Christian Adolph Klotz (13 November 1738 – 31 December 1771) was a German

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and controversialist. He is a notable representative of the transition period between the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

and

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

.Achim Aurnhammer: ''Torquato Tasso in Deutschland'', Walter de Gruyter, 1995

Education

Klotz, son of a senior church official, was born in

Bischofswerda Bischofswerda (; ) is a small town in eastern Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony. Geography The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as t ...

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

. He attended the gymnasium in

Meißen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

and

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

. From 1758 until 1760, 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 these years, he was already publishing his first philological works. Then he moved to the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

, where he wrote polemic papers against

Pieter Burman the Younger Pieter Burman (23 October 1713 – 24 June 1778), also known as Peter or Pieter Burmann () and distinguished from his uncle as (' or '), was a Dutch philologist. Life Born at Amsterdam, he was brought up by his uncle in Leiden, and aft ...

. Klotz defended his dissertation, qualified as a lecturer, and held lectures about

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

at Jena.

Career

In 1762 he obtained the position of an associate professor and in 1763 that of a full professor from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. In 1765 Klotz moved to Halle, where he served as professor of philosophy and eloquence (). There he became very popular for his literary creations and exerted a significant influence on the contemporary taste and thinking.

Johann Georg Jacobi Johann Georg Jacobi (September 2, 1740 – January 4, 1814) was a German poet. Biography The elder brother of the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Johann Georg was born at Pempelfort near Düsseldorf. He studied theology at Göttingen and ...

was among his supporters. Klotz published in various literary journals, among them ''Acta Litteraria'', and introduced his students to Italian poetry as of

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

. He got into controversy with the ''Allgemeinen Bibliothek'', to which he had contributed. In 1766 Klotz was appointed aulic counsellor ("Hofrat") by the king, after he had refused a call to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In 1769 he helped

Karl Friedrich Bahrdt Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (; 25 August 1741 – 23 April 1792), also spelled Carl Friedrich Bahrdt, was an unorthodox German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist. Controversial during his day, he is sometimes considered an ...

obtain the chair of biblical antiquities in the philosophical faculty at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. Bahrdt, like Klotz, came from Bischofswerda, and two years earlier scandals in Bahrdt's private life had led to his dismissal. Klotz' strength was his ability to cover a wide range of topics and his aesthetic as well as enjoyable style, both in Latin and German. As his weakness, however, critics identified sometimes the lack of depth and originality of his thinking.

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

and

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

became known as his most influential opponents. Klotz' work ''Ueber den Nutzen und Gebrauch der alten geschnittenen Steine'' (1768) criticizing Lessing's ''Laokoon'', had brought forth that poet's response in the ''Briefe antiquarischen Inhalts'' (1768–69). Klotz died in Halle in 1771.

Works

He proved himself expert in philology through his Latin poems (collected in ''Opuscula poetica'', 1766), the edition of

Tyrtaeus Tyrtaeus (; ''Tyrtaios''; fl. mid-7th century BC) was a Greek elegiac poet from Sparta whose works were speculated to fill five books. His works survive from quotations and papyri, and include 250 lines or parts of lines. He wrote at a time of t ...

(1764), and numerous treatises such as ''Opuscula varii argumenti'' (1766) and ''Opuscula philologica et oratoria'' (1772). His disputes were carried on in ''Acta Literaria'' and ''Deutschen Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften'' (1767–72), both of which he edited along with ''Neuen Hallischen gelehrten Zeitungen''. ''Genius Saeculi'' (1760), ''Mores Eruditorum'' and ''Opuscula Latina'' (1760) were written with satirical ends. Other works were ''Vindiciae Horatianae'' (1764), ''Lectiones Venusinae'' (1771), and an edition of

Marco Girolamo Vida Marco Girolamo Vida or Marcus Hieronymus Vida (1485? – September 27, 1566) was an Italian humanist, bishop and important poet in Christian Latin literature. Life Marco was born at Cremona, then part of the Duchy of Milan. He was the son of ...

's ''De Arte Poetica'' (1776).

Notes

References

*
Klotz Article in Meyers Online
* This work in turn cites: ** Karl Renatus Hausen, ''Leben und Charakter Herrn Klotz'' (Halle 1772) ** Johann Jost Anton von Hagen, ''Briefe deutschen gelehrten an Klotz'' (1773) **

John Edwin Sandys Sir John Edwin Sandys ( "Sands"; 19 May 1844 – 6 July 1922) was an English classical scholar. Life Born in Leicester, England on 19 May 1844, Sandys was the 4th son of Rev. Timothy Sandys (1803–1871) and Rebecca Swain (1800–1853). Livin ...

, ''A History of Classical Scholarship'' (Cambridge 1903-08) *

External links

*
Ueber das Studium des Alterthums, 1766

Lessing's und Klotz's Briefe vornehmlich den Laokoon betreffend mit Heyne's Grundriss einer Anweisung zur Kenntniss der alten Kunstwerke: Nebst denkwürdigen Thatsachen im geschichtlichen Zusammenhange für die Literatur-Welt, Wissenschaft, Kunst, und Buchhandel, Ed.: Johann Heinrich Martin Ernesti, 1834
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klotz, Christian Adolph 1738 births 1771 deaths People from Bischofswerda People from the Electorate of Saxony German philologists Leipzig University alumni University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Halle 18th-century German people