Otto Richter (archaeologist)

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Otto Ludwig Richter (born April 6, 1843 in Berlin , † July 16, 1918 in Magdeburg ) was a German classical archaeologist and high school director. From 1890 to 1910 he headed the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium in Berlin-Schöneberg . As a specialist in the field of topography of the city of Rome, he wrote a corresponding volume in the Handbook of Classical Studies , which is considered an outstanding achievement and has not been replaced since then.

Life

Education path and early career

Otto Richter was the son of the classical philologist Julius Richter (1816–1877) and his wife Clara. From 1852 he attended the Friedrichswerder Gymnasium in Berlin, where his father taught Latin and Greek from 1839 to 1870. After graduating from school on September 20, 1861, Otto Richter studied classical philology , history and philosophy at the University of Bonn , where he belonged to the Philological Association from the winter semester of 1863/64. He attended lectures and exercises with the philologists Otto Jahn , Friedrich Ritschl , Leopold Schmidt and Kurt Wachsmuth , with the historians Heinrich von Sybel , Theodor Bernhardt and Wilhelm Maurenbrecher, and with the philosopher Christian August Brandis .

In addition to the exchange with his fellow students, the school of Jahn and Ritschl was particularly decisive for Richter's academic training: Richter was part of their philological seminar for three semesters and took epigraphic exercises at Ritschl for a year . On August 14, 1865, Richter was awarded a doctorate degree with a dissertation on the text history of the Tibullus poems. phil. PhD . He then prepared for the teaching examination, which he passed on March 3, 1866. He received the license to teach (facultas docendi) in the subjects of Latin and Greek for all grades and for history and German up to secondary school.

After the teaching examination, Richter returned to Berlin, where he completed the probationary year from April 1, 1866 as a member of the Royal Pedagogical Seminar and as a probationary candidate at the Wilhelms-Gymnasium . He then taught for six months (April 1 to September 30, 1867) as an assistant teacher at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin and then moved to the province of Brandenburg for a few years: On October 1, 1867, he went to the Real as a regular assistant teacher -Oberschule in Frankfurt (Oder) , where on February 10, 1868 he passed a re-examination in religion. On April 1, 1868 he was given a permanent position as a senior teacher. On October 1, 1869, Richter moved to the grammar school in Guben , where he taught for six years. In June 1870 he married Lucie Richter, the foster daughter (and niece) of the provincial school council Gustav Adolf Klix (1822-1894) and Antonie geb. Wesenfeld (1825–1902).

Career in Berlin

On October 1, 1875 Richter returned to Berlin and taught as a senior teacher at the newly founded Askanisches Gymnasium , where other scientifically recognized teachers were also active (in addition to the director Woldemar Ribbeck, for example, the teachers Otto Gruppe and Adolf Trendelenburg ). Richter began his research work in Berlin and specialized in the topography of the city of Rome , which he also examined on site on research trips. On January 31, 1884 he received the title of professor.

When further high schools became necessary in the course of the population growth in Berlin, Richter received the offer in 1890 to run a new high school in Schöneberg near Berlin . He agreed and on May 26, 1890, was appointed director of the West Gymnasium , which began work in temporary accommodation in October 1890. In October 1893 the grammar school moved into its new building and was named Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium at the opening ceremony on October 18, 1893 . On this occasion, the provincial school councilor Emil Gruhl awarded the director Richter the Order of the Red Eagle, 4th class .

During his nearly 20-year tenure, Richter succeeded in establishing the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium as one of the most respected in Berlin. He achieved the hiring of several outstanding teachers, some of whom stayed at the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium until their retirement and were also active in science and journalism, for example Alfred Brueckner , Peter Corssen , Emil Engelmann , Paul Graffunder and Max CP Schmidt . A special feature of the grammar school were the regular trips to Rome, which were initiated by the senior teacher Ernst Herrmann and organized and carried out by him together with Richter. Richter traveled to Rome with two other teachers and about 15–20 students in the spring of 1899, 1900, 1903–1907 and 1908–1910 and also made excursions to other cities in Italy. Many students captured impressions of these trips with cameras, so that a photo album was created for every trip to Rome. In 1908, in the annual report of the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium, he commented on the organization and purpose of these trips, which were not self-evident and very expensive at the time.

After 40 years of service, Richter was appointed a secret councilor in 1908. He was on leave several times for health reasons, but also partly for research purposes. Max CP Schmidt regularly took over his position, including from February 1910, when the director was preparing for his ninth and last trip to Rome with the students. After this trip, Richter retired on April 1, 1910. He died eight years later in Magdeburg .

Scientific work

Like many high school teachers of his time, Richter was scientifically active. At the beginning of his career he dealt with Greek and Roman poetry. In his doctoral thesis (1865) he treats the Tibull -Exzerpte of the French scholar Vincent of Beauvais (13th century), which for the textual criticism had great significance of this poet. An essay followed in 1870 in which Richter examined the biographical references in Tibullus' work. In 1871 he published a treatise on two hymns by the Hellenistic poet Callimachos in the Guben school program , which he put in relation to the ruler Ptolemy II Philadelphus .

More important than these writings, however, are Richter's work in his later research area, the topography of the city of Rome. In the university and residence city of Berlin with its museums and libraries, he found the opportunity to tackle such a complex topic. After his first trips to Rome in 1882 and 1884, Richter published several individual studies on Roman topography, which he published as supplements to school programs or in scientific journals. He joined the Archaeological Society of Berlin and was elected a full member of the German Archaeological Institute in 1885.

Judge important work was the topography of the city of Rome , which he for the Handbook of Classical Studies of Ivan Muller wrote. This extensive systematic work was published for the first time in 1889 and in the second, revised edition in 1901. The ancient historian Hermann Bengtson described it in 1988 as an "excellent achievement" and emphasized that the book "still had no adequate successor". For the revision of this work Richter undertook another trip to Rome in 1896. From 1903 he presented the results of his later travels and research in further individual studies, which he published in the scientific supplement to the annual report of his high school and in the yearbooks of the German Archaeological Institute. In the winter of 1907/08 he was given leave for a longer research trip.

During his retirement, Richter also published a popular account of Ancient Rome (1913).

Fonts (selection)

  • De Vincentii Bellovacensis excerptis Tibullianis. Rosenthal, Bonn 1865 (dissertation).
  • Kallimachus' hymns to Zeus and Apollo. Two moments in the life of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Fechner, Guben 1871 (school program).
  • The fortification of the Janiculum, a contribution to the topography of the city of Rome. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1882 (school program).
  • About antique stonemason marks (= program for the Winckelmannsfest of the Archaeological Society of Berlin. Volume 45). Reimer, Berlin 1885.
  • Topography of the city of Rome. CH Beck, Munich 1889. 2nd increased and improved edition 1901 ( Handbuch der Altertumswwissenschaft 3,3,2).
  • The oldest residence of the Roman people. Hayn's heirs, Berlin 1891 (school program).
  • Contributions to the Roman topography. Part 1,1: Battle of the Allia and Saint Servius Wall. Part 1,2: Capitolium and Clivus Capitolinus. Büxenstein, Berlin 1903 (school program).
  • Contributions to the Roman topography. Part 2: The Roman speaker's stage. Büxenstein, Berlin 1904 (school program).
  • Contributions to the Roman topography. Part 3: The Battle of Allias. Büxenstein, Berlin 1907 (school program).
  • Experiences from seven school trips to Rome. Büxenstein, Berlin 1908 (school program).
  • Contributions to the Roman topography. Part 4: Underground and Pavement of the Roman Forum. Büxenstein, Berlin 1910 (school program).
  • The ancient Rome. Teubner, Leipzig / Berlin 1913.

literature

  • Wilhelm Pökel : Philological writer's lexicon . Leipzig 1882, p. 226
  • Album of the Bonner Kreis. Printed as handwriting. 1854-1906 . Bonn 1906, p. 13 (No. 71)

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Richter  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The following sources give the place of death: Literarisches Zentralblatt für Deutschland . Volume 69 (1918), p. 623. Socialist monthly books . Volume 24, Volume 52 (1918), p. 1097. Historic quarterly . Volume 19 (1920), p. 302. The exact date of death: Literarisches Zentralblatt für Deutschland. Annual reports: pedagogy . 8th Edition, Volume 1 (1925), p. 21.
  2. ^ Album of the Bonner Kreis. Printed as handwriting. 1854-1906 . Bonn 1906, p. 13.
  3. ↑ Richter describes his educational path in the vita of his dissertation, p. 76.
  4. ↑ Ebbo Demant: From Schleicher to Springer. Hans Zehrer as a political publicist . Mainz 1971, p. 9.
  5. ↑ Experiences from seven school trips to Rome . Berlin 1908.
  6. ↑ Zentralblatt for the entire teaching administration in Prussia . Year 1908, p. 844.
  7. ^ Hermann Bengtson: Hundred years of manual of the ancient science. In: The Aqueduct 1763-1988: an almanac from the CH Beck publishing house in the 225th year of its existence. Munich 1988, pp. 256-265, here p. 259.
personal data
SURNAME Judge, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Richter, Otto Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical archaeologist and high school director
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1918
Place of death Magdeburg