Caspar Ziegler, also Kaspar Ziegler, (15 September 1621 – 17 April 1690) was a German jurist, poet, hymnwriter and composer. He was the ''Rektor'' of the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

Career

Ziegler was born in

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 ...

the son of Caspar Ziegler sr., a lawyer and ''Prokonsul'' in the town council, and his wife Anna (née Walter, the widow of Johann Kürsten). He studied at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. In 1638, Ziegler was a

Baccalaureus A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (de ...

of philosophy, permitted to lecture at the university. His father requested him to move to the

in 1641, where he heard lectures by

August Buchner August Buchner (2 November 1591 – 12 February 1661) was a German philologist, poet and literary scholar, an influential professor of poetry and rhetoric at the University of Wittenberg. Career Buchner was born in Dresden the son of Paul Buch ...

, ,

Johann Sperling Johann Sperling (12 July 1603–12 August 1658) was a German physician, zoologist and physicist, deacon and '' Rektor'' of the University of Wittenberg. He was among the first to practise zoology as a natural science, writing a first handbook about ...

and . As his parents wished him to study theology, he also studied with Hieronymus Kronmeyer and Johann Hülsemann. In November 1652, he began to study law in Leipzig with Polycarp Wirth and Andreas Eckholt. In 1655, he received the

doctor's degree 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 ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

in law. In 1654, he was appointed professor at the University of Wittenberg, at the same to the court. In 1661, he was appointed ''Rektor'' (director) of the University. He reorganized its library which had been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. He died in Wittenberg after an infection from a broken leg, and was buried in the Schlosskirche on 24 April 1690.

Works

Some poems by Ziegler were set to music. He was a friend of the composers

Johann Rosenmüller Johann Rosenmüller (1619 – 10 September 1684) was a German Baroque music, Baroque composer, who played a part in transmitting Italian musical styles to the north. Career Rosenmüller was born in Oelsnitz, Vogtland, Oelsnitz, near Plauen in El ...

and

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

and collaborated with them. Ziegler wrote a treatise about

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

s, ''Von den Madrigalen'', published in 1653, as requested by Schütz His poem "Ich freue mich in dir" (I rejoice in you) became a hymn and was the basis for Johann Sebastian Bach's

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chor ...

for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

''Ich freue mich in dir'', BW 133. Among his works are: * ''Jesus oder zwanzig Elegien über Geburth, Leiden u. Auferstehung unseres Herrn.'' Leipzig 1648 * ''Von den Madrigalen ...'' Leipzig 1653, Wittenberg 168
Online
Frankfurt am Main 1971 * ''De dote ecclesiae – diatribe canonica'' * ''De iuribus Majestatis'' Wittenberg 1681 * ''Rabulistica sive de artibus rabulariis.'' Dresden 1685 * ''Notae et animadversiones'' Wittenberg 1686

References

Bibliography

* Christian von Bar, Peter Dopffel (ed.): ''Deutsches internationales Privatrecht im 16. Und 17. Jahrhundert''. vol. 1, p. 56
Digitalisat
*

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Götting ...

: (1992) ''Literaturlexikon: Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache.'' Gütersloh München: Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verl vol. 12, p. 487 *

Walter Friedensburg Karl Walter Friedensburg (6 March 1855 in Hamburg – 19 February 1938 in Wernigerode) was a German historian and archivist. He studied history at the Universities of Göttingen and Breslau, obtaining his habilitation at the University of Marburg ...

: ''Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg.'' Niemeyer,

Halle/Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as th ...

1917 * : ''Restlose Auswertungen von Leichenpredigten und Personalschriften für genealogische und kulturhistorische Zwecke.'' vol. 6, R 5095 *
Ziegler, Caspar ein Doctor der Rechten auf der Universität zu Wittenberg
Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon, vol. 62, Leipzig 1749, col. 559–574.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Caspar German male writers Jurists from Saxony Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg German Protestant hymnwriters 1621 births 1690 deaths