Karl Büchner (classical philologist)

Karl Büchner (born August 6, 1910 in Gaschwitz ; † November 19, 1981 in Denzlingen ) was a German classical philologist who worked as a professor at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (1943-1976).

Life

Büchner's grave in the main cemetery in Freiburg im Breisgau

After graduating from high school in Leipzig , Büchner moved to the university there in 1930 to study classical philology. In addition to Friedrich Klingner , who particularly stimulated him, his teachers included Erich Bethe , Alfred Körte , Karl Reinhardt and Wolfgang Schadewaldt . In 1935 he received his doctorate with the dissertation Observations on verse and train of thought in Lucretius and worked from 1936 to 1939 at the Leipzig Philological Seminar. He achieved his habilitation in 1938 with a work on Andria des Terence . After a professorship at theUniversity of Göttingen (1939) he was called up for military service when the Second World War broke out . In 1942 he received a position as associate professor in the field from the University of Freiburg , which he could only meet in 1943 when he was seriously wounded in Russia. He had been a member of the SA since 1933 and was accepted into the NSDAP in 1937 , but did not emerge in teaching and research in line with the prevailing ideology. After the war he wrote about his work: "My fault is that of every German who got away safely not to have become a martyr."

In the post-war period, Büchner tried to rebuild teaching in Freiburg, in 1948/49 as dean of the philosophy faculty. In 1949 he was appointed full professor and in the same year turned down an offer to Heidelberg . Büchner participated in the development of the Freiburg student union. In the 1950s and 1960s, the University of Freiburg recorded an enormous increase in the number of students studying Classical Philology: in some cases, there were more than 400 students in his lecture. In 1976 Büchner retired, but he continued to hold seminars and colloquia until his death in 1981.

Büchner was co-editor of the Zetemata and Hermes series. Individual publications as well as the magazine Hermes (since 1952). The universities of Glasgow , Salamanca and Strasbourg awarded him honorary doctorates.

plant

Büchner dealt intensively with the areas of Latin philosophy, poetry and historiography. His translations in particular were widely used (often as paperbacks by Reclam Verlag). In addition to his wide-ranging research areas, he was also a leading expert of his time on individual topics. For example, he wrote the letters and fragments in the extensive article on Cicero and the article Virgil and the articles Cicero and Virgil in the small Pauly for Paulys Realencyclopadie der classical antiquity .

Fonts (selection)

• Horace (= annual report on the progress of classical antiquity. Supplement. 267, ZDB -ID 3921-4 ). Reisland, Leipzig 1939, (Unchanged reprographic reprint, 2nd edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1969; ibid 1974, ISBN 3-534-04626-9 ).
• The structure of Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum (= Hermes . Individual writings. 9). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1953.
• P. Vergilius Maro. The poet of the Romans. Druckermüller, Stuttgart 1956 (from Paulys Realencyclopadie ).
• Humanitas Romana. Studies of the works and nature of the Romans. Winter, Heidelberg 1957.
• Roman literary history. Your main features in an interpretive presentation (= Kröner's pocket edition . 247). Kröner, Stuttgart 1957 (6th edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-24706-2 ).
• Cicero. The existence and change of his spiritual world. Winter, Heidelberg 1964.
• as editor: The new Cicero picture (= ways of research. 27). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1971, ISBN 3-534-04565-3 .
• The theater of Terence (= library of classical antiquity . New part 4). Winter, Heidelberg 1974, ISBN 3-533-02295-1 .
• Roman poetry. Texts, translations, interpretations, history. Reclam, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-15-010257-X .
• with Hans Freiherr von Campenhausen , Wolfgang Schadewaldt , Franz Wieacker : Roman world and Latin language today (= publications of the Catholic Academy of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. 31). Badenia, Karlsruhe 1977, ISBN 3-7617-0131-4 .
• as editor: Latin and Europe. Traditions and Renaissance. Reclam, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-15-010270-7 .
• Romance. Attempt to determine the essence (= Reclam's Universal Library . 7634). Reclam, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-007634-X .

literature

• Walter Wimmel : The philologist Karl Büchner. Attempt to pay tribute to his 65th birthday with a list of Karl Büchner's scientific publications . Marburg 1975.
• Walter Wimmel (Ed.): Research on Roman literature. Festschrift for Karl Büchner's 60th birthday. Wiesbaden, Steiner 1970.
• Eckard Lefèvre : Karl Büchner on his 70th birthday . In: Freiburger Universitätsblätter 69/70 (1980), pp. 9-10 (with picture; online version (PDF file; 449 kB)).
• Jürgen Blänsdorf : Karl Büchner † . In: Gnomon 55 (1983), pp. 378-382 (with picture).
• Konrad Heldmann : Karl Büchner (1910–1981) . In: Eikasmós 4 (1993), pp. 137-142.
• Felix Mundt: Büchner, Karl. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , column 163 f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Karl Büchner in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jürgen Malitz : Classical Philology . In: Eckhard Wirbelauer (ed.): The Freiburg Philosophical Faculty 1920–1960. Members - structures - networks . Verlag Karl Aber, Freiburg / Munich 2006, pp. 303–364, here pp. 344–345 ( online ).
2. ↑ Büchner's self-assessment is printed in Malitz (2006) pp. 43–44, note 193, quotation p. 44.
3. ^ Obituary in Gnomon 55 (1983), p. 379.