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January
3 in German History
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January 3, 1521 A.D
Pope Leo X publishes his Papal Bull Decet Romanum pontificem,
condemning Martin Luther and officially excommunicating the Augustinian
monk for burning Leo's previous bull Exsurge Domine.
January 3, 1571
Death of Joachim II Hektor. Joachim II Hektor was the Elector of Brandenburg
at the time of the Reformation. He remained true to the Catholic Church
and to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but he tolerated Protestantism
in the areas under his governance. On several occasions he served as a
mediator between Catholic and Protestant factions in the Empire. He played
a significant role in the processes leading to the Peace of Augsburg (1555).
January 3, 1737
Birth of Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg in Tondern, Denmark. Gerstenberg
was a musician of some note, but is remembered primarily as the early
theorist of the "Sturm und Drang" movement in German literature.
His Briefe uber die Merkwurdigkeiten der Literature sets the basic
principles of "Sturm und Drang" thinking. During a period in
which he lived in Copenhagen he was a personal friend of Friedrich Gottlieb
Klopstock.
January 3, 1752
Birth of Johannes von Muller in Schaffhausen Switzerland. Muller was
a highly influential Swiss historian. His major work is Geschichten
Schweizerischer Eidgenossenschaft. He is sometimes referred to as
"the Swiss Tacitus."
January 3, 1821
Birth of Joseph Reinkens in Aachen, Germany. Reinkens, a Roman Catholic
priest, was excommunicated from the church in debates concerning the matter
of the infallibility of the Pope. He became a leader in the "Old
Catholic" movement in Germany and became its first bishop.
January 3, 1829
Birth of Konrad Duden, the linguist, teacher and publisher. He devoted
his career to the preparation of a unified system for the correct use
of the German language. The Duden publishing company is named for him.
January 3, 1876
Birth of Wilhelm Pieck. Pieck was a leading communist at the beginning
of the 20th century. On December 30, 1918 he participated in the first
and founding convention of the German Communist Party (KPD). He was a
member of the Reichstag from 1928-1933. He spent World War II in exile
in Russia. He returned to Berlin in 1945 and headed the Central Committee
of the German Communist Party. Along with Walther Ulbricht he led the
process of developing the Russian zone of occupation along soviet lines.
He and Otto Grotewohl became co-leaders of the Socialist Unity Party (SED)
in Eastern Germany. On October 11, 1949 he was elected President of the
German Democratic Republic (DDR--East Germany).
January 3, 1887
Birth of August Macke in Meschede, Germany. Macke, the Expressionist
painter, was active in the artist group, Der Blaue Reiter. He accompanied
Paul Klee on his artistic travels in Tunis. Macke died as a soldier in
1914.
January 3, 1901
Birth of Eric Voegelin in Cologne, Germany. Voegelin was a philosopher
of history who sought to establish a comprehensive philosophy of man,
society and history. He was educated at the University of Vienna and then
became a professor there. Fleeing the Nazis he came to the United States
where he taught at Harvard University, Bennington College, the University
of Alabama and Louisiana State University. After the war he returned to
Europe and taught at the University of Munich.
January 3, 1922
Death of Berthold Delbruck in Jena, Germany. He was a linguist at the
University of Jena. He researched comparative syntax of Indo-European
languages and thus initiated that field of study.
January 3, 1922
Death of Wilhelm Herrmann in Marburg, Germany. Herrmann was a Protestant
theologian at the University of Marburg. He was heavily influenced by
the thinking of Immanuel Kant and Albrecht Ritschl and in turn exerted
lasting influence on his students Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann. He emphasized
the experience of the life of Christ as the key to religion rather than
doctrine.
January 3, 1946
William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) hanged in Britain, for treason.
January 3, 1956
Death of Joseph Wirth in Freiburg, Germany. A member of the Catholic
Center party, Wirth became chancellor of the Weimar Republic in 1921 after
the preceding chancellor, Konstantin Fehrenbach, resigned in protest against
the reparations of the Versailles Treaty. Wirth supported a policy of
payment. He in his turn resigned in 1922 also in objection to the reparations
matter.
January 3, 1969
Birth of Michael Schumacher, a Formula 1 car racing champion.
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