Albert Johannes Köster (7 November 1862 – 29 May 1924) was a German Germanist and theater scholar.

Life

Born in the

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and 7th-largest in the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a ...

as the son of a wine wholesaler, Köster attended the Johanneum in Hamburg, where he passed the Abitur in 1882. He then studied at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Law and Berlin Philology and History of Literature. In 1887, he received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in history from

Wilhelm Maurenbrecher Karl Peter Wilhelm Maurenbrecher (21 December 18386 November 1892, Leipzig) was a German historian. He was born in Bonn and studied in Berlin and Munich under Leopold von Ranke and Heinrich von Sybel, being especially influenced by the latter his ...

and Georg Voigt in Leipzig. The subject of his dissertation was: "Die Wormser Annalen. An investigation of the sources". From 1887, he was a private scholar in Hamburg and in 1892 he was appointed associate professor of modern German and German literary history at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

, a post he held until 1899. From 1893, he was also one of the directors of the German Seminar at the University of Marburg. In 1899, he was appointed professor of modern German language and literature at the University of Leipzig, succeeding Rudolf Hildebrand. There he was, together with

Eduard Sievers Eduard Sievers (; 25 November 1850 – 30 March 1932) was a German philologist of the classical and Germanic languages. Sievers was one of the '' Junggrammatiker'' of the so-called "Leipzig School". He was one of the most influential historical ...

Director of the German Seminar. During his time in Leipzig, he received calls to prestigious chairs, for example as successor to his mentor and friend Erich Schmidt at the

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt, ...

or at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, which he declined, however.

Research

During his career, his main research interests were German literary history from the 16th to the 19th century, Goethe, Schiller, the Faust saga and Faust poetry, the history and theory of Nhd. metrics, and theatre studies. Köster shaped the reputation of German studies in Leipzig for over a quarter of a century. He was an excellent connoisseur of the works of Goethe, but published comparatively few major writings and became best known for editing the "Briefe der Frau Rath Goethe" and a critical edition of the works of

Theodor Storm Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (; 14 September 18174 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German-Frisian writer and poet. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism. Life Storm was born in the small t ...

. In addition to his achievements in the field of literary history, Köster was one of the first scholars to strive for methodically founded scientific theatre research. He also compiled a collection on stage history. This was acquired by the Deutsches Theatermuseum after his death, but fell victim for the most part to a bombing raid in 1944. At his request, his extensive library was sold at auction by Walter de Gruyter & Co. 26/27 January 1925. Many of his students later became well-known scientists or literary figures themselves, such as Ernst Bergmann, Ernst Beutler, , , Alfred Götze,

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

, , Paul Merker, Robert Herndon Fife, Jr.,

Julius Petersen Julius Peter Christian Petersen (16 June 1839 in Sorø, West Zealand – 5 August 1910 in Copenhagen) was a Denmark, Danish mathematician. His contributions to the field of mathematics led to the birth of graph theory. Biography Petersen's in ...

, Kurt Pinthus, and Friedrich Schulze. Köster died in Leipzig at the age of 61.

Honours

* 1909: Kgl. Sächsischer Geheimer Hofrat

Memberships

* 1888 until 1891: Member of the Berliner Germanistenkneipe * 1904: Full member of the

Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig () is an institute which was founded in 1846 under the name ''Royal Saxon Society for the Sciences'' (). Notable people * Kurt Aland * Annette Beck-Sickinger * Walther Bothe * Alexander Car ...

References

External links