , publisher and author .

Life

Apart from a short academic stay abroad for a period of two years in Paris , Karl August Schleiden stayed at home in his native Saarbrücken throughout his life. He spent his childhood and youth in the innermost district of Sankt Johann and attended the local elementary school, then the state high school (at times named Horst-Wessel School ). In the final years of the Second World War , like most of his class, he had to do military service as an air force helper.

Karl August Schleiden was married twice. Both marriages remained childless. He died just a few days before the age of 81 after a short, serious illness and was buried on May 14, 2009 in the main cemetery in Saarbrücken .

education

After graduating from high school in 1947 (today's Otto Hahn Gymnasium ) in Saarbrücken, Schleiden began his studies in Saarland, which was then politically semi-autonomous and economically linked to France . As one of the first students at the newly founded university , he took the subjects Classical Philology , Romance Studies and German Studies . In 1953 Schleiden received his doctorate with a thesis on the poetry of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock . In the period that followed, Schleiden initially worked as a research assistant at the Philosophical Faculty. In the spirit of the pro-French educational ideals propagated by the provincial government at the time, Schleiden was sent to the Lycée Moderne and the École normal d'instituteurs in Paris from 1953 to 1955 as assistant d'allemand (German-speaking assistant for language teaching for the teaching staff there) . After his return, the Saarbrücken University Rector Joseph-François Angelloz appointed him scientific assistant at the German Institute. He held this position until 1960.

politics

Schleiden was elected to the Saarbrücken-Land district council in December 1960 . There he took part in the culture committee in an initiative supported by the later District Administrator Leonhard Lorscheider , based on the already well-established adult education centers in Sulzbach , Dudweiler and Völklingen, to set up an equivalent institution for the Saarbrücken district.

Journalism

Volumes of the SAARHEIMAT magazine

Schleiden directed the focus of his work as a historian on the history of Saarland , especially the history of the state capital Saarbrücken. He started as the editor of the Saarheimat magazine , which he worked as a freelancer from December 1960 and full-time with effect from the beginning of 1962, later he advanced to the position of editor and devoted himself to this task until 1995. He also oversaw the program of the Die Mitte publishing house . During this time, numerous articles created to local history topics in reputable publications SaarLorLux -space

Schleiden and his publishing house were instrumental in the new edition of the works of the Saarland writer Johannes Kirschweng in an eleven-volume complete edition.

In the 1970s Schleiden donated a three-part illustrated book "Saarbrücken, as it was" to his hometown , a unique reminiscence. His "Illustrierte Stadtgeschichte" was to be published in 1999 for the large-scale 1000-year anniversary of the Saar metropolis. However, the project unexpectedly got into financial difficulties, over 80,000 euros were missing. The manuscript was completed, thousands of picture documents had been stored at the publisher ready for printing since 2004, Schleiden - now 80 years old - had activated all of his assets, sold parts of his private art collection and tried in vain to mobilize funding over the past few years. In February 2009, there was still a shortage of 30,000 euros for production to cover costs. In view of the expected loss of sales, the publisher was already demanding that its advance payments be returned. Left in the lurch by the city and country, cultural associations and private sponsors, a prestigious work now threatened to go under. Schleiden had, by his own admission, ruined himself financially. In the presence of the then incumbent Saarland Minister of Culture, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer , a solution was found that reunited all stakeholders and secured the tradition to future generations. The city of Saarbrücken took Schleiden's valuable image material into the city archive for a one-off payment of 15,000 euros. The rest was raised from funds from the state lottery company Saartoto . With this, the Dillinger Verlag Krüger agreed to take on the entrepreneurial risk of production again. Schleiden's last work was published in October 2009 - posthumously, but at least on time for the 100th founding festival of the city ​​of Saarbrücken.

Cultural engagement

Karl August Schleiden was one of the founding members of the Saarland cultural group , which was established in 1961 , and was a member of the board as an assessor and managing director. His Francophile inclinations also led him to the Franco-German Society in his hometown , to which he was associated as managing director until 1984. His efforts to promote Franco-German understanding and the promotion of French culture in Saarland were recognized in 1980 with the Orden Palmes académiques . Schleiden supported private initiatives to protect Saarland cultural monuments, such as the Association Ludwig Church (1964) and the reconstruction of the Saarbrücken castle . 1980–2001 he was a member of the State Monument Council, 1975–1989 Chairman of the Historical Association for the Saar Region eV , then 1990–1998 assessor. Here he was also financially involved, for example buying French press photographs from the 1935 referendum campaign in favor of the Saarbrücken State Archives . 1990 was also the year he was appointed deputy member of the board of trustees of the Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation by a cabinet decision of the state government. When the association for the creation of a historical museum was founded at the municipal association level , he was elected deputy chairman and was also involved in founding the Saarland Museum Association. Schleiden was a permanent member of the jury at the Saarland Dialect Competition (a forerunner of today's Saarland Dialect Prize ) organized by SR 3 Saarlandwelle from 1978–1998 . The professional regional association of publishers and booksellers Saar elected Schleiden in 1991 to the publishers' committee and the assembly of representatives of the German book trade association . Schleiden participated in the events of the history workshop in Saarbrücken throughout his life as a speaker and consultant, and a few days before his death his name was on the calendar of events.

Publications (excerpt)

  • Klopstock's theory of poetry as a contribution to the history of German poetics ; Writings of the Saarland University, West-Ost-Verlag, 1954;
  • Works in one volume / Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock ; Edited by Karl August Schleiden; Afterword by Friedrich Georg Jünger ; Hanser-Verlag, Munich 1954;
  • Selected works / Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock ; (2 vol.); Edited by Karl August Schleiden; Afterword by Friedrich Georg Jünger; Hanser-Verlag, Munich 1962; ISBN 3-446-13280-5
  • Saarbrücken as it was ; (3 vol.); Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1973–1985; ISBN 3-7700-0350-0 ; ISBN 3-7700-0581-3 ; ISBN 3-7700-0694-1
  • Saarbrücken, view points of a capital ; Verlag Die Mitte, 1974, 2nd, unchanged. Ed.
  • Old Saarbrücken ; 10 historical pictures, text by Karl August Schleiden; Weidlich-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1976; ISBN 3-8035-8907-X
  • Architecture guide Saarland ; Association of German Architects (ed.), Saar Regional Association, Red .: KA Schleiden; Publishing house Die Mitte, Saarbrücken 1982; ISBN 3-921236-39-8
  • The Saar ; Ludwig Harig , Herrmann Weisweiler, Karl August Schleiden (eds.); Greven-Verlag, 1982; ISBN 3774300836
  • Alt-S [ank] t Johann ; Watercolors and drawings by Fritz Ludwig Schmidt ; Text by Karl August Schleiden; Saarbrücken printing and publishing house, Saarbrücken 1983; ISBN 3-921646-74-X
  • Saarbrücken: Stations on the way to the big city ; Publishing house Die Mitte, Saarbrücken 1989; ISBN 3-921236-63-0
  • The stingy baker: a scary mask sculpture from the Saarbrücken Renaissance castle ; Alfons Kolling , Red .: KA Schleiden; Publishing house Die Mitte, Saarbrücken 1999; ISBN 3-921236-84-3
  • The former iron smelter Fischbach, Saar (1728–1866): an attempt at reconstruction ; Heidi Kügler, Red .: KA Schleiden; Publishing house Die Mitte, Saarbrücken 1999; ISBN 3-921236-88-6
  • Illustrated history of the city of Saarbrücken ; (Ed .: Andreas Krüger; Claudia Maas); Krüger-Verlag, Dillingen 2009; ISBN 978-3-00-028569-1

Awards

  • Chévalier (Knight) in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (1980)
  • Cultural Prize for Homeland Care and Folk Research of the Saarbrücken City Association 2000 (awarded on November 19, 2001)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CAMPUS issue 1/1999 on the 50th anniversary of the university
  2. ↑ Documents
  3. ↑ No. 10 No architecture, but junk - about the topicality of historical (incorrect) planning in Saarbrücken , Verlag für Politik & Cultur, Saarbrücken 1994
  4. ↑ Obituary for Carl Büch (1892–1978) , in: ZGSaargegend No. 27, 1979, pp. 7–10; Technical advice on publishing home magazines , in: No. 36, 1988, pp. 190–193; Report on the activities of the association 1987/88 , in: No. 37, 1989, pp. 444–448; Obituary for Karl Wilhelm Weber , in: No. 49, 2001, pp. 11–15
  5. ↑ Volkshochschule Saarbrücken
  6. ↑ Johannes Kirschweng - Collected Works ; Association for cultural and historical work in the area of ​​Bisttal eV (publisher); 11 vols. Saarbrücken 1974–1986.
  7. ↑ Cathrin Elss-Seringhaus: Von ruinöser Heimatliebe ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), in: Saarbrücker Zeitung from July 7, 2008 (last accessed on September 18, 2013)
  8. ↑ Cathrin Elss-Seringhaus: How to save a life's work? , in: Saarbrücker Zeitung of July 10, 2008 (last accessed on September 18, 2013)
  9. ↑ Alexandra Raetzer: Does the country help with the history of Karl-August Schleiden? , in: Saarbrücker Zeitung of August 17, 2008 (last accessed on September 18, 2013)
  10. ↑ Cathrin Elss-Seringhaus: Saved life's work , in: Saarbrücker Zeitung of September 18, 2009 (last accessed on September 18, 2013)
  11. ^ Saarland Association for Monument Protection eV Association Ludwigskirche (ed.): 40 years Association Ludwigskirche . Saarbrücken 2004, pp. 3-14
  12. ↑ Reconstruction of the Saarbrücken Castle ; In: Saarheimat, 14th year 1970, pp. 113-124
  13. ↑ Our archives ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.5 MB), messages from archives in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, No. 46, April 2001, p. 39
  14. ↑ Friends of the Historisches Museum Saar (last accessed on September 20, 2013)
  15. ^ Saarland Museum Association
  16. ↑ Saarland Dialect Prize ( Memento from March 28, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Schleiden, Karl August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German regional historian, art collector, private scholar, publisher and author
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Burbach
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 2009
Place of death Saarbrücken