Hermann von der Hardt
Hermann von der Hardt (* November 15, 1660 in Melle, † February 28, 1746 in Helmstedt ) was a German historian and orientalist.
Life
From the Hardt studied Oriental languages at Jena and initially for one year at the private scholar Ezra Edzard in Hamburg. 1683 he obtained his master's degree in Jena and began to hold private lectures. However, after three years he went to Leipzig, where he also earned his master's degree. Here he became friends with August Hermann Francke and as this member of the pietistic Collegium philobiblicum. In 1687, he went for a year to Dresden to hear Philipp Jacob Spener, and then together with Francke to Lüneburg to the superintendent Kaspar sand Hagen, a renowned exegete.
This gave him to the court of Rudolf August (Braunschweig -Wolfenbüttel ), appointed by the Hardt 1688 Librarian of the University Library Helmstedt and 1690 gave the professor of oriental languages at the university there. In 1699 he was also dean of the monastery of Marienberg.
As a professor in Helmstedt was fast from the Hardt by its very extensive teaching, publishing and research activities known. His lectures dealt with not only the oriental languages and the exegesis of the Old and New Testaments, but also the Hebrew and ecclesiastical antiquities ( what is now called Biblical Archaeology ) and biblical auxiliary sciences.
He maintained an intense and extensive correspondence, including with Leibniz and Spener.
In his research and teaching turned away from the Hardt but soon Pietism from and rationalism. Because of its interpretation of the Bible, which anticipated elements of the historical-critical method, it always came back to arguments that in 1713 led to the ban of exegetical lectures and in 1727 culminated in his forced retirement. From the Hardt remained in Helmstedt until his death.
Importance
From the Hardt is a scientist at the threshold from the Baroque to the early Enlightenment. Even though he played an important role in the beginnings of historical biblical exegesis and approaches of source research and source criticism in his historical works can be found, the theses which he concluded from this, were often adventurous. A contemporary, orientalist Christian Benedict Michaelis (the father of Johann David Michaelis ) said: Hardt have a lot of ingenium ( imagination ), but very little iudicium ( judgment ); therefore seize and defend it all figments of his extravagant head.
He was considered eccentric and loved the big show. So he burned eight volumes of his biblical interpretations according to their ban and sent the ashes to the government authority. The 200th anniversary of the death of John Reuchlin In 1722 he said in his lecture hall with an impressive staging: On a table he had the Rudimenta hebraica the celebrated scholar and lay a blanket with red velvet over wide; above the book was a silver crown, beneath a coral tree; on both sides were burning wax candles; also the incense was not lacking; the professor had smoked heavily in honor of Reuchlin. After he had his audience explains the importance of the celebration, he said a prayer of thanks for the insights brought about by Reuchlin. When he had to give up his professorship in 1727 final, he anointed in his farewell lecture the Old Testament in the output of Ximenes and the New Testament in the edition of Erasmus of Rotterdam with rosemary oil.
Work
There have survived numerous works by him, both historical as well as to Orientalist themes. Möller (Lit. ) lists about 560 publications, 47 surviving manuscripts and 49 occupied, but not preserved writings. At the Hardt's main works include:
Library
Books of his library and its extensive collection of letters have been with the library of his nephew Anton Julius von der Hardt (1707-1785) in 1786 auctioned in Helmstedt, where they were acquired for the former Margrave of Baden Court Library in Karlsruhe. You are now a component of the Baden State Library.
His extensive collection of writings Luther (1500 items) is now in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel.