December 30, 1777 Death of Maximilian III Joseph in Munich, Germany. Maximilian was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Karl VII. He was the Elector (Holy Roman Empire) of Bavaria. He gained his position in Bavaria by the Peace of Fussen of April 22, 1745. He was a progressive and enlightened ruler who did much to improve the development of … [Read more...]

December 29, 1832 Death of Johann Friedrich Cotta. Cotta was a publisher who founded the journal Die Horen with the classic writer, Friedrich von Schiller in 1794. Cotta also published many of the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Christoph Martin Wieland, A. W. Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck, Jean Paul, Heinrich von … [Read more...]

December 28, 1233 The Charter of Culm (Culmer Handfeste) is issued by the Teutonic Knights as a part of their efforts to colonize Prussia. The charter granted settlers civic freedoms which were quite beyond expectations of the times. Hermann Balke was the Grand Master of the Knights at this time. Among the rights granted by the charter were … [Read more...]

December 27, 1571 Birth of Johannes Kepler in Weil der Stadt, Germany, in 1571. He studied at the University of Tübingen. While a student he became convinced that Copernicus had been correct in his astronomical system. Early on he rejected the idea that the stars and planets can influence human lives. He developed the idea that the planets … [Read more...]

December 26 2. Weihnachtstag (Second Christmas Day). December 26, 1624 Death of Simon Marius (1573-1624) in Ansbach, Germany. Marius was the astronomer who named the four largest moons of Jupiter. He was one of the first astronomers to use a telescope, the first to report the spiral nebula in Andromeda and one of the first to note … [Read more...]

December 25 Christmas Day in Germany. December 25, 800 Karl der Große (Charlemagne) is crowned Emperor of the empire which would come to be called the Holy Roman Empire. December 25, 1046 Enthronment of Suidiger (Pope Clement II), the second German pope. Suidiger had been the bishop of Bamberg. He was installed as pope … [Read more...]

December 24, 710 Death of St. Irmina von Ören. St. Irmina was born near Trier, Germany in the 8th century. She was a nun in the monastery at Öhren near Trier. She is said to have assisted St. Willibrord in his missionary work. She was the daughter of a noble and wealthy family and donated the property at which the monastery of Echternach (in … [Read more...]

December 23, 1597 Birth of Martin Opitz in Bunzlau, Silesia (now Poland). The poet and theoretician, Opitz was a member of an important literary society of his times, the "Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft". In his most important theoretical work Buch von der deutschen Poeterey (1624) he established standards for German poetry. For his … [Read more...]

December 22, 1694 Birth of Hermann Samuel Reimarus in Hamburg, Germany. Reimarus was a Deist who taught at a Gymnasium in Hamburg. Though he published theological works during his lifetime, his lifetime work, Apologie oder Schutzschrift die vernunftigen Verehrer Gottes, was yet unpublished at the time of his death. Gotthold Lessing was the … [Read more...]

December 21, 1597 Death of St. Peter Canisius (1521 - 1597) Peter de Hondt (St. Peter Canisius) was born in Nimwegen (Germany at that time, now the Netherlands). In 1536 he began his studies at the University of Cologne. In 1543 he became the first German to enter the order of Jesuits. He founded the first Jesuit house in Germany in Cologne. … [Read more...]