August 8, 1732 Birth of Johann Christoph Adelung in Anklam, Germany. Adelung was the most significant German-language scholar before the Grimms. He was the librarian to the Elector of Saxony. August 8, 1824 Death of Friedrich August Wolf in Marseille, France (born in Haynrode, Germany). "Pro le go me na ad Homerum" (1795); Therewith he … [Read more...]

August 7, ca. 304 St. Afra of Augsburg is martyred for her Christian faith. Her origins are lost in history, though it is likely that she came from the Mediterranean, probably Cyprus. The circumstances of her movement to Augusburg, Germany are uncertain, but it is clear that by 304 she was established in Augusburg and had become a devout … [Read more...]

August 6, 1789 Birth of Friedrich List in Reutlingen, Germany. List was an economist who felt that protective tariffs were essential to industrial development. Due to his liberal ideas, he was exiled from Germany in 1825 and came to the United States where he had some influence with his views on tariffs. List's principal work was Das Nationale … [Read more...]

August 5, 1889 Death of Fanny Lewald in Dresden, Germany. Lewald was a writer of popular novels. Among her novels are Die Familie Darner (1888), Geschlecht zu Geschlecht (8 vols. 1863-1865), and Diogena (1847). August 5, 1895 Death of Friedrich Engels in London (born in Barmen, Germany). Engels was the son of a wealthy industrialist who … [Read more...]

August 4, 1905 Death of Walther Flemming in Sachenberg, Germany. An anatomist, Flemming founded the science of cytogenetics. He taught at the University of Kiel. He discovered mitosis which he explained in Zell-substanz, Kern und Zelltheilung (1882). August 4, 1914 Britain declares war on Germany (WWI). Britain had made a pledge to honor … [Read more...]

August 3, 1872 Death of Karl August Devrient in Hannover, Germany. Devrient was a heroic actor who achieved fame on the stage of Hannover. Some of his noted roles include Faust, King Lear and Wallenstein. August 3, 1902 Birth of Martin Noth in Dresden, Germany. A biblical scholar, Noth was an expert in the early history of the Jews. Noth … [Read more...]

August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg dies in Neudeck, Germany (now in Poland). Von Hindenburg had been a general and became the President of the Weimar Republic (Germany from the end of WWI to the rise of Hitler). Hindenburg became president in 1925 upon the death of the first president of the Republic, Friedrich Ebert. In 1933 he appointed Hitler … [Read more...]

August 1, 1889 Birth of Walther Gerlach in Biebrich am Rhein, Germany. Gerlach was a professor of physics at the University of Tübingen and Munich. He did substantial work on the deflection of atoms in a non-homogeneous magnetic field. August 1, 1890 Birth of Walther Eichrodt in Gernsbach, Germany. Eichrodt was a professor of theology … [Read more...]

July 31, 1527 Birth of Maximilian II in Vienna, Austria. Maximilian became Holy Roman Emperor in 1546. He tried to instill tolerance between Catholics and the new Protestants. July 31, 1800 Birth of the chemist Friedrich Wöhler in Eschersheim, Germany on July 31, 1800. It was Wöhler who discovered how to synthesize urea from an inorganic … [Read more...]

July 30, 1855 Birth of Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, a German telecommunications industrialist of the Siemens family. Known as Wilhelm von Siemens, he was a general partner of the family company Siemens. He is credited with championing the Berlin to Iraq railway system that was to be completed about 1915. The direct competition such a railway … [Read more...]