Tilemann Stella

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Zweibrückische Landesaufnahme (1564)
Tilemann Stellas map on the planned connection from the Elbe to the Baltic Sea from 1576

Tilemann Stella , Latinized form of the name of Tilemann Stoll, Stolz or Stoltz (born April 15, 1525 in Siegen , County of Nassau-Dillenburg , † February 18, 1589 in Wittenberg , Electorate of Saxony ) was a German scholar during the Renaissance . Among other things, he worked as a librarian , mathematician , geometer , cartographer and astronomer .

Life

Born the son of a blacksmith, Stella attended the Siegen Pedagogy until 1542 under Magister Georg Aemilius , a relative of Luther and a friend of Melanchthon . He then studied in Wittenberg, Marburg and Cologne and developed the understanding of science taught there.

From 1552 Tilemann Stella was in the service of Duke Johann Albrecht I in Mecklenburg . His draft of a map of Mecklenburg, which was printed in Rostock in 1552 , is the oldest map of this country. As the Duke's travel companion, Stella visited Vienna and Hungary in 1560. Both were busy doing cartographic and architectural studies. Stella's diary of this trip with 60 map sketches is preserved in the State Archives in Schwerin . Observations and findings from the trip were later incorporated into Mecklenburg fortresses of the 16th century. In 1561 Stella took over the administration of the ducal library in Schwerin . Shortly after Johann Albrecht's death in 1576, he completed a combined terrestrial and celestial globe known today as the St. Gallen globe .

In addition to cartography, the creation of waterways shaped Stella's professional life. From 1564 to 1582 he was the engineer responsible for the construction of a canal between Elde and Elbe (today part of the Müritz-Elde waterway between Dömitz and Eldena) and today's Stör Canal . The death of his employer, Johann Albrecht I, in 1576 and the austerity policy that followed gradually deprived Stella of the economic livelihood in Mecklenburg. In 1583/84 Stella was temporarily in the service of Count Palatine Johann I in Zweibrücken as librarian and hydraulic engineer .

As a cartographer, Stella is best known for the general map of Germany published in 1560. In addition, he carried out regional surveys in various states , so from 1552 in Mecklenburg , 1557-1560 in the county of Mansfeld and 1563/64 in the offices of Zweibrücken and Kirkel of the Principality of Pfalz-Zweibrücken . Participation in atlas works and a map of biblical Palestine are also recorded . Throughout his life he pursued the vision of a large, very detailed map of Germany supplemented by extensive collections of facts. Naturally, such a major project exceeded its capabilities and ultimately remained unfinished.

Stella died on February 18, 1589 while traveling in Wittenberg. Stella's personal estate was lost with the library in Zweibrücken in 1677. Large parts of his cartographic work of Mecklenburg, numerous border maps and associated files are kept in the Schwerin State Main Archives .

Works

literature

  • Christa Cordshagen: Tilemann Stella's work in Mecklenburg: Theoretical writings and their implementation in his maps . In: Siegerland . Vol. 66 (1989), 3-4, pp. 83-87, ISSN  1435-7364
  • Christa Cordshagen: New insights into the work of Tilemann Stellas as a cartographer in Mecklenburg. In: Archive communications: Journal for the theory and practice of archiving . 36: 5 (1986) 158-161, ISSN  0004-038X
  • Gyula Pápay : A famous cartographer of the 16th century in Mecklenburg: Life and Work of Tilemann Stellas (1525–1589) . In: Contributions to the cultural history of Mecklenburg from science and technology . 1985, pp. 17-24
  • Bend Feicke: Tilemann Stella and the oldest map of the Mansfeld region . In: Mansfeld Heimatblätter . No. 9, Eisleben 1990, pp. 70-72
  • Adolf Hofmeister :  Stella, Tillmann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 36, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, p. 32 f.
  • Bernd Feicke:  STELLA (Stoltz), Tilemann. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 30, Bautz, Nordhausen 2009, ISBN 978-3-88309-478-6 , Sp. 1433-1437.
  • Ferdinand Opll: "Iter Viennese Cristo auspice et duce". Vienna in Tilemann Stella's travel diary from 1560 . In: Yearbook of the Association for the History of the City of Vienna 52/53 (1996/1997), pp. 321–360.
  • Jost Schmidt: Optical and radiographic analyzes of the St. Gallen globe - new findings on its dating and authorship. In: Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History (ZAK) 74 (2017), pp. 145–156 ( digitized version )
  • Tilemann Stella. In: Sabine Pettke (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for Mecklenburg. (= Publications of the Historical Commission for Mecklenburg : Series A). Volume 3, Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 2001, ISBN 3-7950-3713-1 , pp. 290-295.

Web links

Commons : Tilemann Stella  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef-L. Ewers, Walter Thiemann: 450 Years of the Gymnasium am Löhrtor, Siegen, 1536–1986 (1986), p. 20
  2. ↑ LHAS 2.12-1 / 7 Travels of Mecklenburg Princes, No. 57. ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/aktuelle-themen/der-stgaller-globus-stammt-aus-norddeutschland-ld.1317624 . Accessed: 2017-09-21. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6teZNp0nk )
  4. ^ "Scrolled back ...", Siegener Zeitung of March 5, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Stella, Tilemann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stoltz, Tilemann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Renaissance scholar
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1525
PLACE OF BIRTH Siegen , Nassau-Dillenburg County
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1589
Place of death Wittenberg , Electorate of Saxony