Rake-August

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Brunswick originals (from left to right): Rechen-August, German Hermann , Tea-Uncle and Harp-Agnes .
Door handle on the Braunschweig town hall . It shows Harfen-Agnes (left) and Rechen-August (right).

Rechen-August , real name August Louis Martin Ernst Tischer (* August 8, 1882 in Braunschweig ; †  June 13, 1928 there ), was one of several city ​​originals in Braunschweig at the beginning of the 20th century. He was able to solve complex arithmetic problems in his head in a matter of seconds and with this island talent he briefly gained national fame.

Life

August Tischer was the son of Caroline Friedrieke Tischer, b. Steinhof and the locomotive stoker Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Tischer. He grew up in poor conditions and therefore had to help his mother after the death of his father to earn a living for both of them.

Mathematical ability

Already at the Sophienstrasse school, Tischer stood out for the fact that he could divide and multiply eight to ten-digit numbers effortlessly and extremely quickly in his head and was therefore soon known in Braunschweig as a “ child prodigy ” when it came to arithmetic , without having his mathematical skills Could explain skills yourself. In contrast, his academic performance in other subjects was consistently below average.

After he left school, he began an apprenticeship as a locksmith , which he dropped out. Tischer concentrated more and more on solving complicated arithmetic problems, which occupied him so much that he apparently forgot everything else and seemed mentally absent to outsiders. So he had to make a living doing odd jobs. One was that, due to his well-known arithmetic skills and reliability, he took over animal transports to southern Germany for various Brunswick cattle dealers.

Due to his phenomenal number memory and his arithmetic skills, he was offered around 1910 to appear in variety theaters all over Germany, which he did initially with great success. As “August rake”, trademark: black frock coat , white tie, dented top hat and a white chrysanthemum in the buttonhole, the tall, slender man stayed more or less long in numerous large cities and demonstrated his amazing arithmetic tricks. B. in Hamburg, where he performed in various houses for a month.

But since he never got a permanent engagement and was cheated out of his fee several times due to his good faith , he finally returned to his hometown, where he moved from bar to bar again and solved arithmetic problems given by the guests for money. In the meantime, he has become popular across the region, and he also performed with “ Harfen-Agnes ”, another Braunschweig original from the turn of the century, in Braunschweig and signed autographs on postcards with his portrait.

Object of scientific research

In the meantime, Tischer had refined his “art” to such an extent that he was also able to name the exact days of the week for birthdays and weddings. In the years before the First World War , it was therefore tested several times by scientists who tried either to find out what his "tricks" were, as they suspected, or to fathom the secret of his arithmetic skills. However, all of these investigations were inconclusive. Even the professor of mathematics at the Technical University of Braunschweig , who often talked to Tischer about his abilities, tried to fathom the causes of the one-sided talent, but was ultimately only able to establish that this was "at the expense of psychological harmony".

Last years and death

With the outbreak and continuation of the war, Tischer's life situation deteriorated rapidly. Because people kept their money closer together in these uncertain times, he earned less and less, at the same time his health deteriorated and his arithmetic skills waned. It often happened that "Rechen-August" miscalculated, a circumstance that bothered him psychologically. Finally he died in the city hospital of " pulmonary consumption " and was buried in the Braunschweig main cemetery.

During the autopsy it was found that Tischer's brain was 1,690 grams, almost 400 grams heavier than a “normal” one. The brain preserved for pathology was destroyed in the bombing raid on October 15, 1944 .

Afterlife

Schoduvel 2011: A car on the old town market (in the background the old town hall ) with the four most famous Brunswick town originals : (from left to right) Rechen-August, German Hermann, Harfen-Agnes and the tea uncle.

Rechen-August, together with Harfen-Agnes , German Hermann and Tea-Uncle, is one of the most famous originals of the city of Braunschweig - even today.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karlwalther Rohmann: Encounters within Braunschweig's walls . Braunschweig 1980, p. 131
  2. ↑ a b Günter KP Strong: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 49
  3. ↑ Günter KP Starke: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 47f.
  4. ↑ Karlwalther Rohmann: Encounters within Braunschweig's walls . Braunschweig 1980, p. 132
  5. ↑ Günter KP Starke: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 48
  6. ↑ Karlwalther Rohmann: Encounters within Braunschweig's walls . Braunschweig 1980, p. 134
  7. ↑ Günter KP Starke: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 50
  8. ↑ a b c Karlwalther Rohmann: Encounters within Braunschweig's walls . Braunschweig 1980, p. 135
  9. ↑ a b Günter KP Strong: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 53
  10. ↑ Günter KP Starke: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 54f.
  11. ↑ Günter KP Starke: Man, be bright. Braunschweig originals, who they were and how they lived ... Braunschweig 1987, p. 57
personal data
SURNAME Rake-August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tischer, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German arithmetic artist and Brunswick city original
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1928
Place of death Braunschweig