Otto Richter (archivist)

Ludwig (Louis) Otto Richter (born August 30, 1852 in Meißen ; † October 3, 1922 in Dresden ) was a German archivist, librarian and historian.

As head of the Dresden Council Archives , he founded the City Library in 1879 , from which the City Museum emerged on his initiative in 1891 . Richter also provided basic works for the history of the city of Dresden , which earned him the title "Father of the History of Dresden".

Life

After attending the Meißner Stadtschule, he initially took up a job as a clerk for a lawyer, since as a working-class child he had hardly any resources. However, this activity in no way corresponded to his inclination. At the same time he got to know certain principles of the organization of archival material, which were helpful to him in his later work in the council archives. His brother August and his brother-in-law Ernst Teichert financed his visit to the Neustädter Realschule from 1869 to 1873. In 1873 he passed his Abitur.

In 1873 Richter moved to the University of Leipzig to study history and philology.

He maintained personal contacts with Professors Heinrich Wuttke and Karl Biedermann . In 1877 he received his doctorate from the University of Leipzig with a thesis on the Basel Council (1431-1437). The first reviewer of the work was Georg Voigt . This work in turn was reflected in the second (1880/81) and third edition (obtained from Max Lehnerdt in 1894 ) of The Revival of Classical Antiquity or the First Century of Humanism , first published by Voigt in 1859 .

For the next two years he worked at the Royal Public Library as a research assistant. In July 1879 he was employed as an archivist and librarian at the Council Library and the Council Archives in Dresden.

Richter expanded the existing council library into a scientific city library. He was able to take over the book collection of the court watchmaker Moritz Weisse and that of the Dresden History Association, which at the same time formed the basis for the inventory. In 1881 the council library was made accessible to the general public and was given the name City Library.

Richter headed the council archive, primarily from a historical point of view, contrary to his predecessor Julius Alfred Heinze , in the legal sense. Richter made the more precise development of the inventory known to the public. As early as 1879 Richter began with a work in which its most lasting significance lies: the three-volume constitutional and administrative history of Dresden. He was probably the first to evaluate all archival sources available at the time on Dresden's medieval history. Richter was chairman of the Society for the History of Dresden from 1883 to 1912. In addition, from 1892 he published the Dresdner Blätter , which appeared on his initiative. One focus was the architectural discussions in Dresden. In 1912 Richter resigned from all offices for reasons of age and submitted his departure. The relationship with Lord Mayor Gustav Otto Beutler was not as favorable as with his predecessor, Alfred Stübel , who had widely supported Richter's efforts.

Works

• The organization and business rules of the Basler Council , Leipzig: Naumann 1877 (Diss. Leipzig 1877).
• Constitutional and administrative history of the city of Dresden
  • Vol. 1, Dresden: Baensch 1885 ( online ).
  • Vol. 2, Dresden: Baensch 1891 ( online ).
  • Vol. 3, Dresden: Baensch 1891 ( online ).
• Dresden's fortifications in 1811. 90 views and 2 plans in collotype, Dresden: Lichtdr. by Stengel & Markert 1890.
• Canaletto portfolio. 24 views of Dresden, Pirna and Königstein after Canaletto's etchings , Dresden: Wilhelm Baensch, Hofverl. Buchh. 1894.
• Memories from old Dresden. 24 views of old buildings, demolished around the middle of our century, after watercolors by Friedr. Aug. Kannegiesser on 14 collotype plates; In addition to a city plan from 1833 , Dresden: Stengel u. Markert 1896.
• Atlas of the history of Dresden. Plans and views of the city from the years 1521 to 1898 on 40 collotype boards; with an outline of the historical geography of Dresden Outline of the historical geography of Dresden , Dresden: Stengel & Markert 1898.
• History of the City of Dresden, Vol. 1: Dresden in the Middle Ages , Dresden: Baensch 1900.
• Dresden's surroundings in landscape pictures from the beginning of the 19th century , Dresden: Römmler & Jonas 1902.
• History of the city of Dresden from 1871 to 1902. Becoming and growing a major German city; on the German city exhibition , Dresden: Zahn & Jaensch 1903.
• Dresden Picture Chronicle, Part 1, Plates 1–12: 16th and 17th centuries , Dresden: Römmler & Jonas 1906.
• Dresden Pictorial Chronicle, Part 2: Plates 13–26. From 1709 to 1815 , Dresden: Römmler & Jonas 1910.
• Dresden's development in the years 1903 to 1909: Festschrift of the council of the royal capital and residence city of Dresden on the inauguration of the new town hall on October 1st, 1910; with 22 collotype images, Dresden: Güntzsche Foundation 1910.
• Childhood memories,
  • Vol. 1: Joys of life of a working-class child, Dresden: Laube 1919.
  • Vol. 2: Apprenticeship years of a brain worker, ed. by Artur Brabant , Dresden: Baensch 1925.

literature

• Manfred Kobuch : In the service of the city and its history. The city archivist and historian Otto Richter. In: History of the City of Dresden, Vol. 3: From the foundation of the empire to the present. Edited by Holger Starke , Stuttgart 2006, pp. 229-234.
• Holger Starke: Otto Richter and his Dresden. A double story . In: Wolfgang Hesse / Holger Starke (eds.): Those standing in the light. Photographic portraits of Dresden citizens of the 19th century , [Kromsdorf]: Jonas [2019] ISBN 9783894455637 , pp. 39–90.
• Daniel Fischer: Portraying the town? Social structure and urban construction in the Otto Richter's collection . In: Wolfgang Hesse / Holger Starke (eds.): Those standing in the light. Photographic portraits of Dresden citizens of the 19th century , [Kromsdorf]: Jonas [2019] ISBN 9783894455637 , pp. 175–192.
• Nadine Kulbe: Material, order, function. Otto Richter's portrait collection as a card index . In: Wolfgang Hesse / Holger Starke (eds.): Those standing in the light. Photographic portraits of Dresden citizens of the 19th century , [Kromsdorf]: Jonas [2019] ISBN 9783894455637 , pp. 215–241.
• Wolfgang Hesse: writing, image, concept. Autopsy of the Otto Richter collection . In: Wolfgang Hesse / Holger Starke (eds.): Those standing in the light. Photographic portraits of Dresden citizens of the 19th century , [Kromsdorf]: Jonas [2019] ISBN 9783894455637 , pp. 287–307.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Prof. Dr. Otto Richter. In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , Volume 56, No. 88, Berlin, November 4, 1922, p. 500. ( PDF; 0.4 MB ).

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Richter (Archivist)  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Otto Richter in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Otto Richter in the Saxon Bibliography
• Konstantin Hermann: Richter, Ludwig (Louis) Otto . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .