July 2

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

July 2, 1298

Death of Graf Adolf von Nassau near Worms, Germany. He was King of the Germans until deposed by the Habsburg, Albert I.

July 2, 1714

Birth of Christoph Gluck in Erasbach, Germany. Gluck was the first German to write significant operas. His operas include Orfeo ed Eurydice, Alceste, and Iphigenie en Tauride.

July 2, 1724

Birth of Friedrich Klopstock in Quedlinburg, Germany. One of the more important poets in German literature, Klopstock had the effect of breaking the rationalist tradition of his century. No doubt his best known epic poem is Der Messias (The Messiah).

July 2, 1843

Death of Samuel Hahnemann in Paris (born in Meisen, Germany). Hahnemann completed his M.D. at the University of Erlangen in 1779. Hahnemann through his studies created the medical system now known as homeopathy. It is based on the idea that small doses of toxins have curative powers. His theory is contained in the book Organon der rationellen Heilkunst (1810). He was driven out of Leipzig by the medical establishment and moved to Paris where he was quite popular.

July 2, 1865

Birth of feminist leader Lily Braun in Halberstadt, Prussia. (Born, von Kretschman) Her most important book was Die Frauenfrage, ihre geschichtliche Entwicklung und wirtschaftliche Seite. In that book she postulated that capitalism destroys the family and thus makes socialism inevitable.

July 2, 1876

Birth of Wilhelm Cuno in Suhl, Germany. Cuno was a successful businessman, general director of the Hamburg-America line and German chancellor during the Weimar Republic.

July 2, 1877

Birth of Hermann Hesse in Calw, Germany. Hesse has enjoyed several waves of intense popularity of his novels and short stories. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.