Meyer Isler

Meyer Isler, 1882. Painting by Julie de Boor , owned by the Hamburg State and University Library

Meyer Isler (born December 14, 1807 in Hamburg ; † August 19, 1888 there ) was a German philologist and librarian .

Life and work as a librarian

Meyer Isler was the son of Israel Abraham Isler and Gütchen (Jette) Meyer, whose brother Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg was. The couple had married in 1805. Israel Abraham Isler, whose family originally came from Halberstadt , had moved to Hamburg via Braunschweig , Buchsweiler and Hanover . In 1793 he opened a Jewish boys' school in the Hanseatic city , which his son also attended. Meyer Isler received lessons in French and English and from 1821 attended the Johanneum School of Academics , where he was influenced by the philologists Friedrich Gottlieb Zimmermann and Franz Wolfgang Ullrich . From 1824 to 1827 he was a member of the Scientific Association from 1817 , in which he made friends with Johannes Classen .

After attending the academic high school , he received scholarships for studies at the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin . At Bonn University he heard from Barthold Georg Niebuhr , who had a lasting influence on him. During his time in Berlin, Isler took part in evening parties led by Leopold Zunz and Isaak Markus Jost . Isler obtained his doctorate in Berlin. phil about Hesiod . Then he went back to Hamburg and worked as a teacher at his father's school. From 1832, Isler worked for the Hamburg city library . During his time as registrar , he accompanied the library's move to Speersort , where the library had to be rebuilt. There he took part in cataloging and expanding the existing works. He also tried to establish contacts with other libraries and museums based in Hamburg. Isler was the library manager from 1872 to 1883. For the period from 1838 to 1882, he presented a comprehensive statement of accounts in which he presented the development of the institution.

Working as a philologist

In addition to his work as a librarian, Meyer Isler worked as an editor and author of several works. Particularly noteworthy is his work as editor of a total of four volumes of lectures by Barthold Georg Niebuhr, which Reimerverlag published between 1846 and 1858. In 1873/74 a new edition of the Roman history of Niebuhr appeared, which Isler had also published. He also selected Charles de Villers ' letters , which were published in 1879 under the title Letters to Charles de Villers. A selection from the handwritten estate of Charles de Villers has been published. This work was reprinted in 1883.

Gravestone Dr. Meyer Isler ,
Ilandkoppel Jewish Cemetery

Isler, who was friends with the politician Gabriel Riesser , published his writings in four volumes between 1867 and 1868. The first volume contains a biography of Riesser written by Isler. Isler himself had chosen the printed letters from his friend. Isler also dealt, albeit less extensively, with the early phase of the history of the Jews in Hamburg and the Hamburg notary's office. He also wrote textbooks: 1851 appeared Carmina of Ovid , whose 1853 Eclogues . He has also written articles for magazines and newspapers that have not yet been well researched. In 1887 Isler recorded his youth in writing. This work was only published in 1961 and is an important source of work on the history of the Jews in Hamburg, the school history there and Isler itself. Numerous letters are also known that the Isler and Magnus families wrote to each other and are now owned by their descendants. Copies of this can be found in the Institute for the History of German Jews .

family

Meyer Isler was married to Emma Meyer (1816–1886) from 1839 , who worked in the Hamburg women's movement. The couple had their daughter Sophie (1840–1920), who married the lawyer Otto Magnus (1836–1920) from Braunschweig in 1867 .

Meyer Isler was buried in the Ilandkoppel Jewish cemetery in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf in grid square B 12.

Publications (selection)

• On the history of the notary's office and notaries in Hamburg , Otto Meissner , Hamburg, 1866 ( digitized version )

literature

• Franklin Kopitzsch : Isler, Meyer . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 4 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8353-0229-7 , pp. 167 .
• Isler, Meyer. In: Lexicon of German-Jewish Authors . Volume 12: Hirs – Jaco. Edited by the Bibliographia Judaica archive. Saur, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-22692-2 , pp. 298-301.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ grave register