List of Classical Philologists at the Georg-August University of Göttingen

The classical philologists at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen have been teaching the subjects of ancient studies, especially Latin and Greek studies , since the Philological Seminar was founded under Johann Matthias Gesner in 1734 .

history

In Göttingen, as at many other universities, Classical Philology emerged from a chair for poetry and eloquence (professio poeseos et eloquentiae) , which was first held by Johann Matthias Gesner . Associated with this professorship was the management of the philological seminar that Gesner had founded in Göttingen in 1734. This institution, which served the scientific teacher training, became a model for similar institutions in the next decades. Gesner led the seminar until his death (1761).

Gesner's successor was Christian Gottlob Heyne in 1763 , who had worked his way up from a modest background through diligent research. He shaped scientific life in Göttingen for half a century. He was in contact with famous contemporaries (especially Johann Joachim Winckelmann ) and initiated the development of classical antiquity , which was further developed by his students Friedrich August Wolf , Wilhelm von Humboldt and August Wilhelm Schlegel . The growth in the number of students resulted in several reforms of the seminary statutes and the creation of new teaching positions.

In the time after Heyne's death, several ordinaries and extraordinary departments were set up for the subjects, which in the 20th century led to three successively occupied chairs. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff , who was appointed from Greifswald in 1883 against the opposition of almost the entire college (with the exception of Hermann Sauppe ) , suggested the appointment of numerous scientists, including Wilhelm Meyer , Friedrich Leo and Georg Kaibel . In the 1920s there were three full professorships in Göttingen and a scheduled associate professor for classical philology.

During the time of National Socialism , the professor Kurt Latte was forced into retirement because of his Jewish origins; the retired Max Pohlenz was prevented from holding lectures. Both chairs (the third had been given up in 1929) were filled with prominent National Socialists, Karl Deichgräber and Hans Drexler , who served as rector of the university from 1943 to 1945.

After the end of the Second World War, Deichgräber and Drexler were retired. Drexler gave no more lectures, Deichgräber was appointed professor for reuse in 1951 and reinstated as a professor in 1958 (after Latte's final retirement). In the post-war decades there were again three chairs for Classical Philology. The subject was shaped by long-time representatives, including Wolf-Hartmut Friedrich , Will Richter , Klaus Nickau , Ulrich Schindel and Carl Joachim Classen .

The seminar was combined with Ancient History to form the Institute for Classical Studies in 1921 , and since the renewed separation in 1962 it has been called the Institute (Seminar) for Classical Philology . Since the 1950s, there have been three full chairs at the seminar, each with an employee or assistant position; In addition, there are two Academic Councilors , two teachers for special tasks and various lecturers at the seminar.

List of Classical Philologists

The first column shows the name of the person and their life data, the second column shows entry into the university, and the third column shows their departure. Column four names the highest position reached at the University of Göttingen. At other universities, the corresponding lecturer may have made an even more extensive scientific career. The next column names special features, the career path or other information relating to the university or the seminar. In the last column there are pictures of the lecturers, which is currently difficult due to the image rights.

scientist	from	to	Functions	Remarks	image
Johann Matthias Gesner (1691–1761)	1734	1761	Full professor	Professor eloquentiae et poeseos, previously Rector of the Leipzig Thomas School, friends with Johann Sebastian Bach ; Headed the university library, wrote the school regulations of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and the Novus Linguae Et Eruditionis Romanae Thesaurus
Christoph August Heumann (1681–1764)	1734	1764	Full professor	Professor of literary history, from 1745 also full professor of theology, held Latin events
Christian Adolph Klotz (1738–1771)	1762	1765	Full professor	Professor of literary history, full professor in 1763; 1765 professor of philosophy and eloquence in Halle
Jeremias Nicolaus Eyring (1739–1803)	1763	1803	Full professor	Gesner student, also active at the city school and university library; Privatdozent, Associate Professor of Philosophy in 1773, Full Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis in 1780; gave lectures (privatissime) on Greek and Latin literature
Christian Gottlob Heyne (1729-1812)	1763	1812	Full professor	Gesner's successor as professor of poetry and eloquence and head of the library; through his teaching and research activities as well as his numerous students (especially Friedrich August Wolf ) founder of modern classical studies
Arnold Heeren (1760–1842)	1784	1842	Full professor	Privatdozent, 1787 associate professor, 1794 professor of philosophy, 1799 of history
Christoph Wilhelm Mitscherlich (1760-1854)	1785	1854	Full professor	1785 associate professor, 1794 full professor, 1809–1835 as successor to Heyne's professor eloquentiae , lectured until the winter semester of 1853
Immanuel Gottlieb Huschke (1761–1828)	1802	1806	Private lecturer	moved to Rostock as full professor
Friedrich Thiersch (1784-1860)	1808	1809	Private lecturer	Heyne student, later Praeceptor Bavariae ; moved to Munich
Ernst Karl Friedrich Wunderlich (1783–1816)	1808	1816	Associate professor	written school text editions in Heyne's tradition
Ernst Schulze (1789–1817)	1812	1817	Private lecturer	Heyne student; Romantic poet, neglected teaching and died early in Celle
Gottfried Seebode (1792–1868)	1812	1813	Private lecturer	moved to the Andreanum Hildesheim as rector, later director ; Editor of the archive for philology and pedagogy as well as school text editions and dictionaries
Georg Ludolf Dissen (1784–1837)	1813	1837	Full professor	1813 associate professor, 1817 professorial professor; 1835 professor eloquentiae ; long-time head of the seminar, presented basic editions on Pindar and Tibullus
Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker (1784–1868)	1816	1819	Full professor	Archaeologist and philology; explored Greek poetry, mythology, and the epic cycle; moved to Bonn
Karl Otfried Müller (1797-1840)	1819	1840	Full professor	Associate professor, full professor in 1823, professor eloquentiae in 1835 ; is considered the founder of the subjects Classical Archeology and Ancient History
Karl Ferdinand Ranke (1802–1876)	1841	1842	Full professor	Head of the Göttingen grammar school; Interim successor to Müller
Karl Hoeck (1794–1877)	1818	1875	Full professor	Private lecturer, full professor in 1823, full professor in 1831; since 1845 director of the library; taught ancient history above all
Heinrich Albert Lion (1796–1867)	1819	1826	Assessor	Editor of various Latin authors; later corrector and assessor at the Philosophical Faculty
Friedrich Lachmann (1800–1828)	1822	1828	Private lecturer	Brother of Karl Lachmann , Livius researcher, at the same time teacher at the Göttingen grammar school and assistant at the university library
Georg Heinrich Bode (1802–1846)	1828	1846	Assessor	Assessor of the Philosophical Faculty and Accessist to the University Library; dealt with Greek and Latin literature, wrote a history of Hellenic poetry
Ernst von Leutsch (1808–1887)	1831	1887	Full professor	Privatdozent, Associate Professor in 1837; 1842 at the work of KF Hermann's full professor; Editor of the Philologus magazine
August Bernhard Krische (1809–1848)	1833	1848	Associate professor	Privatdozent and assessor of the philosophical faculty, 1842 associate professor; Specialist in ancient philosophy
Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin (1810-1856)	1836	1856	Full professor	Privatdozent, Associate Professor in 1837; 1842 at the work of KF Hermann's full professor
Karl Friedrich Hermann (1804–1855)	1842	1855	Full professor	Successor to Müller, philologist, historian and archaeologist; authored writings on cultural history, antiquity, philosophy and history
Ludwig Lange (1825–1885)	1849	1855	Associate professor	after his habilitation first library accessist, 1850 assessor, 1853 associate professor; moved to Prague as full professor
Ernst Curtius (1814-1896)	1856	1868	Full professor	Professor of Philology and Archeology; moved to Berlin
Leo Meyer (1830-1910)	1856 1899	1865 1910	Associate Professor Honorary Professor	Privatdozent for German, Sanskrit, Greek and Latin, 1862 associate professor; moved to Dorpat; returned from there in 1899 as an honorary professor for comparative grammar of the Indo-European languages
Hermann Sauppe (1809-1893)	1856	1893	Full professor	Successor to Karl Friedrich Hermann; Philologist, pedagogue and text critic; Secretary of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Kurt Wachsmuth (1837–1905)	1869	1877	Full professor	Successor to Curtius, professor of philology, history and archeology
August Wilmanns (1833-1917)	1875	1886	Full professor	hardly any teaching or publication activity; Library director
Karl Dilthey (1839–1907)	1878	1907	Full professor	Successor of Wachsmuth; Archaeologist and philologist; 1889 nominal successor to Friedrich Wieseler's chair for archeology
Ivo Bruns (1853-1901)	1880	1886	Associate professor	Plato and Aristotle researchers, habilitation in Göttingen in 1880, associate professor in 1884; moved to Kiel
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931)	1883	1897	Full professor	Philologist, also taught ancient history; Author of numerous fundamental works, secretary of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Wilhelm Meyer (1845-1917)	1886	1917	Full professor	Middle Latin, "Wilhelm Meyer from Speyer"; cataloged the holdings of the Göttingen University Library from 1889 to 1895
Friedrich Leo (1851-1914)	1889	1914	Full professor	Latinist; presented fundamental research on the tragedies of Seneca and the comedies of Plautus
Wilhelm Schulze (1863–1935)	1889	1902	Full professor	Professor of Indo-European Studies, specialist in the language and metrics of Greek epic and Latin personal names
Alfred Gercke (1860–1922)	1890	1893	Private lecturer	completed his habilitation with Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff; moved to Königsberg as a professor in 1893
Georg Wentzel (1862-1919)	1895	1902	Private lecturer	Wilamowitz student, represented the late Georg Kaibel in the winter semester 1901/1902; moved to Berlin in 1902 as an associate professor
Georg Kaibel (1849–1901)	1897	1901	Full professor	Successor to Wilamowitz; Graecist, comedy researcher
Eduard Schwartz (1858–1940)	1902	1909	Full professor	Successor of Kaibel; famous literary historian, member of numerous academies
Anton Viertel (1841–1912)	1902	1912	Honorary professor	Head of the Göttingen grammar school; held courses in the field of pedagogy and didactics, especially on the technology of higher education
Max Pohlenz (1872–1962)	1906	1962	Full professor	1909 personal professor, successor to Wendland in 1916, retired in 1937; from 1947 until his death he continued to teach
Paul Wendland (1864-1915)	1909	1915	Full professor	Successor to Schwartz; dealt with the Hellenistic and early Christian literature
Hermann Schultz (1881–1915)	1910	1914	Private lecturer	Specialist in Greek literature, student of Eduard Schwartz and Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff; fell in World War I.
Giorgio Pasquali (1885-1952)	1912	1915	Associate professor	famous text critic and specialist theorist
Richard Reitzenstein (1861–1931)	1914	1928	Full professor	Successor to Leo; dealt with the connections between pagan and Christian literature
Günther Jachmann (1887–1979)	1919	1922	Full professor	1917 associate professor, after a year in Dorpat full professor in Göttingen; moved to Basel
Friedrich Focke (1890–1970)	1919	1923	Senior assistant	moved to Breslau as a private lecturer; later professor in Tübingen
Hermann Fränkel (1888–1977)	1922	1935	extraordinary professor	Senior Assistant, later Associate Professor in Göttingen; Emigrated to the USA via England in 1935
Wilhelm Baehrens (1885–1929)	1922	1929	Full professor	Successor to Jachmann; after his death the ordinariate remained vacant
Eduard Fraenkel (1888–1970)	1928	1931	Full professor	Successor to Reitzenstein, first professor of Jewish descent after Leo; emigrated to England in 1934
Kurt Latte (1891–1964)	1931	1957	Full professor	Successor to Fraenkel, forced to retire in 1935; 1945 full professor again
Hans Walther (1884–1971)	1932	1971	extraordinary professor	Habilitation in 1932, adjunct professor in 1942; Editor and author of initial directories; until 1949 full-time in school service
Ulrich Knoche (1902–1968)	1935	1939	Associate professor	Senior assistant, 1937 associate professor; moved to Hamburg
Werner Kappler (1902–1944)	1936	1941	Lecturer	Septuagint researcher, qualified as a professor in 1937, but not awarded venia legendi until 1938; fell in World War II
Karl Deichgräber (1903–1984)	1938	1968	Full professor	Successor of Pohlenz, dismissed in 1946, 1951 professor for reuse , 1957 full professor as successor to Latte
Karl Büchner (1910–1981)	1939	1939	Chair representative	Specialist in Latin poetry, philosophy and historiography; was included in military service; went to Freiburg as a professor in 1943
Hans Drexler (1895–1984)	1940	1945	Full professor	Successor to Lattes, supporter of the NSDAP; 1945 retired and expelled from the Göttingen Academy; his successor was again Latte
Werner Hartke (1907-1993)	1945	1948	Senior assistant	previously full professor in Königsberg; moved to Rostock, later to Berlin (HU)
Ludolf Malten (1879–1969)	1945	1958	Full professor	personal professor whose professorship was transformed into the third regular professor after his retirement
Walther Abel (1906–1987)	1946	1948	Scientific assistant	Pupil of Wilamowitz and Norden, previously library councilor in Berlin; moved to Berlin as a high school teacher
Konrat Ziegler (1884–1974)	1946	1958	Full professor	Lecturer, 1950 honorary professor, 1965 emeritus; Plutarch researcher and editor of RE (Pauly-Wissowa)
Walter F. Otto (1874–1958)	1946	1947	Chair representative	represented the Deichgräbers chair
Albrecht Dihle (1923-2020)	1948	1958	extraordinary professor	Assistant, qualified as a professor in 1950 and senior assistant, 1956 adjunct professor; moved to Cologne, later to Heidelberg
Wolf-Hartmut Friedrich (1907–2000)	1948	1972	Full professor	Successor of Otto, researched Greek epics and poetry
Heinrich Dörrie (1911–1983)	1954	1957	Senior assistant	appointed in 1944; until 1953 in captivity, represented by Werner Hartke and Albrecht Dihle ; moved to Saarbrücken, later to Münster
Erich Reitzenstein (1897–1976)	1959	1959	Chair representative	represented the professorship of Friedrich Fockes; moved to Mainz
Will Richter (1910–1984)	1959	1975	Full professor	Successor to Maltens, Latinist
Hans Gärtner (1934-2014)	1960	1971	Senior assistant	Specialist in Greek technical writing and medicine; Assistant at Deichgräber, later senior assistant, habilitated in 1970; moved to Regensburg
Ernst Heitsch (1928–2019)	1960	1967	extraordinary professor	until 1966 private lecturer; moved to Regensburg
Carl Joachim Classen (1928–2013)	1960 1973	1966 1993	Privatdozent Full Professor	Successor of Friedrich, specialist in ancient rhetoric, philosophy, satire and historiography
Jürgen Mau (1916-2007)	1961	1981	Academic senior councilor	from Berlin; Academic Council, 1970 Senior Councilor; IT specialist
Eckart Mensching (1936-2007)	1963	1970	Senior assistant	Dealt with Roman historians; 1969 re-qualified and promoted to senior assistant; moved to the TU Berlin
Paul Gerhard Schmidt (1937-2010)	1964	1978	Private lecturer	New founder of Middle Latin Philology at the University of Göttingen, habilitated in 1970; moved to Marburg as a full professor in 1978 and to Freiburg im Breisgau in 1989
Rolf Heine (1937-2018)	1968	2017	Academic senior councilor	Specialist in Greek and Latin grammar and style, from 2007 lecturer
Alexander Sideras (1935-2019)	1968	2006	extraordinary professor	Lecturer in Modern Greek Philology, 1984 Academic Senior Councilor for Byzantine and Neo-Greek Studies, later apl.
Wolfram Ax (* 1944)	1970	1993	professor	Assistant, C2 professor in 1984, moved to Düsseldorf, later to Cologne
Klaus Nickau (* 1934)	1970	2000	Full professor	Successor dike digger; Graecistics, expert on the Ammonios lexicon and Zenodot of Ephesus
Frank Regen (1939-2010)	1972	2004	Academic senior councilor	Specialist in imperial philosophy (Apuleius, Boëthius, Plotinus)
Wolfgang Fauth (* 1924)	1973	1989	extraordinary professor	Teacher at the Max Planck Gymnasium; 1973 private lecturer, 1976 adjunct professor for classical philology with special focus on mythology
Ulrich Schindel (* 1935)	1976	2003	Full professor	Successor of Richter, specialist in ancient rhetoric and grammar
Fidel Rädle (* 1935)	1981	2000	Full professor	Professor of Latin Philology of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times
Meinolf Vielberg (* 1958)	1987	1992	Scientific assistant	Scientific assistant and temporary academic advisor, qualified as a professor in 1991; moved to Düsseldorf
Gerrit Kloss (* 1961)	1989	2000	Scientific assistant	PhD 1992, Habilitation 1999; Research assistant since 1994, full professor in Heidelberg since 2003
Hans Bernsdorff (* 1965)	1990	2002	Senior assistant	PhD 1990, Habilitation 1997; represented Klaus Nickau's chair in the summer semester of 2000, and since 2003 full professor in Frankfurt
Siegmar Döpp (* 1941)	1995	2007	Full professor	Successor to Classen, a connoisseur of Roman literature from Classical to Late Antiquity
Marcus Deufert (* 1970)	1995	2002	Senior assistant	Habilitation 2001; October 2001 Senior Assistant; moved to Leipzig as full professor
Rainer Nickel (* 1940)	1999	2004	Lecturer	Headmaster of the Max-Planck-Gymnasium , well-known specialist didactic
Heinz-Günther Nesselrath (* 1957)	2001		Full professor	Successor to Nickau; Graecist, specialist in Greek drama, philosophy and sophistry
Thomas Haye (* 1966)	2002		Full professor	Successor of Rädles
Peter Kuhlmann (* 1965)	2004		Full professor	Successor to Schindel; Professor of Latin Studies and Didactics of Ancient Languages
Markus Stein (* 1962)	2004	2005	Teacher for special tasks	Specialist in Greek philosophy, late antiquity and church history; moved to Düsseldorf
Sibylle Ihm (* 1965)	2005	2012	Extraordinary professor	Teacher for special tasks, 2010 apl. Prof .; Specialist in patristic and floriculture literature
Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser (* 1967)	2007		Ordinaria	Successor Döpps (deputy chair until 2008), literary scholar
Christian Zgoll (* 1969)	2008		Private lecturer	Research assistant and lecturer, qualified as a professor in 2017, since 2018 also lecturer for Hittite; Specialist in Latin poetry of the Augustan period, Latin prosody and metrics, transmedia analysis, comparative literature and mythology

literature

• Carl Joachim Classen (ed.): The classical antiquity at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: A lecture series on its history . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1989, ISBN 978-3-525-35845-0 .
• Ulrich Schindel : The beginnings of classical philology in Göttingen , in: Reinhard Lauer : Philology in Göttingen: Linguistics and literary studies at the Georgia Augusta . Göttingen 2001, pp. 9-24.
• Cornelia Wegeler: "... let's say from the international scholarly republic": Classical studies and National Socialism. The Göttingen Institute for Classical Studies 1921–1962 . Böhlau, Vienna 1996, ISBN 978-3-205-05212-8 .

Web links

• Current employees
• Heinz-Günther Nesselrath: Classical Philology in Göttingen in the 19th Century (lecture on January 22, 2013) on YouTube

This version was added to the selection of informative lists and portals on January 27, 2009 .