Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen van den Brink

Bakhuizen van den Brink during his student days in Leiden, ca.1831

Bakhuizen van den Brink
(Photo by Maurits Verveer)

Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen van den Brink (born February 28, 1810 in Amsterdam ; died July 15, 1865 in The Hague ) was one of the most influential intellectuals in the Netherlands during his time . As a literary critic , philosopher and historian , he campaigned for a modern, liberal society that is characterized by democracy , individual freedom and discourse.

Life

Bakhuizen van den Brink was born on in Amsterdam near the Westerkerk. In the parental home on the Rozengracht, the rich tradition of the very wealthy Amsterdam bourgeoisie is strongly represented. His father was a grandson of the Dutch sea and air painter Ludolf Bakhuizen van den Brink and the owner of a flourishing trading office. His mother was a pious and deeply devout woman who had intended her newborn child a future as a preacher in the Dutch Reformed Church .

Bakhuizen van den Brink went through high school in Amsterdam and studied theology and philology in Amsterdam and Leiden.

He received his doctorate in 1842 from the University of Leiden on a subject on Greek and Roman philosophy. After receiving his doctorate, he traveled through Europe, where he visited archives and libraries in various German cities (including Bonn and Wolfenbüttel ), Breslau , Prague , Vienna , Brussels and Liège . The trip through Europe from October 1843 was partly an escape from creditors due to gambling debts. On January 6, 1850, an agreement was reached with the creditors before the Amsterdam court, which made it possible to return to the Netherlands. In 1851, on the recommendation of Johan Rudolf Thorbecke , he was employed as an official of the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.

Bakhuizen van den Bring was portrayed by the painter Jan Veth . His grave is in the Oud Eik en Duinen cemetery in The Hague .

Culture and society

As a literary critic and (co-) founder of De Gids , he introduced modern literary criticism in the Netherlands in the 1830s. He distanced himself from the then dominant and conservative cultural nationalism. The culture was expected to maintain Dutch traditions, such as B. practiced church attendance, modesty and sense of reality. In aesthetic terms, culture was judged from the point of view of good taste of the classical school. From this point of view, art was the practice and mastery of technology. Originality and renewal were by no means qualities associated with art.

Bakhuizen contrasted this with modern literary criticism in which literature is not judged on the basis of established cultural standards. The yardstick should be the value of the work in its own time, as well as the new knowledge about people and society it provides. He called on young authors to no longer follow the classical standard, but instead to develop a personal style, taking modern times as a starting point. He referred to the artist's responsibility to reflect critically on the reality that he encounters and to confront it with his own ideals. To do this, it was necessary to also take note of contemporary romantic and realistic literature from abroad.

Modern philosophy

As a university lecturer in philosophy, Bakhuizen consolidated attention to the new philosophical currents of idealism and neo-humanism in Germany. Friedrich Schleiermacher and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel were his greatest hobbyhorses. Brakhuizen broke radically with the Christian moral doctrine then prevailing in the Netherlands and contrasted it with a scientific ethics oriented towards the individual and society . The Bible no longer formed the starting point for this new ethic , but rather general norms and values were derived from psychological and social insights into the functioning of people and society.

Works (selection)

Between 1854 and 1865 Bakhuizen van den Brink was responsible for the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.

Disputatio literaria inauguralis continens varias lectiones ex historia philosophiae antiquae… apud HW Hazenberg et socios, Lugduni-Batavorum 1842, OCLC 717809390 ( babel.hathitrust.org - dissertation).
with Laurent Philippe Charles van den Bergh, Johan Karel Jakob de Jonge: Les Archives du royaume des Pays-Bas Recueil de documents inédits pour servir à l'histoire des Pays-Bas. M. Nijhoff, La Haye 1857, OCLC 794654378 ( babel.hathitrust.org ).
De studietijd van RC Bakhuizen van den Brink door brieven toegelicht . Nederlands letterkundig museum en documentatiecentrum, 's-Gravenhage 1969, OCLC 781546357 ( dbnl.org - posthumous).

literature

Remigius Augustinus Michael Aerts: De letterheren. Liberale cultuur in de negentiende eeuw . Groningen 1997 ( rug.nl - dissertation).
H. van Alfen: De bron van Bakhuizen van den Brinks Andries Bourlette. (Luiksche Verhooren over Oranjes daughter in 1568) . In: Historisch Genootschap (Hrsg.): Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap . tape 54 . Kemink, Utrecht 1933, OCLC 65320767 , p. 173-267 ( dbnl.org ).
H. Th. M. Bank: Het roemrijk vaderland. Cultureel nationalisme in Nederland in de negentiende eeuw . Ed .: Jan Bank. SDU, The Hague 1990, ISBN 90-12-06504-6 .
Conrad Busken Huet: Bakhuizen van den Brink . In: De Nederlandsche Spectator . 1865.
Gerben Colmjon: RC Bakhuizen van den Brink, a distinctive persoonlijkheid. Leidsche Uitgeversmij., Rijswijk 1951, OCLC 23419027 , p. 989-993 (Dutch, persee.fr ).
Robert Fruin: RC Bakhuizen van den Brink as directeur van het Nederlandsch Rijksarchief . 1908.
EHW Gons: RC Bakhuizen van den Brink. Liberalisme en de Duitse romantiek . 1997.
JAL Lancé: RC Bakhuizen van den Brink en het probleem van de 'tijdgeest' . HES, Utrecht 1979, ISBN 90-6194-322-1 .

Web links

Commons : Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen van den Brink - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Levens report KNAW, door L.Ph.C. van den Bergh (1865) (PDF)
Literature by and about Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen van den Brink in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

^ GJ van Bork: Bakhuizen van den Brink, Reinier Cornelis. In: Schrijvers en Dichters dbnl biografieënproject I. Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren , 2004, accessed on August 17, 2016 (Dutch).

personal data
SURNAME	Bakhuizen van den Brink, Reinier Cornelis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Dutch philosopher, literary critic and archivist
DATE OF BIRTH	February 28, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH	Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH	July 15, 1865
Place of death	The hague

[1] GJ van Bork: Bakhuizen van den Brink, Reinier Cornelis. In: Schrijvers en Dichters dbnl biografieënproject I. Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren , 2004, accessed on August 17, 2016 (Dutch).