Ludwig Stern (Egyptologist)

Ludwig Stern (born August 12, 1846 in Hildesheim , † October 9, 1911 in Berlin ) was a German Egyptologist , Coptologist , Celtologist and librarian.

Training and activities

Born in Hildesheim as the son of Johanne Sophie Stern, b. Bartels, and the Police Director Christian Ferdinand Stern, he had first in Göttingen Roman and Oriental Philology studied under the influence of Heinrich Brugsch of Egyptology facing and after the state exam accepted a teaching position in Pomeranian Freienwalde.

A turning point in his life came when he, with a grant from the Prussian Ministry of Culture, was allowed to accompany the novelist and Egyptologist Georg Ebers on a trip to Cairo , to whom he also assisted in the edition of the Ebers papyrus, which is known after him . In Cairo, Stern headed the library of the Khedive from 1873 to 1874 and received the officer's title of the Turkish Majidi Order. On his return he was hired as assistant director of the Royal Museums in Berlin and was in charge of the Egyptian department . He translated a standard work on the antiquities of Cyprus . In 1886, with his habilitation, he moved to the Royal Library , which nineteen years later, on October 1, 1905, appointed him to succeed Valentin Rose as head of the manuscript department.

In addition to hieroglyphic writing , Ludwig Stern spoke numerous oriental languages. He dealt specifically with the youngest language level in Egyptian, Coptic , and wrote his influential Coptic Grammar , Leipzig 1880, which marked a considerable advance in understanding the language, was long considered the most detailed Coptic grammar and is still used occasionally today. He became increasingly bitter about the fact that he could never find a proper job in the narrower field of Egyptology. He finally turned to Celtology, which he had already dealt with during his student days. Among other things, he became known as a co-founder of the magazine for Celtic philology (with Kuno Meyer ) and through his edition of the 18th century Irish poem Cúirt to Mheadhon Oidhche .

In the manuscript department of the Royal Library Ludwig Stern took the recognized cataloging of 1881 by the legacy Ludmilla Assings acquirierten Varnhagen of Enseschen collection before. As an “exemplary masterpiece of modern autograph cataloging ” ( Georg Leyh ), this work was exemplary for the six-volume catalog of the manuscript collection with 14,500 names. Also held the star Akzessionsjournal, collected the correspondence Theodor Mommsen and edited Schiller and Kant - autographs . The printing of the Varnhagen catalog kept him busy on his deathbed, where, with the help of his assistant Elsbeth Triepke, he was able to give the 1000-page work the imprimatur three days before his death . At his request, he was buried in Hamburg without a delegation from the library .

literature

Ludwig Stern: The Varnhagen von Ensesche collection in the Royal Library of Berlin. Behrend, Berlin 1911.
Emil Jacobs : Ludwig Stern †. In: Central Journal for Libraries. Vol. 29, H. 1, 1912, ISSN 0044-4081 , pp. 26-31, digitized .
Nikolaus Gatter: "It is above all mine". The Varnhagen Collection until it was cataloged. In: Nicholas gate (ed.): If the story goes around a corner (= Almanac Varnhagen Society Hagen Berlin eV Vol. 1). Berlin-Verlag Spitz, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-8305-0025-4 , pp. 239-271.

Web links

Literature by and about Ludwig Stern in the catalog of the German National Library
Ludwig Christian Stern on the website of the University of Bonn, Department of Celtology, accessed on August 28, 2020.

Individual evidence

^ Louis Palma di Cesnola : Cyprus, its ancient cities, tombs and temples. Report on 10 years of research and excavations on the island. Authorized German adaptation by Ludwig Stern. Costenoble, Jena 1879.
↑ See that of K. Th. Zauzich: Ein Wissenschaftsgeschichtliches Kuriosum. In: Göttinger Miscellen . No. 210, 2006, pp. 105–110, Stern's published notes in a secret script he invented
↑ Ludwig Stern: The midnight court. In: Journal of Celtic Philology. Vol. 5, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York NY 1905, ISSN 0084-5302 , pp. 193-415.
↑ Quoted from: Hans Lülfing : The handwriting department. In: German State Library. 1661-1961. Volume 1: Past and Present. Verlag für Buch- und Bibliothekwesen, Leipzig 1961, pp. 319–380, here p. 352.

personal data
SURNAME	Stern, Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Stern, Ludwig Julius Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German orientalist, Egyptologist, Coptologist and Celtologist
DATE OF BIRTH	August 12, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hildesheim
DATE OF DEATH	October 9, 1911
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Louis Palma di Cesnola : Cyprus, its ancient cities, tombs and temples. Report on 10 years of research and excavations on the island. Authorized German adaptation by Ludwig Stern. Costenoble, Jena 1879.

[2] See that of K. Th. Zauzich: Ein Wissenschaftsgeschichtliches Kuriosum. In: Göttinger Miscellen . No. 210, 2006, pp. 105–110, Stern's published notes in a secret script he invented

[3] Ludwig Stern: The midnight court. In: Journal of Celtic Philology. Vol. 5, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York NY 1905, ISSN 0084-5302 , pp. 193-415.

[4] Quoted from: Hans Lülfing : The handwriting department. In: German State Library. 1661-1961. Volume 1: Past and Present. Verlag für Buch- und Bibliothekwesen, Leipzig 1961, pp. 319–380, here p. 352.