Wenzel Buhle

Wenzel (Wenceslaus) Buhle († late August 1685 ) was a Leipzig tobacco merchant and founder in the period after the Thirty Years' War .

Wenzel Buhle came from Breslau . A member of the Buhle family apparently continued to work there in the fur trade; During Wenzel's lifetime, in 1671 and 1680, a Jacob Buhle took up an office in his guild as senior furrier at the Zechamt. Breslau, an important trading town in Silesia in the tobacco trade, had lost 18,000 of 40,000 citizens in the previous years due to a plague epidemic .

In Leipzig, which is even more important for the fur trade, which was above all a worldwide trading center for fur pelts from Eastern Europe, the "smokers" Wenzel Buhle had successfully settled.

When the plague raged in Leipzig in 1680, "12 brave and learned people" founded a consortium, including Wenzel Buhle. They set themselves the task of helping each other and the sick, of arranging a funeral in the worst case, and of helping the bereaved. In 1680, 4,000 of Leipzig's 15,000 inhabitants died of cholera and plague, including eight of the 68 master furriers (recorded in 1663). The "Consortio" still existed in 1713, when the last founding member died.

Rübezahl writings by Johannes Praetorius

Dedication in the Rübezahl book for Mr. Wenceslav Buhlen

In addition to his foundation, Wenzel Buhle was mentioned when he died in 1685, primarily through the financing of the Rübezahl book by Johannes Praetorius (1630–1680). Buhle was privately connected to the Praetorius family. He was the godfather of Barbara Agnes Praetorius, born on August 3, 1662.

The book of "Magister Johannes Praetorius" was immediately well received when it was first published in 1662; a second edition appeared, and in 1665 a further independent edition. It bears the title in the third edition from 1668, corresponding to the first print

"DaeMonoLogIa RUBINZALII SILESEI",

with the subtitle “This is / a detailed report / of the wonderful / very old / and widely described ghosts Dem Rübezahl; Which is often shown / on the mountains in Silesia and Bohemia / the wanderers / in a cute and varied shape / and with strange activities /: Along with many other thoughtful tales of professions / and the most noble Silesian rarities: as well as several other short-branched skins entirely drawn together from many scribes / by MJ Prætoriú Zetling. Poet. Cor. Cæl. ”(3rd edition).

The work is dedicated to its financier,

"To the vests of honor / Vorachtbarn and well-known Mr. Wenceslav Buhlen / From Breslaw from Silesia / Leipzig citizens and noble smoke dealers / as well as [?] Freyen arts strange lovers: To my special honored Hn. Godfather / and great worthy friends / etc. "

In the edition of 1662 it still read: "[...] Leipzig citizens and furriers as well as [...]"

This is followed by a dedication called an anagram "Blue Seel / und Wachs'" and an acrostic , the first letters of which form the name Wendzeslau [v]:

" W Express I, sir / he / few years ago

E had in sonderlichs: he shall learn itzt

N oh such a time / the Wolthat not verlorn

D a i a sonderlichs hinwiederumb erkohrn

Z for Walking gift've / I now surrender

E ven / worthy patrons / here and also the hope alive;

S Olch Wercklein and mind / expectant Convenience

L ieb or verspürn favor; because I dedicated it to him

A us thanks geschiehet it / and friendly taste

U mpflichtes driven for / and of duty. "

Buhlish scholarship

Buhle also showed his connection with the literature scene and with his former homeland with his donation of 300 guilders made in his will on April 7, 1685. The Buhlische Scholarship was realized in 1690, the fifth year after Buhles death. The funding was aimed at Silesian students and was therefore awarded by the senior of the Polish university nation, the "each time Director Oeconomiae" was responsible for the practical implementation.

The scholarship donated by Buhle went to a convict donated by Elector Moritz in 1543, which actually donated 600 bushels of grain annually to the general free dinner at the university. Since it was found too difficult to get the grain, it was converted into a rent of 300 guilders. The foundation was gradually expanded, partly through endowments from private individuals and sovereign gifts. In 1831 222 students were fed lunch and dinner. Participants paid six groschen a week at the rulers' tables, and only three groschen at the tables donated by private individuals; some were entirely exempt. There were 18 ½ tables with 12 place settings each. The ninth table was indeed sovereign, but included the position donated by Wenzel Buhle for born Silesians.

In a history of the University of Leipzig from 1810 it said:

“A good man, the tobacco shop and head master of the furrier guild, Wenzel Buhle, had the touching idea”, in his will of April 7, 1685, “as a sincere lover of the scholars” the two Leipzig libraries, the university library and “EE Hochw. Council's newly established library in the courtyard on the old Neumarkt was "to bequeath 100 guilders each here, with the stipulation that the annual interest should be paid to Herr Bibliothecario for recreation." On November 17, 1690 the 100 guilders were handed over to the council. A poor, God-fearing, hardworking studios from Silesia should be preferred, and in the absence of one another Polish nation. He was fed free of charge for three years in the Convictorium, the university dining room, as he was exempt from paying meat money.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fritz Wiggert: Origin and development of the old Silesian furrier trade with special consideration of the furrier guilds in Breslau and Neumarkt . Breslauer Kürschnerinnung (Ed.), 1926, p. 333 ( → book cover and table of contents ).
2. ↑ Adam Friedrich Glafeys: core of the story of the High Chur- and the Princely House of Saxony. Pp. 650-654. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
3. ^ Walter Fellmann: The Leipziger Brühl . VEB Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1989, p. 26.
4. ↑ Karl de Qyl: Rübezahl researches - The writings of Johannes Praetorius. Unikum Verlag, 2012, p. 1. ISBN 978-3-8457-2581-9 . Retrieved March 30, 2020.
5. ↑ Original of the Rübezahl edition from 1662. Joh. Barthol Ohlers, Leipzig. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
6. ↑ Rubinzal (original) . Joh.Barthol Oehlers, Leipzig, 1662. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Heinrich Gottlieb Kreussler: History of the University of Leipzig: from its origin to our times. - In addition to a complete list of scholarships. CA Solbrig, Leipzig, 1810. Internet Archive, p. 170 (PDF file). Accessed March 31, 2020.
8. ^ The Convictorium and the grants of the University of Leipzig. - A word of reassurance and advice for all poor parents who wish to bring their sons to the Leipzig university (special copy from the fatherland friend) . L. Fort, Leipzig, December 1831, pp. 5-6, 14. Accessed April 1, 2020.
9. ^ Anja Pohl: Student life at the University of Leipzig in the Age of Enlightenment . Dissertation at the Faculty of History, Art and Oriental Studies at the University of Leipzig, September 25, 2015. p. 295. Accessed March 31, 2020.
10. ^ In: New Year's Sheets of the Library and Archives of the City of Leipzig . JB Hirschfeld, Leipzig, 1905. Retrieved April 1, 2020.