Otto Schulthess

Otto Schulthess (born January 3, 1862 in Winterthur ; † April 26, 1939 in Bern ) was a Swiss classical philologist who worked as a high school teacher in Frauenfeld (1886–1906) and as a private lecturer in Zurich (1893–1907) and professor in Bern ( 1907–1939) worked. He emerged from his studies in Greek and Roman law as well as epigraphy and papyrology . His work was just as important for provincial Roman archeology in Switzerland.

Life

Otto Schulthess, the son of a miller, attended high school in his hometown of Winterthur and graduated from high school in 1879 . During his school days he was a member of the Vitodurania secondary school association, where he was given the name "Pollux". From the autumn of 1880 he studied classical philology at the University of Zurich . His academic teachers included the philologists Arnold Hug , Hugo Blümner and Adolf Kaegi , the linguist Heinrich Schweizer-Sidler (1815-1894), the historian Gerold Meyer von Knonau and the philosopher Richard Avenarius . During his studies, Schulthess set the course for his academic career: in 1883 he contacted the Munich professor Eduard Wölfflin and indicated his interest in working on the planned Thesaurus Linguae Latinae . He took over the bogus of the writings of the Roman lawyer Ulpian and spent the summer semester of 1885 at the University of Munich . There, in addition to Wölfflin's lectures, he also heard those of the philologists Rudolf Schöll and Wilhelm Christ and those of the archaeologist Heinrich Brunn . After returning to Zurich in autumn 1885, he passed the diploma examination for high school teaching and was awarded a Dr. phil. PhD .

After graduating, Schulthess went to the University of Bonn to deepen his studies. He attended the courses of the philologists Franz Bücheler and Hermann Usener , the historians Heinrich Nissen and Alfred Dove and the Egyptologist Alfred Wiedemann . He also belonged to the "Bonn Circle", where he associated with the students August Brinkmann , Otto Cuntz , August Hausrath , Erich Pernice and Hermann Winnefeld . When Schulthess returned to Winterthur in the spring of 1886, he was planning an extensive study trip to Italy. Since he was appointed as a deputy (vicar) at the Gymnasium zu Trogen in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden shortly afterwards , he could not start the trip. After the short vicariate he got a teaching position at the grammar school in Frauenfeld , which he held for almost twenty years from autumn 1886.

In addition to his work in the school service, Schulthess remained connected to science. He continued his studies of the ancient history of law and published in 1891 a treatise on the process of Gaius Rabirius he with which in 1893 at the University of Zurich habilitated . From the summer semester of 1894 onwards, Schulthess held regular lectures at the university. In recognition of his services, he was appointed associate professor in autumn 1902.

The double burden of school and university teaching finally became too much for Schulthess. When he took over the introductory courses in Latin in addition to his lectures in the winter semester of 1906/1907, he said goodbye to the Frauenfeld grammar school at Easter 1906 and moved to Zurich.

After just one year, Schulthess left Zurich and went to the University of Bern as a full professor of Classical Philology , which had appointed him on September 28, 1907 to succeed Karl Praechter . In Bern, Schulthess remained active in teaching and research until the end of his life. He turned down an offer at the University of Zurich (1918). In the academic year 1920/1921 he was rector of the University of Bern. When he was about to retire in 1931, his post was replaced by two extraordinary positions, each with a Graecist and Latinist focus, which were filled with Édouard Tièche and Oskar von Allmen . Schulthess also announced lectures after his retirement (1932).

In Bern, in addition to his traditional research areas, which in addition to ancient law particularly concerned epigraphy and papyrology , a new field emerged: Provincial Roman archeology , in particular the exploration of Roman settlement traces in the area around Bern. Schulthess participated in the Commission for Roman Research of the Swiss Society for the Preservation of Art Monuments. He took over the chairmanship of the Swiss Rhine Limes Commission founded in 1909 and carried out several excavations on their behalf.

From 1907 he published comprehensive reports on Roman research in Switzerland in the yearbooks of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute and in the reports of the Roman-Germanic Commission . In 1925 Schulthess was elected a full member of the DAI and in 1934 a Swiss delegate to the Thesaurus Commission.

Schulthess died of a stroke on the night of April 25-26, 1939.

Fonts (selection)

• Guardianship according to Attic law . Bonn / Freiburg i. Br. 1886
• The trial of C. Rabirius in 63 BC Chr. Frauenfeld 1891 (school program)
• Demosthenes' guardianship account . Frauenfeld 1899 (school program)
• The Roman fort Irgenhausen (Canton of Zurich) . Zurich 1911
• From old documents pertaining to the Rietermühle in Winterthur . Winterthur 1917
• The Attic People's Court . Bern 1921
• Letters from Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Betsy Meyer u. J. Hardmeyer-Jenny . Bern 1927

literature

• Édouard Tièche : Otto Schultheß . In: Bursian's Annual Report on Classical Studies . Volume 275 (1941), III ( Biographical Yearbook for Classical Studies ), pp. 1–20 (with list of publications)

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Schulthess  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by Otto Schulthess in the catalog of the German National Library
• Overview of Otto Schulthess lectures at the University of Zurich (summer semester 1894 to summer semester 1900)

Individual evidence

1. ^ [[Peter Hauser (author) |]]: Directory of members of the generations 1864–1990. In: Alt-Vitodurania (Hrsg.): Festchronik 125 years Vitodurania. A souvenir book of the festivities of the 125th anniversary of Vitodurania from 8 to 12 September 1988 in and around Winterthur. Ziegler Druck- und Verlags-AG , Winterthur 1988, p. 80.
2. ^ Richard Feller : The University of Bern 1834-1934. Bern 1935, p. 610.