Michael Ritthaler

Michael Ritthaler (born April 4, 1641 in Modern , † August 22, 1685 in Wolfenbüttel ) was a German Lutheran theologian , school principal and librarian of Hungarian origin. From 1682 to 1685 he headed the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel.

Life

Michael Ritthaler was born in 1641 as the son of Austrian religious refugees in Modern in the Kingdom of Hungary . He attended schools in Modern and Pressburg and then studied theology at the University of Wittenberg from 1663 . The Turkish invasions of 1663/1664 badly affected the city of Modern, so that the scholarship granted by Ritthaler's hometown was no longer available. He therefore had to make a living as a private tutor for two pastors' children and by copying at the Wittenberg university library. Ritthaler already had the opportunity to give sermons in the Wittenberg town and castle church before his disputation Nobilitatem Hungarorum appeared in 1664, chaired by Michael Wendler . August Pfeiffer and Abraham Calov were among his academic teachers . After the end of the Turkish wars he returned to Modern and in January 1667 took over the rectorate of the local city school.

Persecution and escape

In 1674, Protestant clergymen and schoolmen were persecuted in Hungary as a result of the Vesselény conspiracy . Ritthaler was accused of rebellion and, together with other Protestants, was summoned to a special court in Pressburg. He survived a first trial unscathed, but was subsequently forced out of office. He anticipated a further procedure with his adventurous escape, which led him through Austrian territory to Wittenberg. There he preached again, worked as a private tutor and in 1674/1675 wrote a pamphlet printed in 1684 in Helmstedt against the Anhalt Councilor Julius Sperber († 1616), who is considered to be the co-founder of the Rosicrucian Order. His short stay in Wittenberg was followed by a private tutoring with the von Promnitz family , whom he accompanied to Sorau in Lower Lusatia at the end of 1675 . He received his farewell there in 1678 and went to Leipzig , where he lived with the university rector Gottfried Schilter .

Head of the Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel

After Schilter's early death in April 1679, Ritthaler stayed in Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel in May of that year . Duke Rudolf August appointed him librarian for the Duke August Library as early as 1680. Its long-time director David Hanisius died in June 1681. Ritthaler succeeded him in office in 1682, becoming the second library manager after the eponymous founder, Duke August . In 1684 Ritthaler was in contact with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , who tried to arrange for the Wolfenbüttel library to buy a Greek manuscript. At the ducal request, Ritthaler wrote a Latin rhyming version of the five books of Moses based on the example of David von Schweinitz , which appeared in 1702 in Helmstedt with a preface by Hermann von der Hardt .

Ritthaler was married to the doctor's daughter Judith Ruland († 1673) since 1668. The marriage remained childless. Ritthaler died in August 1685 at the age of 44 in Wolfenbüttel and was buried in the local churchyard of the main church BMV .

Fonts (selection)

• Nobilitatem Hungarorum, Dissertatione Academica Sub Praesidio Viri Maxime Reverendi, Amplissimi [et] Excellentissimi Dn. Michaelis Wendeleri. Hall 1664.
• Talking and honest torn, one expelled from Hungary , pamphlet , 1675. ( online )
• Ecclesiae Militantis Cum Hierosolymis Et Ecclesia Triumphante Collatio. 1682.
• Hermathena Philosophico-Theologica, Julii Sperberi Isagogae posthumae opposita. Helmstedt 1684.
• Moses. Ad Illustris Schweinizii exemplum scito carmine expressus. Helmstedt 1702. ( online )

literature

• Otto von Heinemann : The ducal library to Wolfenbüttel. A contribution to the history of German book collections. 2., completely new. Wolfenbüttel 1894 (Reprint Amsterdam 1969), pp. 109–110. ( Digitized version ).
• J. Bepler: Ritthaler, Michael. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 591-592 .
• Robert Naumann (Ed.): Serapeum . Journal of library studies, manuscript studies and older literature. Volume 3. Leipzig 1842, pp. 214f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ J. Bepler: Ritthaler, Michael . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 591 .
2. ^ Günter Scheel : Leibniz 'Relationship to the Bibliotheca Augusta in Wolfenbüttel (1678-1716). In: Joseph König (Hrsg.): Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch . Volume 54. Braunschweig 1973, p. 174. ( digitized version )