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November
19 in German History
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November 19, 1299
Death of St. Mechtilde von Hackeborn (ca. 1241-1298) Mechthilde was born
near Halle, Germany in about 1241. At her own insistence she entered the
cloister at Rodardsdorf at age 7. She is known as the mentor of St. Gertrud
the Great. She is also known as having a wondrous voice and was a lifelong
singer of sacred music at community functions. A book on her life of grace,
The Book of Special Grace was issued after her death and became
a special inspiration to many.
November 19, 1630
Death of Johann Hermann Schein in Leipzig, Germany. As a composer of
sacred and secular music he was one of the musicians of the period to
introduce the Italian Baroque style into German music. He became the cantor
at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig in 1616 ( a position which Johann
Sebastian Bach would hold starting in 1723).
November 19, 1722
Birth of Leopold Auenbrugger von Auenbrugg in Graz, Austria. Auenbrugger
was the physician who developed the diagnostic technique of percussion
(tapping the chest and abdomen to determine the state of the internal
organs by the sound.) Auenbrugger studied medicine at the University of
Vienna. He published his findings on diagnostic percussion in 1761. His
technique did not, however, gain recognition and acceptance until some
years after his death. In addition to his work in medicine, Augenbrugger
was deeply involved in the arts. One of his texts "Der Rauchfangkehrer"
was put to music by Antonio Salieri in 1781.
November 19, 1812
Birth of Adalbert Kuhn in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Prussia
(now Russia). Kuhn was one of the early developers of the field of Indo-European
language and history. He was very active in comparative mythology.
November 19, 1828
Death of Franz Schubert in Vienna, Austria. Schubert studied music in
Vienna where one of his teachers was Antonio Salieri. Schubert is best
known for his symphonies and Lieder (the best known of which are "Erlkönig",
"Gretchen am Spinnrad" and "Die Forelle") but also
wrote excellent music in other genres.
November 19, 1833
Birth of Wilhelm Dilthey in Biebrich, Germany. A philosopher, Dilthey
taught at the Universities of Basel, Kiel, Breslau and Berlin. Dilthey
was distressed at the deep seated influence of the natural sciences in
contemporary thought. He developed a notion of Geisteswissenschaften.
He sought to depart from the methodological ideal of the natural sciences
and establish a separate, legitimate methodology for the humanities. Significant
works by Dilthey include, Einleitung in die Geisteswissenschaften, and
Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Geistes.
November 19, 1839
Birth of Emil von Skoda in Pilsen, Bohemia. Skoda studied in Germany
and then returned to Pilsen where he bought a small machine factory. He
expanded the company rapidly and in 1890 added a factory to produce machine
guns for the Austrian army. He continued to grow the company into the
Skoda Works.
November 19, 1900
Birth of Anna Seghers in Mainz, Germany. (Birth name, Netty Radvanyi).
Seghers became one of the leading writers in the German Democratic Republic
(East Germany). Among her works are Das siebte Kreuz, Aufstand der Fischer
von St. Barbara and Der Ausflug der toten Mädchen.
November 19, 1909
Birth of Peter F. Drucker in Vienna, Austria. Drucker completed his doctorate
at the University of Frankfurt. With the rise of Adolf Hitler he fled
to England in 1933. In 1937 he moved to the United States. In America
he became a professor of management at New York University where he made
major contributions to the development of management education. Among
Drucker's significant books are The End of Economic Man, The New Society,
The Practice of Management , Technology, Management and Society, Managing
in Turbulent Times and The Changing World of the Executive.
November 19, 1942
The Soviet counteroffensive starts at Stalingrad. General Paulus and
300,000 German soldiers are surrounded, finally surrender on February
2, 1943 and are taken prisoner.
November 19, 1972
Parliamentary elections are held in West Germany. The CDU/CSU gets 44.9%
of the vote, the SPD 45.8% and the FDP 8.4%. The coalition between the
SPD and the FDP continues. Willy Brandt continues as chancellor.
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