Michael Ranft

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Michael Ranft (also Ranfft ) (born December 9, 1700 in Güldengossa , † April 18, 1774 in Großstechau ) was a German Protestant clergyman, vampirism researcher of the Enlightenment , historian and writer .

Life

The son of the pastor Michael Ranft in Güldengossa attended school in Chemnitz and enrolled at the University of Leipzig in 1720 , where he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy three years later and a master's degree in 1724 . From 1725 he worked as court master for the later Vice-President of the Appellate Court of Berlepsch in Gröditz .

Magister Michael Ranft succeeded Friedrich Wilhelm Preuser in the diaconate of the city of Nebra in 1727 . Preuser became the new pastor in Nebra. Although the city council of Nebra promised to repair the dilapidated diaconate apartment when he took over the office of diaconate , nothing was done to repair it until 1732, so that Ranft had to complain several times to the consistory in Leipzig . Due to his low income of a maximum of 150 thalers and the poor living and working conditions on site, he increasingly turned to the topic of his master's thesis, vampirism research . In 1733 the city council owed him almost 10 thalers of his salary, which he had to sue in 1736/37. Since he was unsuccessful, he turned to the Patrimonial Court of Nebra and the Schöffenstuhl Leipzig in 1739 . The negotiations ended unsuccessfully in the winter of 1740. Ranft left Nebra annoyed after the court lady there had proposed a new deacon in October 1739. His successor was Johann Gottlob Ranft from Güldengossa near Leipzig, the son of pastor Michael Ranft, born in 1709.

Michael Ranft of the same name was born on July 5, 1670 in Oederan as the son of Michael and Anna Christina Ranft, attended school in Freiberg and from 1681 the high school in Meißen . In 1691 he went to study theology at the University of Leipzig . After graduation he became pastor in Güldengossa and in 1714 pastor in Droyßig . In the summer of 1739 he asked Heinrich von Bünau, the patron saint of Droyssig, that his son Michael Ranft, the previous deacon of Nebra, be assigned as an adjunct on September 9, 1739 after passing the consistory to Leipzig was confirmed. Michael Ranft senior died on December 18, 1743 in Droyzut and his son succeeded him in office. Its official vocation is dated August 5, 1744.

In 1749 Michael Ranft accepted the call as pastor in Großstechau in the Principality of Altenburg , where he died in 1774. His sons Michael Gebhard and Christian Salomo Ranft became pastors in Großstechau and Rückersdorf, respectively .

Works (selection)

Frontispiece of the treatise on the chewing and smacking of the dead in graves

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Michael Ranft  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Ranft, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ranfft, Michael; Ranfftii, Michaelis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Vampirism researcher, Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH Güldengossa
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1774
Place of death Großstechau