Konrad Duden - promoter of the standardised German spelling

Dr. Konrad Duden, today known as the most important reformer of the German spelling, was summoned to Schleiz in order to reform the local Gymnasium RUTHENEUM (Grammar School) in the late 19th century. And: he did it successfully. He introduced a new class schedule called Regulativ which became a role model for all Grammar Schools in Prussia in 1882. Useless subjects were abolished and new emphasis was put on education in natural sciences.

There are two reasons why Dr. Konrad Duden took charge of the German spelling here in Schleiz: Firstly, every teacher taught according to his own spelling rules. And secondly: Schleiz was situated just between two speaking and dialect borders. The students of the RUTHENEUM came from not less than seven states and created a babble of dialects that could hardly be found at any other school in Germany.

The first spelling rules that Duden and his colleagues developed were only published in the annual report of the Grammar School in 1871. A more sophisticated collection of spelling rules and lists of words were published one year later under the title “To The German Spelling”, a book that nowadays is known as “Schleizer Duden”.

More information about Dr. Konrad Duden and his work can be found in the permanent exhibition in the RUTHENEUM, Kirchplatz 4 in Schleiz. Telephone: +49 3663- 421649

Johann Friedrich Böttger - inventor of the European porcelain (Meißner Porzellan)

Johann Friedrich Böttger, today known as the inventor of the first European porcelain, was born in Schleiz on 4th February 1682.
Böttger started his professional career as an apprentice pharmacist in Berlin in 1696. During his training his interest for alchemy was sparked. It became a clandestine hobby in the laboratory of his pharmacist teacher. Contacts to other chemists like Johannes Kunckel strengthened his ambition to find the philosopher`s stone that could enable him to change base metal into noble metal.

His trainer was sceptical about those experiments. To change his mind, Johann Friedrich Böttger pretended to change silver coins into golden coins in a public demonstration in 1701.
The lore about this alchemist masterpiece rapidly spread and different monarchs started to get interested in the man behind the “making of gold”.
Eventually August the Strong heard about the young pharmacist trainee. He made him come to Dresden to repeat his experiments under the critical eyes of the monarch.

Thereupon Böttger was given his own laboratory in order to produce gold in bigger amounts. In 1704 Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and Gottfried Pabst von Ohain were consulted additionally to promote the goldmaking project. Tschirnhaus, who originally conducted experiments for making porcelain for several years at that time, persuaded Böttger successfully to cooperate with him in this project.

After first successes with ceramic experiments the three of them succeeded in producing the so called Jaspis-porcelain, a kind of brick-red pottery in 1706, later known as Böttger-porcelain.
In the summer of 1707 Böttger and Tschirnhaus tried again to produce porcelain in a newly erected laboratory in Dresden. Following a proposal of Ohain to take white earth Böttger succeeded with the help of Tschirnhaus in December 1707 to produce a simple pot from hard porcelain for the first time.
August the Strong now insistently pushed the perfection of the manufacturing method with the aim of mass production in a factory. Tschirnhaus died during the conclusion of his work in October 1708 and could not experience the completion and commissioning of the porcelain manufactury Meißen (Porzellanmanufaktur Meißen).
After his death Johann Friedrich Böttger took on control of the research as well as the factory which started operating in 1710.

On 13th March 1719 Johann Friedrich Böttger died in Dresden as a result of his experiments with toxic substances.

Nicolaus Schmidt-Künzel

Nicolaus Schmidt-Künzel is called "The Scholar Farmer" of Rothenacker. He lived from 1606 to 1676 in this little community near the towns Tanna and Schleiz.
He was known to speak and understand 15 languages, to be experienced in Geography, Music, Medicine, Astrology, and even in writing Poetry. That drew the academics and the prince`s attention to his person. They let him visit them to assure themselves of his knowledge. Nicolaus Schmidt-Künzel was given lots of precious books as presents and ultimately obtained a considerable library. Unfortunately, this library was burned down completely when soldiers laid fire in 1643.

Nowadays the birthplace of “The Scholar Farmer” is a museum and shows the living and working of this scholarly man.

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