Karl Benjamin Preusker

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Karl Benjamin Preusker in 1840

Karl Benjamin Preusker (born September 22, 1786 in Löbau ; † April 15, 1871 in Großenhain ) can be described as an important pioneer of public libraries in the first half of the 19th century and a forerunner of the later book-hall movement . He was the founder of Germany's first citizens' library , which was built in Grossenhain, Saxony, in 1828. At the same time, Preusker was a tireless publicist, archaeologist and museum pioneer in Saxony . Because of his commitment to the general public, to better living conditions and equal educational opportunities, he is also considered a philanthropist .

Life

Intended for the commercial profession, Preusker developed an inclination for collecting and for intellectual activity early on. An apprenticeship as a bookseller in Leipzig (1805–1809) and the subsequent employment in Joachim Heinrich Campe's bookstore in Braunschweig did more justice to his interests. Because neither his parents' business nor the book trade offered prospects in war-torn Germany, he joined the newly formed Lusatian Landwehr shortly after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. As a reliable administrative assistant, he quickly rose to become regimental quartermaster. He used the changing locations in Saxony and France to get to know the country and its people. In Leipzig he enrolled at the university. In 1823 he married the mayor's daughter Agnes Löwe in Döbeln a few weeks after their first meeting. In 1824 he was given the desired civil position as royal rent officer in Großenhain, an office which he held until 1853 and which gave him sufficient time for his private interests.

Preusker at the age of 38
Title page of Preusker's main work Glimpses of the Patriotic Prehistory , Volume 3, 1844

Preusker as a library founder and educational strategist

On October 24, 1828, together with the doctor Emil Reiniger , he set up the first public library, the Vaterländische Bürger-Bibliothek, in Großenhain, Saxony . It should make knowledge and education available to all citizens. Conceptually, it was closely linked with the Sunday School founded in 1830 and the trade association that followed in 1832. All three were used for professional and personal training. In the annual reports, Preusker regularly described the organization and progress of the facilities. Thanks to his successful example, he was a recognized advisor beyond Saxony. Over ten libraries in Germany and Switzerland attribute their founding to his suggestions.

The culmination of his ideas is the concept of a tiered library system, starting with village libraries and culminating in a national library . He also proposed various types of specialized libraries and was already thinking of some kind of documentation facility.

Preusker as an archaeologist

After taking office in Großenhain, Preusker initially devoted himself to researching patriotic antiquities , i.e. local archeology. In his writings he formulated basic methods and goals of modern archeology and monument preservation. In 1841/44 Preusker published his main work, Views of the Patriotic Prehistory . With this first comprehensive work on the archeology of Saxony, Preusker completed the archaeological work he had begun in 1824 after he had already turned to the topic of popular education in 1830. Preusker was a member of 21 history and antiquity associations. In 1828 the Royal Antiquities Association in Copenhagen appointed him a member, and in 1829 he received the silver medal of the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences in Görlitz for his services. Preusker maintained an intensive correspondence with collectors, archeologists, numismatists and linguists. He had a personal relationship with Karl August Böttiger , Gustav Friedrich Klemm , Christian Adolf Pescheck and Karl Wilhelmi .

As a schoolboy, Preusker acquired the first prehistoric finds. In 1853 he gave his collection of around 900 objects to the Dresden Antiquities Cabinet in order to make them permanently accessible to the public. It is regarded as the root of the State Museum of Prehistory Dresden . For the Preusker year 2011, it is to be fully merged again in the State Office for Archeology of Saxony. In the 1850s and 1860s, Preusker promoted the establishment of local antiquity collections by submitting duplicates, especially in Löbau and Großenhain. Parts of Karl Benjamin Preusker's collection are exhibited in the State Museum of Archeology in Chemnitz .

Preusker as a philanthropist

Popular education was particularly close to his heart. In 1828 he founded the Großenhain school and citizens' library together with the doctor Emil Reiniger . In 1830 he set up a Sunday school for the vocational school system. Apprentices and journeymen should be given the opportunity to train themselves for profession and personal improvement. In 1832 he called the trade association in Grossenhain (for the training of traders). The practical thinking Preusker also advocated the founding of a savings bank, a children's institution for working women and the introduction of street lighting. He found the basic ideas for his charitable endeavors in Herder's doctrine of humanity as well as in Masonic ideas. Preusker had already been accepted into the Bautzen lodge Zur Goldenen Mauer in 1814 .

Honors

  • 1833: Knight's Cross of the Kgl. Saxon Order of Civil Merit
  • 1840: Kgl. Prussian Medal for Science and Art
  • 1840: Honorary citizen of Hain
  • 1860: Honorary citizen of Löbau
  • 1866: Establishment of the Karl Preusker Foundation. by Großenhainer and Dresden trade associations

estate

Preusker's tombstone in the Großenhain cemetery

From his youth, Preusker carefully documented the course of his life. When he retired, he organized his collections of materials and wrote down his memoirs . The most important legacies are preserved in Löbau, Großenhain and Dresden. Preusker's multi-volume memoirs, biographical documents and more than 1000 letters from and to Preusker are preserved in the manuscript collection of the SLUB Dresden .

souvenir

The foundation of the Vaterländische Bürger-Bibliothek on October 24, 1828 is celebrated annually in Germany as Library Day.

In honor of Preusker, the umbrella association Library & Information Germany awards the Karl Preusker Medal on the day of the libraries to people and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to libraries and literature; from 1996 to 2009 the award was given by the German Literature Conference.

In 2011, the State Office for Archeology of Saxony announced a Preusker year on the occasion of Preusker's 225th birthday. In cooperation with the cities of Löbau and Großenhain , three exhibitions and events took place and a publication was published. In addition, the development of the correspondence and the Preusker archaeological collection began. For two years, part of Preusker's letter estate was accessible on an Internet portal.

literature

Web links

Commons : Karl Benjamin Preusker  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Karl Benjamin Preusker  - Sources and full texts

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ z. B. About youth education, especially home education, educational institutions, career choices, post-education and after-school. Hinrich, Leipzig 1837. (digitized in the digital library Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
  2. ↑ J. Schulze-Forster, based on F. Marwinski (1986): Chronological curriculum vitae of Karl Benjamin Preusker. (PDF, 237 kB) State Office for Archeology Saxony , April 19, 2011, p. 2 , archived from the original on October 29, 2013 ; Retrieved July 18, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Important personalities - City of Grossenhain. (No longer available online.) Grossenhain City Administration , 2011, archived from the original on April 2, 2012 ; Retrieved July 10, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grossenhain.de
  4. ^ Karl Benjamin Preusker. (No longer available online.) Löbau City Administration , archived from the original on April 2, 2012 ; Retrieved July 10, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.loebau.de
  5. ^ Statute of the German Literature Conference for the award of the Karl Preusker Medal
personal data
SURNAME Preusker, Karl Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pioneer of the popular library movement, writer, archaeologist and museum pioneer in Saxony
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Löbau
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1871
Place of death Grossenhain