Zacharias Gerhard Diederich Baedeker

Zacharias Gerhard Diederich Baedeker (born September 19, 1750 in Dortmund , † August 19, 1800 in Essen ) was a German publisher and bookseller as well as a royal court printer.

Live and act

Zacharias Gerhard Diederich Baedeker was born as the son of the Dortmund city printer Gottschalk Diederich Baedeker (not to be confused with his son of the same name, Gottschalk Diedrich Baedeker ). His father trained him as a printer in his Dortmund company.

Later he traveled to Essen after he married the widow of Johann Christian Theodor Wohlleben, Anna Theodora née Bastian, on July 20, 1775. Wohlleben took over the Essen printing house in 1769, in which the only Essen newspaper had been printed, and Baedeker took over in 1775. At this time he continued to run the local newspaper with the new name Essendische Zeitung von Kriegs- und Staatssachen (War and State Affairs) and then combined it with the Dortmundische mixed newspaper. Of war and state affairs . It had previously been published by his brother under the roof of his print shop in Essen.

Maria Kunigunde of Saxony , the last princess abbess of the Essen monastery , appointed Zacharias Gerhard Diederich Baedeker as high ducal court printer in 1777. Educational writings and school books, calendars and other commercial jobs as well as religious and edifying literature were printed . In addition, Baedeker ran a press publisher, a bookstore, a stationery store and an advertising and lottery office and opened Essen's first commercial book rental shop around 1790.

Zacharias Gerhard Diederich Baedeker suffered from an eye disease, which is why he largely withdrew from his business in 1796. For this reason, two years later, his son Gottschalk Diedrich Baedeker , at the age of 20, took over both the printing company and the other businesses and founded GD Baedeker Verlag .

literature

• Klaus Wisotzki: Book culture in the middle of industry. 225 years GD Baedeker in Essen . Ed .: Dorothea Bessen. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2000, ISBN 978-3-88474-786-5 , p. 11 to 48 .