Ernst Wilhelm Förstemann (Danzig, 18 September 1822 – Charlottenburg, 4 November 1906) was a German historian, mathematician,

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

, librarian, and director of the Saxon State Library (german: Sächsische Landesbibliothek) in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. He is known as a founder of onomastics and folk etymology studies in Germany, and also for his seminal contributions made in the early years of

Mayanist A Mayanist ( es, mayista) is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Maya ...

research, towards the decipherment and understanding of calendrical elements in the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Maya script Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which ...

. He was the first European to understand and interpret the Maya number system, their use of the “zero,” and their calendar system.

Biography

Ernst Wilhelm Förstemann was born in Danzig as the son of the mathematician Wilhelm August Förstemann. His family was originally from Nordhausen. From 1831 to 1840 he was educated at the local grammar school, where his father was a teacher of Mathematics. In 1840 Förstemann went to study Comparative linguistics at the

Humboldt University of Berlin 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 initiative ...

but moved to Halle (Saale) in 1841, where he continued his studies at the

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. During his years at university, Förstemann was particularly furthered by

Karl Lachmann Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann (; 4 March 1793 – 13 March 1851) was a German philologist and critic. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to the field of textual criticism. Biography Lachmann was born in Brun ...

Franz Bopp Franz Bopp (; 14 September 1791 – 23 October 1867) was a German linguist known for extensive and pioneering comparative work on Indo-European languages. Early life Bopp was born in Mainz, but the political disarray in the Republic of Mai ...

and

August Friedrich Pott August Friedrich Pott (14 November 1802 in Nettelrede, Hanover5 July 1887 in Halle) was a German pioneer in linguistics. Pott was a theology student at the University of Göttingen, where he became interested in philology. He became a schoolma ...

. Upon his return from Halle, Förstemann was appointed assistant teacher at the Danzig grammar school and also worked as a private tutor until 1848. In 1845 he took the ''

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, publi ...

'' in Berlin. Förstemann was also the only contestant in a competition hosted by Jacob Grimm that required a list of names that were in use in Germany until the year of 1100. Although he only submitted a draft, he won the prize and was encouraged by Grimm to publish the completed work in 1858. When Förstemann was offered a position as librarian at the

Fürst zu Stolberg-Wernigerodesche Bibliothek ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

in 1851, he gave up his position at Danzig and went to

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. Also, he added about 20.000 volumes to the library's holdings . In addition to his work as librarian, Förstemann also accepted a teaching assignment at the local grammar school. In 1865 Förstemann was invited to

by the widow of Frederick William IV of Prussia, where he succeeded

Gustav Klemm Gustav Friedrich Klemm (12 November 1802, in Chemnitz – 26 August 1867, in Dresden) was a German anthropologist and librarian. He spent much of his career as the Director of the Royal Library in Dresden. The British Museum The British ...

as chief librarian at the Royal Public Library (now the

Saxon State Library The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (full name in german: Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden), abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library (german: ...

), which contained the

Dresden Codex The ''Dresden Codex'' is a Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century. However, in September 2018 it was proven that the Maya Codex of Mexico, previously known as th ...

. Förstemann reorganized the library and began to work on a new catalogue. Förstemann resigned in 1887, aged 65, in favour of the less strenuous task of overseeing the King's private library and the library of the Sekundogenitur (Dresden). For his services Förstemann received the

Albert Order The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone w ...

in 1892. In the following years, Förstemann prepared an edition of the Maya manuscript as well as several treatises on it. His services in behalf of the reorganization of the library were most important. In 1894 he deciphered the Maya numbering systems. In 1899, Förstemann retired and moved to

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

one year later, where he died on 4 November 1906.

Works (selected)

* ''Altdeutsches namenbuch'' 'sic!'' 2 vols., 1856/59 (2nd and 3rd edd. 1900-1913). A discussion of old German proper names, the first volume being devoted to names of persons, and the second to places.Vol. I, 2nd ed.: https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_doEFT5vbo2kC. Vol. II, 3rd ed.: https://archive.org/details/ForstemannAltdeutschesNamenbuchBd.2H13teA1913/mode/2up]. * ''Über die Gräflich Stolbergische Bibliothek zu Wernigerode'', 1866 * ''Mitteilungen der königlichen öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Dresden'', 1866 ff. * ''Geschichte des deutschen Sprachstammes'', 2 vols. 1874/75 (Reissued 1966; called by some his most important work) * ''Graf Christian Ernst zu Stolberg-Wernigerode'', Hannover 1886. * ''Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften'', 7 vols. 1887/98 * ''Aus dem alten Danzig, 1820-40'', 1900 * ''Zur Geschichte der Bücher-Sammlungen in der Grafschaft Wernigerode bis zum Dreißigjährigen Kriege, insbesondere der Sammlung Graf Wolfgang Ernst zu Stolberg (angelegt von etwa 1569–1606).'', undated MS.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forstemann, Ernst German archivists German librarians Writers from Gdańsk German Mesoamericanists 19th-century Mesoamericanists Mesoamerican epigraphers Mayanists 1906 deaths 1822 births