Michel Hofmann

Michel Hofmann (born August 13, 1903 in Waischenfeld ; † November 7, 1968 ) was a German lawyer and director of the Würzburg State Archives .

Life

Michel Hofmann was the son of a businessman and a teacher's daughter. He began his education in the Waischenfeld elementary school, his way then led to Bamberg , where he lived in the preparatory college Aufseesianum and attended the old grammar school up to the Abitur. Hofmann then studied for one semester in Bamberg with the intention of becoming a theologian. In the second semester, however, he decided to study law, which he completed in Munich and Würzburg. By Erich von Guttenberg , the doyen of Frankish history, Hofmann was the subject of his doctoral thesis , which he at Ernst Mayer with summa cum laude was awarded his doctorate.

After his first state examination in law, Hofmann joined the Bavarian archives service in 1928. Here his interests in legal history were deepened by the general director of the Bavarian State Archives, Otto Riedner. In 1932, Hofmann passed the great state examination for archival service like all previous exams with excellent results. From 1933 Michel Hofmann was assigned to the Bamberg State Archives as the third academic official. During the war, he ran the official business for several years with great success.

As a friend of the Munich publisher Ernst Heimeran , who was educated in ancient philology , Hofmann worked for his Tusculum collection . His anthologies Antike Weisheit (with Heimeran, 1931, 7th edition 1959) and Antike Briefe (1935) as well as the Tusculum Calendar (1933), a carefully explained version of the ancient Roman calendar, are small masterpieces in their confident selection and presentation of the material. Hofmann was also valued for his musical interests, as demonstrated in his collaboration with Carl Orff : Hofmann compiled the text for Carmina Burana , which premiered in 1937 .

He worked at the Universities of Erlangen , Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg as a lecturer for Franconian legal history.

In 1945 the occupying powers removed Michel Hofmann from his position at the Bamberg State Archives for political reasons. He was then appointed to the editorial board of the feature section of the Bamberg daily Fränkischer Tag , where he founded the Fränkische Blätter supplement , which is still an inexhaustible source for historians today. He also published a children's supplement.

In 1956, Michel Hofmann took over his previous position at the Bamberg State Archives and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Würzburg State Archives on April 15, 1958, succeeding the retired Paul Fraundorfer .

A few weeks after his retirement as director of the Würzburg State Archives, he died on November 7, 1968 and was buried in his home town of Waischenfeld.

Publications

• The medieval development of the court situation in the old Fürth office, Diessen 1932.
• Tusculum Calendar. This is a complete Julian calendar of ancient Rome with various feast, market, sacrifice, lucky and unlucky days ... with a calendar for our time to the year 1933. Munich (Heimeran) 1933.
• Caesar's calendar. The ancient calendar for the first time in a modern form. Munich 1934, Verlag Ernst Heimeran (20th issue of the Tusculum series)
• Together with Ernst Heimeran: Ancient Wisdom. A collection of Latin and Greek thoughts. Urtext and translation. Munich 1934. 7th edition 1959.
• Antique letters. Latin and Greek private letters from everyday life. Urtext and translation. Munich 1935. Verlag Ernst Heimeran
• Diplomatic lists: Brandenburg-Ansbach, Margraviate; Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Margraviate. In: Repertory of the Diplomatic Representatives of All Countries, Volume I (1936).
• Carmina Burana (text book and German translation), songs from the Benediktbeurer manuscript. Mainz (1937). [Text for the world premiere of "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff in Frankfurt a. M. 1937].
• The »External Authorities of the Bamberg Monastery and the Margraviate of Bayreuth«, (1938)
• The most important archival sources for the peasant clan and property history in the Upper Franconian area of ​​the Bavarians. Ostmark before the 19th century. Goglat (1939).
• The growth of Bamberg, shown in the Zweidler plan from 1602. Kleine Bamberger Bücher, Bd. 2, Bamberg (1940).
• Village constitution on the Obermain (1941)
• Brief Bamberg local history and city history. Bamberg (1956).
• Carl Orff / Michel Hofmann: Letters on the creation of the Carmina Burana. Edited and commented by Frohmut Dangel-Hofmann. Schneider, Tutzing 1990; ISBN 3-7952-0639-1

In addition, he wrote numerous articles on regional history in various regional magazines.

literature

• Frohmut Dangel-Hofmann (ed.): Carl Orff - Michel Hofmann: Letters on the emergence of Carmina Burana. Schneider, Tutzing 1990, ISBN 3-7952-0639-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Michel Hofmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• MICHEL HOFMANN (1903-1968); Author: Walter Scherzer