Jakob Franck (18 February 1811 - 17 September 1884) 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 especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

and teacher who contributed more than 300 biographical entries to the German General Biographical Dictionary (''"Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie"'').

Life

Jacob Franck was born in Wachenheim an der Haardt (today Wachenheim an der Weinstraße) in the wine growing district across the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

, east of

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. His father was a wine producer. Franck attended a Latin (classics focused) school in nearby Dürkheim before moving on to the prestigious

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...

. He then studied

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhabi ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

. After this he supported himself for a lengthy period as a home tutor at

Waldfischbach Waldfischbach-Burgalben ( pfl, Waldfischbach-Bojalwe) is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the western edge of the Palatinate forest, approx. 10 km northeast of Pirmasens. Wald ...

, also working as an assistant to the priest in a nearby village. However, he found the region over-supplied with theologians and accordingly, having been a good student during his school days, was able to switch his focus to

Philology 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 especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

, and in 1837 obtained a junior teaching post at the newly established

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

Annweiler Annweiler am Trifels (), or Annweiler is a town in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, 12 km west of Landau. Annweiler am Trifels station is on the Landau–Saarbrücken ...

, a short distance to the south of his home region. Following a series of promotions he had become, by 1845, the school's subrector (deputy head teacher). During the

1848 Revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

Franck was politically active. Sources refer to his burning patriotism: nevertheless, he avoided coming into direct conflict with the law, and was accordingly spared from any involvement with the courts during the reactionary government backlash that followed. He became a specialist in

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German ...

and contributed to the collection of popular sayings being gathered by his friend . The Free German Cultural Foundatiohn granted him the title of "Master" in recognition of his deep knowledge of German literature. In 1872 Franck was appointed to the governing board of the

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

, prior to a period of expansion at the school which became a full Gymnasium (secondary school) in 1874. The appointment was a royal one, and represented implicit official recognition of his exceptional scholarly abilities. In 1874 he was appointed subrector (deputy head teacher) at the

Edenkoben Edenkoben () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies approximately halfway between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Edenkoben is one of the towns situated along the German Wine R ...

, a position he held till his retirement in 1877. Jakob Franck contributed more than 300 biographical articles to the German General Biographical Dictionary (''"Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie"''). He was a part of the social circle that also included the historian

Wilhelm Wattenbach Wilhelm Wattenbach (22 September 181920 September 1897), was a German historian. He was born at Rantzau in Holstein. He studied philology at the universities of Bonn, Göttingen and Berlin, and in 1843 he began to work upon the ''Monumenta Ge ...

and the scholar

Karl Bartsch Karl Friedrich Adolf Konrad Bartsch (25 February 1832, in Sprottau – 19 February 1888, in Heidelberg) was a German medievalist. He studied philology at the universities of Breslau (from 1848) and Berlin (1851/52), where he was a pupil of Wilhe ...

. He himself received an honorary doctorate from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. He worked for the news-sheet "Palatinate Museum" (''"Pfälzisches Museum"'') and also wrote for the literary news-sheet

Serapeum A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria. There were se ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Jakob People from Bad Dürkheim (district) German philologists 19th-century philologists German schoolteachers 1811 births 1884 deaths