Martin Börsmann

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Half-length portrait of Martin Börsmann;
Carte de Visite by Karl F. Wunder , Atelier Friedrichstrasse

Martin Börsmann (born December 5, 1851 in Elfershude near Beverstedt ; † February 22, 1903 in Hanover ) was a collector of Low German literature , a writer and graphic artist as well as a writer .

Life

Martin Börsmann was born on December 5, 1851, the fifth son of farmer Berend Börsmann and his wife Anna in the Elfershude district of today's Stubben community. At the age of 16 he emigrated to the USA, where two of his brothers were already living.

In New York , he first worked in a general store, then learned the profession of script and sign painter. When he realized how much he missed his homeland and, above all, his native Low German language, he had been sending Low German letters to the Provinzial-Zeitung in Geestemünde since July 27, 1869 under the pseudonym "Jan von Butenrin", in which he detailed his impressions described the life of German emigrants in the New World. In 1874, the newspaper Börsmann's humorous story "Mehr Glöck as Verstand" was published.

In 1873 Börsmann joined the "Beverstedter Club" in New York, for which he wrote Low German statutes. For the "cozy recreation" he acquired books that formed the basis for his later important private library.

After reading poems by Klaus Groth , the poet of the volume of poetry "Quickborn" published in 1852, Börsmann wrote a long Low German letter to Groth in confidential Duzton, which initiated a 15-year exchange of letters and postcards between the two.

Just a few months after the first letter contact, Klaus Groth suggested that the "Bevenstedter Club" be transformed into the large "New Yorker Plattdütschen Club". Börsmann took the initiative and gave the impetus to founding the "Plattdütschen Volksfest-Vereinen von New York und Umgebung". From September 6th to 10th, 1875, the "1st Low German Folk Festival in New York" was held, which is still taking place regularly today. The Volksfest-Verein has maintained the "Fritz Reuter Altenheim" since 1897.

Together with Wilhelm Fricke , Börsmann founded the Low German newspaper "Uns Modersprak" (published 1875–1877).

In the autumn of 1875 Börsmann came to Germany for a visit. He did not return to America, but initially settled again in Elvershude, from where he left for the first and only personal meeting with Klaus Groth in Kiel. He tried his hand at advertising in the port towns on the Lower Weser and in Berlin before finally moving to Hanover in 1877.

Between Art Nouveau - ornament : 5 buildings and studio addresses Börsmanns in the Schillerstrasse in Hanover

In Hanover, Börsmann acquired the house at the - then - address Schillerstraße 30 and worked as a writer, coat of arms and sign painter. His company carries out the first outdoor advertising on house walls for the Hanoverian "Kakesfabrik" Bahlsen in major German cities.

Together with Ludwig Meyer and Senator Friedrich Georg Hermann Culemann , he founded the "Plattdeutsche Gild Sackmann" in Hanover in 1879, which was renamed in 1885 to "Plattdütscher Vereen Hannover".

In the mid-1890s, Börsmann devoted himself to expanding his Low German library. On the 14th day of the "General Plattdütschen Verein" in Kiel, he wrote the essay "Plattdütsch in Amerika" in 1898.

Martin Börsmann died on February 22, 1903 at the age of 52 in Hanover.

Estate and Foundation

In his will, Börsmann designated the city of Hanover as the heir to his book collection, which is kept as a special collection in the Hanover City Library. The original book inventory comprises around 1665 volumes with Low German literature and linguistic works from the 16th to 19th centuries. This stock of Low German literature has been continuously maintained and expanded to this day. The written legacy, consisting of manuscripts, correspondence, life documents, Low German club publications and festival programs from the USA and Germany is also kept in the Hanover City Library as the Börsmann Archive.

Börsmannstrasse

Börsmannstrasse, which was laid out in the Hanoverian district of Stöcken in 1913 and which leads from Freudenthalstrasse to Flemestrasse, has since honored the collector and type painter with its name.

Fonts

  • More bell than mind. Let’s go crazy. Geestemünde, 1874.
  • More bell than mind. Let’s go crazy. 2nd edition Hanover: Kniep, 1881.
  • Plattdütsch in America. In: Plattdütsch Sprak un Ort. Festschrift to the 14th Plattdütschen Association Day. Kiel, 1898, p. 27 ff.

literature

  • Adolf Mußmann: The Low German literature in the Hanover city library. In: Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter , Vol. 12 (1909), pp. 168ff.
  • Paul Siedentopf (main editor ): H. Dorsfeld formerly M. Börsmann / Osterstraße 78 , in ders .: The book of the old companies of the city of Hanover in 1927 , with the help of Karl Friedrich Leonhardt (compilation of the images), anniversary publisher Walter Gerlach , Leipzig 1927, p. 329
  • Dietrich Steilen: Martin Börsmann. A memorial sheet for his 100th birthday . In: Lower Saxony , Vol. 52 (1952), pp. 19f.
  • Heinrich Egon Hansen: Klaus Groth and Martin Börsmann. The correspondence between two Low Germans. In: Yearbook of the Men of the Morning Star. 49 (1968), pp. 161-245
  • Heinrich E. Hansen: Martin Börsmann . In: The integrated community of Beverstedt in the present and past . Bremerhaven. 1983
  • Börsmann Collection . In: Handbook of the historical book inventory in Germany . Vol. 2.2. Hildesheim, 1998, pp. 60-61
  • Low German in America - Low German in Hanover. Martin Börsmann and his Low German book collection in the Hanover City Library . In: Correspondence sheet of the Association for Low German Language Research , Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2018, ISSN 0342-0752

Web links

Commons : Martin Börsmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Helmut Zimmermann : Börsmannstrasse , in ders .: The street names of the state capital Hanover. Hahnsche Buchhandlung Verlag, Hanover 1992, ISBN 3-7752-6120-6 , p. 43
  2. ↑ oV : Börsmann, Martin in the database Niedersächsische people (new entry required) of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library - Lower Saxony State Library in the version of 6 March 2018 last downloaded March 9, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Börsmann, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Low German writer, sign painter, graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH December 5, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Elfershude near Beverstedt
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1903
Place of death Hanover