Wilhelm Bruno Lindner

Wilhelm Bruno Lindner (born March 20, 1814 in Leipzig ; † May 18, 1876 ibid) was a German theology professor and book thief.

Life

His father Friedrich Wilhelm Lindner was full professor of philosophy from 1815 and professor of catechetics at the theological faculty of Leipzig University from 1825 . Wilhelm Bruno had an accident as a child and had to stay in bed for a long time.

approximate location of WB Lindner's house

He studied theology in Leipzig from the summer semester of 1832 to around the summer semester of 1835. In 1839 he completed his habilitation and from 1840 taught as a private lecturer in theology. In the winter semester of 1845/46 he became an associate professor and early preacher at the university church . He published a textbook on Christian church history and other works.

In 1848 he co-founded the “Association for Jobless Workers”, of which he was a member.

In September 1849 when the Lutheran Central Association was founded in Prussia, Lindner and his father signed the "Call of the Lutheran Associations to the Evangelical Lutheran Congregations in Prussia".

In 1850 he married Benedicta Ulrica Friederike, b. Engel, with whom he had eight children, two of whom died very young in 1859 after a serious illness. Only five children reached adulthood. The family lived at Lindenstrasse 8.

In 1859 he lost his professorship because of handwriting theft and in 1860 was sentenced to six years at work . Nothing is known about his time after the work house, mainly because he is no longer mentioned in the files of the University of Leipzig.

From the Leipzig address books of that time, however, we learn that he lived in the house in Lindenstrasse (today An der Verfassungslinde ) 8 (also known as Ulrichsgasse 55, 56 or Thalstrasse 29) until his death in 1876 , which he lived after his death inherited from his father in 1864. After that the house passed into the possession of his wife.

Family table

Gottliebe Elisabeth born Rudolph (1780–?)

Friedrich Wilhelm Lindner (1779–1864)

Benedicta Ulrica Friederike Lindner b. Engel (born November 19, 1830 in Malchow Monastery, † October 23, 1902 in Dresden)

Wilhelm Bruno Lindner (1814–1876)

Carl Friedrich Traugott Lindner (born October 5, 1813 in Weida; † March 18, 1880)

Auguste Emilie L., b. Baag (born September 22, 1817 - † March 23, 1895)

Ida Lindner

Hermann Friedrich Wilhelm (born April 6, 1852 in Leipzig, † February 14, 1922 in Dresden)

Martin Traugott Bruno Lindner (1853–1930)

Winfried Traugott Woldemar (born May 18, 1855 in Leipzig, † May 19, 1934 in Hosterwitz)

Frieda Gottliebe Mathilde (* July 7, 1856; † 1859)

Ida Elisabeth (born August 3, 1858; † 1859)

Maria Clementine (born October 7, 1859 in Leipzig, † February 1, 1940 in Dresden)

Ida Julie Telma Katharina (* April 21, 1864 in Leipzig; † January 7, 1891 in Dreibergen)

Carl Friedrich Ernst (* February 13, 1866; †?)

The judicial process

He gained notoriety through the trial that accused him of theft. It turned out that in the years 1858 and 1859 he stole numerous valuable miniatures and paintings from medieval manuscripts and early prints from the university library and the city ​​library . The then director of the university library Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf discovered on March 13, 1859 that Lindner had stolen some miniatures and paintings, some of which were already missing. Gersdorf had been invited to his apartment by the bookseller Theoderich Oswald Weigel because he wanted to show him some rare pieces that Lindner had lent him. Gersdorf then carried out further research in the university library on March 13 and 14. On March 15, Lindner's apartment was sealed together with Gustav Hartenstein , professor of philosophy and academic librarian since 1859. Lindner was questioned, but denied his perpetrator. When the pieces were presented to him, he admitted that he had stolen them from the university library. There was an initial trial after which Lindner was released on bail of 5,000 thalers.

In September 1859, however, Gersdorf discovered the loss of the 36-line Bible and other pieces. On September 24th, Lindner was arrested again. The trial took place from February 27-29, 1860.

Not only had he cut miniatures and entire sheets of paper from medieval manuscripts and early prints with a scalpel, but, in order to avoid detection, he had glued forgeries in the appropriate places on the books.

The estimate of the value of the individual manuscripts on which the damage had been carried out turned out to be difficult, but was finally set at 1158 thalers and 2 groschen.

He was sentenced to six years at workhouse. The public prosecutor, in the person of Public Prosecutor Barth, denounced that as a professor of theology he had done irreparable damage to the reputation of the University of Leipzig, while his defense attorney tried to explain his behavior with reference to his long isolation in childhood and the lack of understanding for his enthusiasm for explain valuable miniatures and paintings. He wanted to save the works of art from their impending oblivion in the libraries by adding them to his own collection.

Lindner was credited with the conviction that he had brought some pieces back to the libraries. His defense attorney reminded those present that Lindner was so shaken by the death of his children in 1859 that he saw it as God's punishment for his thefts, which stimulated his guilty conscience.

His lawyer Schrey appealed, which was rejected by the Higher Appeal Court in Dresden on April 13, 1860. Lindner came to the workhouse in Zwickau , was pardoned to prison in 1861 and released early in 1863 due to a royal pardon .

The opinion spread by several sources that his offense would have been all the more shocking because he taught moral theology is misleading insofar as his father Friedrich Wilhelm Lindner taught this subject at Leipzig University.

Contemporary sources on the legal process

“The Lindner trial, which kept the public attorney busy for almost a full year, came to an end in the public district court hearings that took place this week and resulted in the condemnation of the former preacher and professor of theology for theft of 6 years of workhouse. If one considers the position of the man, the case is unheard of, and the indignation over the damage and losses inflicted on the university library is general, especially among the scholarly world. The number of Dr. Lindner cut objects from the most valuable books, as initials, woodcuts, paintings, parchments etc. is between 5 and 600; the value of the stolen objects over 1,100 thalers, most of which have already been paid by the relatives of the condemned. Among the defective works there is also an old Latin work, where he tried to cover up his theft by pasting over a printed page. Strangely enough, at the bottom of the page, he left the words uncovered: Noli peccare Deus videt, in German: Be careful not to sin, God sees it! "

- Newspaper article in the Leipziger Dorfzeitung from March 3, 1860

Works

• De Joviniano et Vigilantio - puroris doctrinae quarto et quinto seculo antesignanis . Leipzig 1839.
• Württemberg chiliasts in Russia. Communicated from Pinkertons Russia , in: Zeitschrift für Historische Theologie , Vol. IX, Issue 1, Leipzig 1939.
• De lege ... historiae ecclesiasticae scritore literum esse debere a partium studio recte intelligenda , in: Journal of historical theology , Vol. X, Issue 2, Leipzig 1840.
• Speech at the 7th Foundation Festival of the Women's Bible Association . Dresden 1842.
• Sermons - held in the University Church in Leipzig . Leipzig 1844.
• Memory of the immortalized President of the Historical-Theological Society of Leipzig, Canon Professor Dr. Chr. Fr. Illgen , in: Journal for historical theology , Vol. XV, Issue 1, Leipzig 1845.
• Symbolae ad historiam theologiae mysticae. De Macario - dissertatio historico-theologica . Leipzig 1846.
• Textbook of Christian Church History: with special consideration of dogmatic development . Leipzig 1848–1854.
• Two sermons of time , in: Dr. GCA Harleß: Farewell sermon and inaugural sermon . Leipzig 1850.
• Martha and Maria. The inner mission and the church . Leipzig 1851.
• The glory of the Church of Christ . Two sermons of time. Leipzig 1851.
• What does it mean to be a child in Christ? . Leipzig 1851.
• Christological sermons . Leipzig 1855. 107 pp.
• Viri anonymi apostolici epistola ad Diognetum - ad optimarum editionum fidem recudi . Leipzig 1857.
• Liber de resurrect . Leipzig 1958.
• Quinti Septimii Florentis Tertulliani De anima liber: textum denuo recensuit . Leipzig 1861. 86 pp.
• Saxony's great memories. A circle of poems . Leipzig 1841. 199 pp.
• Niclas Brenner, or the siege of Leipzig in 1642 . Narrative. Stuttgart 1842.
• The water cure or the two prodigal sons: a story . Leipzig 1849. 69 pp.
• The beggar woman and the hole house in the Neinigt: Stories . Leipzig 1852.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Lecture directories for the years 1834, 1835, 1836
2. ↑ Dietmar Debes: The Lindner Files , in: Leipziger Blätter 5 (1984)
3. ^ History and genealogical tables of the Engel family, Breslau 1914. Panel XI
4. ↑ Leipzig University Archives; Course catalog of the University of Leipzig, summer semester 1835
5. ↑ http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/LINTNER/1999-05/0927169454  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/LINTNER/1999-05/0927169454  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Baptismal register of St. Thomas in Leipzig, year 1852, p. 232, no. 324: indicated as the godmother of Hermann Friedrich Wilhelm Lindner
8. ^ Lecture directories of the University of Leipzig 1869–1871.
9. ^ University archive Leipzig, register between 1825 and 1889, film no. 518
10. ^ Directory of pastors for Saxony
11. ↑ Kirchliches Archiv Leipzig, baptismal register female Liebich-Lippert 1851–1875
12. ↑ Kirchliches Archiv Leipzig, baptismal register female Liebich-Lippert 1851–1875
13. ^ Lineage Engel 2., from Bernau in Brandenburg , in: Mecklenburgisches Geschlechtbuch, Vol. 4 (1939), p. 150.
14. ^ Lineage Engel 2., from Bernau in Brandenburg , in: Mecklenburgisches Geschlechtbuch, Vol. 4 (1939), p. 150.
15. ↑ Ecclesiastical Archiv Leipzig, Taufkartei male Lindner Löffler 1851-1875
16. ^ Dietmar Debes: The Lindner files. In: Leipziger Blätter 5 (1984), p. 21.
17. ↑ http://www.tertullian.org/bibliography.htm

literature

• The trial of Dr. Wilhelm Bruno Lindner for theft - according to the results of the royal District Court of Leipzig compiled the public general meeting held from February 27 to 29; along with complete speeches by the Royal Public Prosecutor and Defense . Leipzig 1860.
• Bernhard Engel: History and genealogical tables of the Engel family , self-published by Bernhard Engel, Breslau 1914. Plate XI.
• Dietmar Debes: The Lindner files , in: Marginalia . H. 28th 1967. pp. 50-58.
• Walter Fellmann: The theology professor and the seventh commandment , in: Leipziger Pitaval . Berlin 1980, p. 125ff.
• Dietmar Debes, Die Lindner , in: Leipziger Blätter 5 (1984), p. 21.

Web links

• Short biography in the Leipzig University Journal
• Overview of the courses by Wilhelm Bruno Lindner at the University of Leipzig (summer semester 1840 to summer semester 1859)
• Wilhelm Bruno Lindner in the professorial catalog of the University of Leipzig