September 2, 1790 Death of Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim (pseudonym: Justinus Febronius) in Montquentin, Duchy of Luxembourg (born in Trier, Germany). Hontheim, a Roman Catholic priest was an historian and theologian. He was a professor at the University of Trier and in 1748 became an auxiliary bishop of Trier. In 1763 under the pseudonym, … [Read more...]

September 1, 1692 Birth of Egid Quirin Asam in Tegernsee, Germany. He and his brother, Cosmas Damian, were leading masters of the baroque style of illusionist decoration in the late baroque period. September 1, 1751 Birth of Emanuel Schikaneder in Straubing, Germany. Schikaneder wrote the text to Mozart's opera, Die Zauberflöte. In his … [Read more...]

August 31 Feast Day of St. Paulinus von Trier (ca. 300 - 358) St. Paulinus, was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Trier, St. Maximin and ultimately succeeded him as bishop. He continued the strong stand against Arianism initiated by Maximin. The emperor Konstantinus, however, who tended toward Arianism, exiled Paulinus to Phrygia (Modern … [Read more...]

August 30, 1916 General Paul von Hindenburg becomes Chief of Staff of the Prussian Army. He largely controlled German policy in the second half of World War I and served as the elected President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. August 30, 1928 Death of Wilhelm Wien in Munich, Germany. Wien was a German physicist who, … [Read more...]

August 29, 1523 Death of Ulrich von Hutten near Zürich. Von Hutten was a staunch supporter of Martin Luther, both with his pen as a satirist and with his sword as a knight. In 1522 when German knights rose up against the princes, von Hutten fought with the band of Franz von Sickingen. C. F. Meyer immortalized him in his novel Huttens letzte Tage … [Read more...]

August 28, 1749 Birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Frankfurt, Germany. Goethe was the greatest of all German writers. Among his works are The Sorrows of Young Werther, Faust, Götz von Berlichingen, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Egmont, and Torquato Tasso. There are frequent references to Goethe's various sayings and maxims throughout the … [Read more...]

August 27, 1730 Birth of Johann Georg Hamann in Königsberg, Prussia (now in Russia). Hamann was a contemporary of Immanuel Kant. Both Kant and Hamann resided in Königsberg. After a series of disastrous moral experiences in London, he concluded, from his attempts to reconcile philosophy and Christianity, that a childlike faith in God and direct … [Read more...]

August 26, 1882 Birth of James Franck in Hamburg, Germany. Frank became a professor of physics at the University of Göttingen in 1920. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1925 for his work on the excitation and ionization of atoms by electron bombardment. He fled Germany in 1933. In 1935 he accepted a position at Johns Hopkins University … [Read more...]

August 25, 1744 Birth of philosopher and critic, Johann Gottfried von Herder in Modrungen, Germany (now in Poland). His writings prepare for the Sturm und Drang movement as well as the Romantic movement in literature. He is perhaps, though, most remembered for his profound intellectual influence on the young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. August … [Read more...]

August 24-27, 410 Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths takes and plunders Rome. This was one of the final blows which would bring about the end of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths were one of the east Germanic tribes. There were three Germanic groupings: north Germanic, west Germanic and east Germanic (Goths). Modern Germans descend from the … [Read more...]