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March 2 in German History
--------------------------------- March 2, 1481
Birth of Franz von Sickingen in Ebernburg,
Germany. A character in Goethe's play, Götz von
Berlichingen, the historic Sickingen was a defender of
the Protestant cause in Germany. His end came when he
declared war on Richard of Greiffenclau, the archbishop of
Trier and was defeated. After that defeat he gradually lost
support and gradually all of his holdings.
March 2, 1714
Johann Sebastian Bach becomes Concertmaster
in Weimar.
March 2, 1788
Death of Salomon Gessner in Zürich,
Switzerland. Gessner was a writer known for his rococo style.
His most noted works are Idyllen (1756-1772) and Der
Tod Abels (1758). Sir Walter Scott, and Lord Byron
expressed admiration for Gessner's pastoral themes.
March 2, 1829
Birth of Carl Schurz in Liblar, Germany.
Schurz, a liberal political thinker in his youth, took part
in the revolution of 1848. He was imprisoned for that
activity but escaped and immigrated to the United States. A
resident of Wisconsin he soon became strongly involved in the
antislavery movement. He served as a general in the Civil
War. After the war he worked for the dignity and rights of
the former slaves. He was elected to the Senate from the
state of Missouri in 1869. Under President Hayes he was
secretary of the interior. After his retirement from
government he edited the New York Evening Post and The
Nation.
March 2, 1836
Birth of Theodor Nöldeke in Harburg,
Germany. Nöldeke was a scholar who gained a reputation for
his extensive Islamic studies. His most noted book is Geschichte
der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden (1879).
March 2, 1840
Death of Wilhelm Olbers in Bremen, Germany.
Olbers, a physician and astronomer, identified the asteroids
Pallas and Vesta and five comets. He created a method of
determining the orbits of comets. It was he who developed the
theory that the tail of a comet is directed away from the sun
due to solar radiation.
March 2, 1863
Birth of Richard Freiherr von Bienerth in
Verona, Austrian Empire (now in Italy). Bienerth was the
prime minister of Austria from 1908-1911.
March 2, 1875
Birth of Hans Lietzmann in Düsseldorf,
Germany. Lietzmann, a church historian, was a professor of
classical languages and church history at the universities of
Jena and Berlin. He is noted for his insightful work on
Christian origins.
March 2, 1879
Death of Eberhard Faber in New York (born
in Stein, Germany). The brothers, Lothar and Eberhard Faber,
built a small family pencil business into worldwide firms
producing writing instruments and art supplies. The younger
brother, Eberhard immigrated to the United States in 1849 to
build a factory to supply the American market. The European
branch of the company is no longer owned by the Faber family,
but the American branch is.
March 2, 1887
Death of August Wilhelm Eichler in Berlin,
Germany. Eichler was a botanist who developed one of the
first systems of plant classification. He was a professor of
botany at the Technical University of Graz and the University
of Kiel. In 1878 he became the director of the herbarium at
the University of Berlin.
March 2, 1900
Birth of the composer, Kurt
Weill, in Dessau, Germany. Weill studied composition with
Albert Bing, Engelbert Humperdinck and Ferruccio Busoni in
Berlin. His first major successes were operas in
collaboration with the writer Bertold Brecht. Brecht and
Weill wrote Die Dreigrosschenoper (1928), Aufstieg
und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1930), Der Jasager (1930)
and Der Lindburghflug (1928) for which Brecht and
Weill were joined by Paul Hindemith. When the Nazis came to
power Weill joined the illustrious group of artists which
were termed degenerate and banned. Weill immigrated to
America where he wrote the music for Johnny Johnson (1936),
Eternal Road (1937), Knickerbocker Holiday (1938),
One Touch of Venus (1943) and Down in the Valley (1948)
March 2, 1921
Birth of photojournalist, Ernst Haas, in
Vienna, Austria. Haas had earned a strong reputation in
Vienna for his photographic work with the magazine, Heute,
before he immigrated to the United States in 1950. At
that time he developed his style with color photography. His
most noted work was a 24 page color photo-essay on New York
for Life magazine.
March 2, 1948
Ludwig Erhard becomes the director of the
Economic Management Administration for the combined
American/British occupation zones. The Administration is
located in Frankfurt am Main.
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