Johann Adolf Köster (also Johannes Adolph Köster) (c. 1550 – 1630) was a pastor, teacher and historian in

Büsum Büsum () is a fishing and tourist town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea coast, approx. 18 km southwest of Heide. Büsum is also the administrative seat of the ''Amt'' ("collec ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is better known by his

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name Neocorus, under which he chronicled the medieval history of

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; ; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the ...

. The Neocorus School in Büsum was named in his honor in 1995. In addition to documenting historic events, Neocorus also wrote accounts of daily life in Dithmarschen during the late 16th century and collected local lore and anecdotes. For example, his chronicles contain a parallel to the story of the forest of Birnam. Michelsen called Neocorus' chronicles the "best and richest of Holstein's chronicles". Neocorus' ''Chronik des Landes Dithmarschen'' was the basis for a 44-minute movie produced in Germany narrating the battle of the people of Dithmarschen for independence from

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

during the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

.Die Schlacht bei Hemmingstedt - Freiheitskampf um Dithmarschen
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Notes and references

{{Authority control 1550s births 1630 deaths German Protestant clergy Chroniclers from the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers