Otto Meltzer

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Otto Meltzer (born March 12, 1846 in Lauenstein in the Erzgebirge , † June 26, 1909 in Dresden ) was a German historian and grammar school teacher who taught at the Dresden Kreuzschule from 1868 to 1880 and headed the Wettiner grammar school there from 1880 to 1909 .

Life

Otto Meltzer attended grammar school in Freiberg from Michaelis 1860 to Michaelis 1864 ; during this time his father died. Meltzer studied Classical Philology and History at the University of Leipzig , where he dealt with Carthaginian history from an early age . His dissertation on Lucius Coelius Antipater , with which he was awarded a Dr. phil. received his doctorate . He then prepared for the teaching examinations in Latin, Greek and history, which he passed with distinction.

After completing his studies, Meltzer, only 22 years old, started teaching in Saxony. On April 22, 1868 he went to the Kreuzschule in Dresden as a trial candidate , where he was already employed on October 1 of the same year. The rector Friedrich Hultsch assigned him from January 1870 history lessons in the three upper classes. His later colleague Franz Poland and the later archivist Woldemar Lippert were among his students . In addition to teaching, Meltzer continued his scientific work; his research focus shifted to medieval and modern history. He published a monograph on the elections for bishops under Pope Gregory VII (1869, 2nd edition 1876) and several studies on Saxon school history, especially the Kreuzschule. His reputation as a historian earned him a call from the University of Budapest to the chair of history (Easter 1874), which he turned down. On February 20, 1880, the Saxon Ministry of Education awarded Meltzer the title of professor.

At Easter 1880, Meltzer became the first senior teacher at the Wettiner Gymnasium , which had been founded in Dresden last year. At that time it was headed part-time by Friedrich Hultsch. Meltzer represented Hultsch in official business until he was officially appointed headmaster on April 1, 1882 (from August 1, 1884 with the title "Rector"). During his almost 30-year tenure, the high school's reputation and number of students grew steadily. In 1905 Meltzer was given the title of "senior teacher". He died after a serious illness on June 26, 1909 and was buried in the Trinity cemetery with great public sympathy . His estate, which mainly contains material on Carthaginian history, is in the Dresden Main State Archives .

Meltzer's historical research focused on medieval church history, the Saxon educational history of modern times (especially the history of the Kreuzschule) and the Carthaginian history, which has preoccupied him since his studies. The Carthaginian history is because of their source material a particularly complex problem: There are no representations of Carthaginian view only the writings of Roman historian. Meltzer also drew on the findings of archeology and epigraphy for his story of the Carthaginians . In the first volume (1879) he dealt with Carthaginian history from its beginnings to the third Carthaginian-Roman treaty (306 BC), in the second volume (1896) the period up to the outbreak of the Second Punic War (218 BC). ). Meltzer left the third volume up to the destruction of Carthage (146 BC) in the manuscript. However, the historian Ulrich Kahrstedt , who was commissioned with the edition, decided to completely rewrite the volume; it was published in 1913. Meltzer's history of the Carthaginians remained in use for a long time in the 20th century and many parts of it are still not outdated today. The historian Werner Huss called it in his work of the same name "[t] he greatest achievement in the field of Carthaginian historical research".

Fonts (selection)

  • De L. Coelio Antipatro belli Punici secundi scriptore . Leipzig 1867 (dissertation)
  • Pope Gregory VII Legislation and Efforts Concerning Episcopal Elections . Leipzig 1869
    • 2nd edition under the title: Pope Gregory VII and the elections for bishops. A contribution to the history of the relationship between state and church . Dresden 1876
  • M. Johannes Bohemus, imperial crowned poet, rector of the Kreuzschule in Dresden, 1639–1676 . Leipzig 1875
  • From the library of a Leipzig student and docent in the first quarter of the 16th century . Dresden 1878 (school program)
  • History of the Carthaginians . Three volumes, Berlin 1879–1913 (Volume 3 by Ulrich Kahrstedt)
  • The cross school two hundred years ago . Dresden 1880
  • Communications about the library of the Kreuzschule . Dresden 1880 (school program)
  • De pace auc 513 inter Romanos Poenosque constituta. Festschrift for the inauguration of the Wettiner Gymnasium in Dresden, October 17, 1884 . Dresden 1884
  • De belli Punici secundi primodiis adversariorum capita quattuor . Dresden 1885 (school program)
  • The Kreuzschule in Dresden until the Reformation was introduced (1539) . Dresden 1886
  • The Wettiner Gymnasium in Dresden in the first twenty-five years of its existence . Dresden 1904
  • Lauenstein in my youth . Lauenstein 1911
  • A look back at Pirna's past . Pirna 1924 (reprint from the Pirnaer Anzeiger from October 22 to November 26, 1876)

literature

  • Wilhelm Pökel : Philological writer's lexicon . Leipzig 1882, p. 173
  • Franz Poland: memorial speech for the deceased rector, senior lecturer Dr. Meltzer . In: Annual report of the Wettiner Gymnasium in Dresden . Dresden 1910, pp. 3–9
  • Biographical yearbook and German necrology . Volume 14, 1909 (1912), p. 59 *

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Meltzer  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Huss: History of the Carthaginians (= Handbook of Classical Studies , Department 3, Part 8). Munich 1985, p. 1.
personal data
SURNAME Meltzer, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and grammar school director
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Lauenstein (Altenberg)
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1909
Place of death Dresden