Johann Friedrich von Meyer
Johann Friedrich von Meyer ( born September 12, 1772 in Frankfurt am Main, † January 28, 1849 ) was a German jurist, evangelical theologian and politician. His fame was based primarily on his decades of biblical research and published in a 1819 translation of the Bible, which earned him the nickname Bible Meyer.
Life and work
Meyer was the son of 1758 from Hildesheim immigrated to Frankfurt wholesale merchant, who had been raised to the peerage in 1789. He attended the Frankfurt School, where he developed a special tendency to the ancient languages and classical literature. However, on his father's wish he was referring to 17 years, the University of Göttingen to study law. In 1792 he graduated with the degree of Dr. jur. successfully, but moved to the University of Leipzig, where he heard philosophical and scientific lectures and the degree of Dr. phil. acquired.
In 1794 he went as an intern at the Imperial Chamber Court in Wetzlar. Here were married in 1795 Johann Friedrich von Meyer and Mary Magdalene Frances of Zwackh († 1849). Later he was palatinate - Bavarian Appellationsrat in Mannheim and Chamber Director of the Prince of Salm- Kyrburg. After losing this position because of the Napoleonic Wars in 1802, he returned to Frankfurt back.
1807 he was appointed Carl Theodor von Dalberg to Stadtgerichtsrat. His legal career has taken him on to Appellationsgerichtsrat (1822 ) and the Court of Appeal President ( 1840-1848 ). At the same time he began a political career in his native city, the first in 1821 led him to the constitution of the Free City of Frankfurt in the office of senator in the magistrates office. 1825, 1839 and 1843, he held the office of elder mayor, the highest office in the Free City. Since 1837, he represented the four free cities also as a deputy in the Bundestag.
However, his fame was based less on his political offices, and more on his scientific work. Since 1807, he had dealt with the help of his good knowledge of the classical languages of Latin, Greek and Hebrew intensively studying the Bible. In 1816 he was co-founder and president of the still existing Frankfurt Bible Society. His judgment that the Lutheran translation must be revised linguistically and philologically, led him to develop a separate revision of the Luther Bible, which appeared in three volumes in 1819. In it, he tried the character of the Luther Bible to uphold and at the same time taking account of progress in the Urtext research and in knowledge of Hebrew. 1821 paid tribute to the University of Erlangen his achievements with the presentation of the theological honorary doctorate. His Bible studies earned him the nickname Bible Meyer. In 1822 he defended his going beyond the Luther translation text with the words: " Yes, we should Luther dishonor so that we immortalized his shortcomings "
Despite his erudition and his profound piety Meyer faced the worldly life. He was a gifted artist, played the harp and wrote in his student days, a series of novels and dramas. 1794/95 he worked on Christoph Martin Wieland's the German Mercury. 1803 he was given the directorship of the Municipal Theatre in Frankfurt, an office, but he gave up despite some public acclaim early in 1805 because of intrigues directed against him again.
Meyer died on January 28, 1849 thirteen hours after the sudden death of his wife. His son was the Frankfurt paleontologist Hermann von Meyer ( 1801-1869 ). There is a plaque on the site of his former house in the Great Bockenheimer alley.