Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

– 9 September 1869, in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

), was a German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

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 th ...

, and writer on art and music.

Biography

After the completion of his university studies at

Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

in Kiel, the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

and

Humboldt University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...

, Berlin, he traveled for three years in France and Italy. In Rome, he was greatly influenced by the work of

August Emil Braun August or Auguste Emil Braun (April 19, 1809, in Gotha, Germany – September 12, 1856, in Rome) was a German archaeologist. Biography Braun initially studied archaeology and philosophy in Göttingen, then continued his education at the Univers ...

(1809-1856).Dictionary of Art Historians - Otto Jahn
@ A Biographical Dictionary of Historic Scholars, Museum Professionals and Academic Historians of Art In 1839 he became ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

'' at Kiel, and in 1842 professor-extraordinary of archaeology and

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

(ordinary professor 1845). In 1847 he accepted the chair of archaeology at Leipzig, however, he along with

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

(1817-1903) and

Moritz Haupt Moriz or Moritz Haupt (27 July 1808 – 5 February 1874), was a German philologist. Biography He was born at Zittau, Lusatia, Saxony. His early education was mainly conducted by his father, Ernst Friedrich Haupt, burgomaster of Zittau, a man of ...

(1808-1874) were dismissed from the university in 1851 for having taken part in the political movements of 1848-1849. In 1855 he was appointed professor of the science of antiquity, and director of the academic art museum at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. While here, he turned down an offer as successor to

Eduard Gerhard Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard (29 November 1795 – 12 May 1867) was a German archaeologist. He was co-founder and secretary of the first international archaeological society. Biography Gerhard was born at Posen, and was educated at Breslau ...

(1795-1867) at Berlin. His biography of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

appeared in 1856, the centenary of Mozart's birth. From 1852 Jahn collected as many Mozart manuscripts and letters as he could and copied many others. On learning of the Mozart catalogue being written by Köchel he turned this material over to him. Jahn's work is admired for its scholarly approach (at the time, novel in Mozart biography); and in versions revised by Hermann Abert and

Cliff Eisen Cliff Eisen (born 21 January 1952 in Toronto) is a Canadian musicologist and a Mozart expert. He was based in the Department of Music at King's College London. He studied at the University of Toronto and at Cornell University, and has taught at th ...

, continues in use today.W. A. Mozart
Yale University Press, Nov 30, 2007 - Hermann Abert Among Jahn's notable students was the classical archaeologist and philologist Hugo Blümner.

List of most important works

*Archaeological: **''Palamedes'' (1836) **''Telephos und Troilos'' (1841) **''Die Gemälde des Polygnot'' (1841) **''Pentheus und die Mänaden'' (1841) **''Paris und Oinone'' (1844) **''Die hellenische Kunst'' (1846) **''Peitho, die Göttin der Überredung'' (1847) **''Über einige Darstellungen des Paris-Urteils'' (1849) **''Die Ficoronische Cista'' (1852) **''Pausaniae descriptio arcis Athenarum'' (3rd ed., 1901) **''Darstellungen griechischer Dichter auf Vasenbildern'' (1861) *Philological: **Critical editions of

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Ancient Rome, Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan civilization, Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoicism, Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he ...

and

Sulpicia Sulpicia was the author, in the first century BCE, of six short poems (some 40 lines in all) written in Latin which were published as part of the corpus of Albius Tibullus's poetry (poems 3.13-18). She is one of the few female poets of ancient Ro ...

(3rd ed. by F. Bücheler, 1893) **

Censorinus Censorinus was a Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer from the 3rd century AD. Biography He was the author of a lost work ''De Accentibus'' and of an extant treatise ''De Die Natali'', written in 238, and dedicated to his patron Quintus ...

(1845) ** Florus (1852) **

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

's ''Brutus'' (4th ed., 1877) and ''Orator'' (3rd ed., 1869) **the ''Periochae'' of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

(1853) **the ''Psyche et Cupido'' of

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...

(3rd ed., 1884; 5th ed., 1905) **

Longinus Longinus () is the name given to the unnamed Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance and who in medieval and some modern Christian traditions is described as a convert to Christianity. His name first appeared in the apocryphal G ...

(1867; edited. by J. Vahlen, 1905) *Biographical and aesthetic: **''Ueber Mendelssohn's Paulus'' (1842) **''Biographie Mozarts''. The 11th edition of ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' called this "a work of extraordinary labour, and of great importance for the history of music" (3rd ed. by

Hermann Deiters Hermann Deiters (27 June 183311 May 1907) was a German writer about music, and educator. He is known for his writings about Ludwig van Beethoven, publishing the composer's first major biography as a translation of Alexander Wheelock Thayer's work ...

, 1889–1891; Eng. trans. by P. D. Townsend, 1891) **''

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest i ...

'' (1863) **''Gesammelte Aufsätze über Musik'' (1866) **''Biographische Aufsätze'' (1866). His ''Griechische Bilderchroniken'' was published after his death, by his nephew

Adolf Michaelis Adolf Michaelis (22 June 1835 – 12 August 1910) was a German classical scholar, a professor of art history at the University of Strasbourg from 1872, who helped establish the connoisseurship of Ancient Greek sculpture and Roman sculpture on their ...

, who has written an exhaustive biography in ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

'':

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jahn, Otto 1813 births 1869 deaths Writers from Kiel People from the Duchy of Holstein People of the Revolutions of 1848 German philologists Archaeologists from Schleswig-Holstein German classical scholars Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Greifswald faculty University of Kiel alumni University of Kiel faculty Leipzig University alumni Mozart scholars Beethoven scholars German biographers Male biographers Bach musicians 19th-century composers 19th-century German musicians 19th-century musicologists