Theophilus Jacobean

Theophilus Jacobäer (born December 13, 1591 in Denkendorf , † July 29, 1659 in Pirna ) was a citizen of Pirna and a pharmacist . He gained fame for saving his hometown in 1639 during the Thirty Years' War .

Live and act

Memorial plaque on the market in Pirna

Jacobäer was the son of the pastor Johann Negar Jacobäus (* 1550, † 1638) from Denkendorf. He learned the pharmacy trade from a member of the family, the pharmacist Reinhold Jacobäer, who was based in Calw .

From the Black Forest, Jacobäer went to Dresden , where he worked as Jodocus Müller's assistant in the Marienapotheke . He later moved to Pirna and ended up working under the pharmacist Johann. At the end, the so-called Löwenapotheke operated in a house on the market (today Am Markt 17), which had existed here since 1578. After Ende's death Jacobäer took over the pharmacy in 1618. Two years later (1620) he married Johanne Maria at the end († 1632), the daughter of the late pharmacist. After the death of his first wife, Jacobäer married Anna Maria Martin in 1633, daughter of the lawyer Gottfried Martin.

In the war year 1639, Swedish troops under Field Marshal Banér invaded Pirna. The soldiers looted the city and harassed the residents. The Swedish occupation went down in town history as the proverbial “Pirn'sche misery”. After all, the city was even supposed to be burned down. In order to prevent this, Jacobäer rode on September 25, 1639 to the Saxon Elector Princess Magdalena Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth at the Dresden court. The electoral princess, a friend of the Swedish queen, wrote a petition to Banér and asked him not to burn down the city. When Banér received the letter, he actually spared the city and moved on with his troops. In this way Jacobäer saved his hometown with his courageous commitment.

In recognition of his courageous performance, the Jacobäer City Council transferred the office of electoral land and drink tax collector to the city in 1639. In addition, he was awarded the brewing rights for his house. Jacobäer was elected to the city council as early as 1634, but he refused this office for work-related reasons.

Jacobäer continued to work as a pharmacist in the lion pharmacy. His second wife Anna Maria died in 1640 during the Thirty Years' War. Jacobäer's third wife was Johanna Charitas, the widow of his former superior Jodocus Müller, owner of the Dresden Marienapotheke. Jacobäer's marriages resulted in eight children.

1659 presented Elector Johann Georg II. A privilege letter from the Jacobäer the pharmacist monopoly in a two miles radius around the town of Pirna guaranteed. As early as 1654, Elector Johann Georg I had instructed the city council of Pirna to protect Jacobäer's shops against traveling and wandering pharmacists who, without a privilege, offered herbs and tinctures, especially at fairs.

Theophilus Jacobäer died on July 29, 1659.

Memory of Jacobeans

Today the play "Der Retter" commemorates Jacobäer's rescue act during the Thirty Years' War, which since 2001 has been performed regularly by an amateur drama group at the city festival or other occasions. The siege of the town hall, re-enacted every year on that day, commemorates the invasion of the Swedes on April 23, 1639.

Jacobäerstrasse in the city center is named after Theophilus Jacobäer. There is a memorial plaque on his former house on the north side of the market square. The former lion pharmacy operated by Jacbäer existed here until the flood in 2002.

See also

• Johann Siegmund von Liebenau

literature

• Karl Grumpelt , Jürgen George: Theophilus Jacobäer . In: Pirnaer Official Journal 4 (1993) 14, p. 222

Web links

• Pirna in the Thirty Years War
• "Der Retter" - home game about saving the city of Pirna in the Thirty Years' War