|
January
18 in German History
---------------------------------
January 18, 1701
Friedrick I of Prussia crowns himself king at Königsberg, Prussia
(now Kaliningrad, Russia).
January 18, 1815
Birth of Konstantin von Tischendorf in Lengefeld, Germany. Tischendorf
was a Biblical critic who discovered, and in 1859 was able to procure,
the Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript from the 4th century with most
of the Old and New Testaments. The manuscript is currently in the British
Museum.
January 18, 1851
Birth of Heinrich Friedung in Roschtin, Austrian Empire (now in the Czech
Republic). Friedung was an historian who taught at the Commercial Academy
in Vienna until his anti-slavic views led to his dismissal. He continued
throughout his life to express pro-Austrian, anti-slavic views in the
context of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
January 18, 1861
Birth of Hans Goldschmidt in Berlin, Germany. Goldschmidt was a chemist
who invented the Goldschmidt reduction process (the alumino-thermic process)
which is used in welding along with other applications.
January 18, 1871
Foundation of the German Empire (Reich) and proclamation of Wilhelm I
as Emperor (Kaiser) in Versailles.
January 18, 1903
Birth of Berthold Goldschmidt in Hamburg, Germany. He had just begun
to establish a reputation as a composer when the Nazis came to power and
his work was banned. He fled to England where he was relegated to obscurity
until the 80's when there was renewed interest in his work.
January 18, 1906
Birth of Hans Aeschbacher in Zürich, Switzerland. Aeschbacher is
a sculptor who specializes in massive works of stone.
January 18, 1914
Birth of Arno Schmidt in Hamburg, Germany. Schmidt became a novelist
after World War II. Among his works are, Die Gelehrtenrepublik
(1957), Nobodaddys Kinder (1963), and Abend mit Goldrand
(1975).
January 18, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference at Versailles opens officially to conclude
WWI. Germany and Russia are not represented. Wilson is committed to his
14 Points and a League of Nations. Clemenceau seeks revenge. Lloyd George
had been elected partly by promising that German war leaders would be
punished. Orlando of Italy sought the territorial gains which the Allies
had used to lure Italy into the war in the first place.
January 18, 1977
Death of Karl Zuckmayer in Visp, Switzerland. The writer, Karl Zuckmayer,
won the Kleist Prize for Der fröhliche Weinberg (1923) and
the Goethe Prize in 1952 for his collected works. Other works by Zuckmayer
include Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931), Des Teufels
General (1946) and Das Kalte Licht (1955). Zuckmayer fled Germany
in 1939 and lived in the United States until 1946. Thereafter he resided
in Switzerland.
January 18, 1995
Death of Adolf Butenandt in Munich, Germany. Butenand, a biochemist,
won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1939 for his work on sex hormones.
The Nazi government, however, did not allow him to accept the award. He
accepted it belatedly in 1949. Butenandt isolated estrone in 1929, androsterone
in 1931 and progesterone in 1934. He discovered how to synthesize progesterone
and testosterone. He was the first to isolate pheromones. Butenandt was
president of the Max Planck Society from 1960-1972.
Back to Today in German History Calendar
|