Lorenz Diefenbach

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Lorenz Diefenbach. Detail from a lithograph by Ernest Biéler

Georg Anton Lorenz Diefenbach (born July 19, 1806 in Ostheim in der Wetterau , Hesse , † March 28, 1883 in Darmstadt ) was a librarian , pastor , Germanist , lexicographer and writer .

Life

During his studies in 1821 he became a member of the Constantia fraternity of Giessen .

Diefenbach was a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and was friends with Jacob Grimm . He became known through the saying , later cynically abused by the National Socialists , work makes you free , the title of a short story published in Bremen in 1873 (preprinted in a Viennese newspaper in 1872). The story is about a noble woman, Elodie von Bentem, who experiences work as a way of overcoming the limitations of her individuality caused by class and gender and, after a series of often clichéd adventures, to enter the quiet haven of marriage. Colportage-like elements in subplots with contrasting figures further emphasize the value of the work.

Diefenbach also wrote poems and numerous linguistic works, including research on the German dialects. His lexicographical work, especially the two Latin-German glossaries (often abbreviated as Dfg and Dfng ) are still of value for research today (2008). Much of the information from his Glossarium latino-Germanicum was taken over into the Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis .

Lorenz Diefenbach was made an honorary citizen of Offenbach am Main in 1848 . In 1848 he was a member of the preliminary parliament .

Publications (selection)

  • About the current written Romance languages. J. Ricker, Leipzig 1831 ( online ).
  • Glossarium latino-germanicum mediae et infimae aetatis. Baer, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1857 ( online ). Reprints: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft , Darmstadt 1968 and 1997.
  • Novum glossarium latino-germanicum mediae et infimae aetatis. Contributions to the scientific knowledge of the New Latin and Germanic languages. Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1867 ( online ). Reprints: Scientia, Aalen 1964 and 1997.
  • Comparative dictionary of the Gothic language: Lexicon comparativum linguarum indogermanicarum (= comparative dictionary of the Germanic languages: and all their ancestral relatives with special consideration of the Romance, Lithuanian-Slavic and Celtic languages ​​and with the addition of the Finnish family. Vol. 1/2). 2 volumes. Baer, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1851 ( vol. 1 , vol. 2 ).
  • (with Ernst Wülcker ) High and Low German dictionary of the middle and modern times. Schwabe , Basel 1885 ( archive.org : [1] , [2] ). Reprint: Olms , Hildesheim 1965 ( DRW Online ).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Wentzcke : Fraternity lists. Second volume: Hans Schneider and Georg Lehnert: Gießen - The Gießen Burschenschaft 1814 to 1936. Görlitz 1942, E. Constantia. No. 28.
  2. ↑ Work makes you free. In: Die Presse , pp. 225–263, August 17 to September 24, 1872 ( at ÖNB / ANNO ); J. Kühtmann's Buchhandlung, Bremen 1873 ( at the GDZ ).
  3. ↑ Federal Archives: Members of the Pre-Parliament and the Fifties Committee (PDF file; 79 kB)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Diefenbach, Lorenz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Diefenbach, Georg Anton Lorenz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Ostheim , Hesse
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1883
Place of death Darmstadt