Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Böttger, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh bötˈgər [key], 1682–1719, German chemist and originator of Dresden china. When the Swedish invasion of Saxony occurred (1706), Böttger and his a...

(Encyclopedia) Mesmer, Friedrich Anton fränts [key], 1734–1815, German physician. He studied in Vienna. His interest in “animal magnetism” developed into a system of treatment through hypnotism that was calle...

(Encyclopedia) Schinkel, Karl Friedrich kärl frēˈdrĭkh shĭngˈkəl [key], 1781–1841, German architect and painter. A member of the Berlin Academy, he became a professor in 1820. He also worked in lithography,...

(Encyclopedia) Friedrich, Caspar David käsˈpär däˈfēt frēˈdrĭkh [key], 1774–1840, German romantic landscape painter. After studying painting in Copenhagen he visited various scenic spots in Germany and ch...

(Encyclopedia) Ebert, Friedrich frēˈdrĭkh āˈbərt [key], 1871–1925, first president (1919–25) of the German republic. A Social Democratic deputy in the Reichstag, in 1913 he became party leader, succeeding ...

(Encyclopedia) Schiller, Friedrich von, 1759–1805, German dramatist, poet, and historian, one of the greatest of German literary figures, b. Marbach, Württemberg. The poets of German romanticism were strongly inf...

(Encyclopedia) Schmidt, Wilhelm, 1868–1954, German linguist and anthropologist, a Roman Catholic priest. Educated at the universities of Berlin and Vienna, he entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1890. Residi...

(Encyclopedia) Debye, Peter Joseph Wilhelm dēbīˈ [key], 1884–1966, American physicist, b. the Netherlands. He was professor at the universities of Zürich, Utrecht, Göttingen, Leipzig, and Berlin. In 1940 he c...

(Encyclopedia) Logau, Friedrich, Freiherr von frēˈdrĭkh frīˈhĕr fən lōˈgou [key], 1604–55, German poet, b. Silesia. Influenced by Martin Opitz, Logau wrote epigrams in the contemporary fashion, bringing a...

(Encyclopedia) Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von frīˈhĕr fən ho͝omˈbôlt [key], 1767–1835, German statesman and philologist; brother of Alexander von Humboldt. As Prussian minister of education (1809–10) he...