June 7

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

June 7, 1826

Death of Joseph von Fraunhofer in Munich, Germany. The physicist, Fraunhofer, was the first to observe the dark lines in the spectrum of the sun, which became known as Fraunhofer lines. In his further work he discovered and charted similar spectral lines in the elements. His work led to the development of the technique of spectroscopy. Fraunhofer did his work at the Untzschneider Optical Institute at Benedictbeuern, Germany.

June 7, 1843

Death of Friedrich Hölderlin in Tübingen, Germany. "Eins zu sein mit allem, was lebt, in seliger Selbstvergessenheit wiederzukehren ins All der Natur, das ist der Gedanken und Freuden, das ist die heilige Bergeshöh, der Ort der ewigen Ruhe." Hölderlin studied at the theological seminary at the University of Tübingen and qualified for ordination as a Lutheran pastor, but was more drawn to Greek antiquity than to the ministry. He was befriended by Friedrich Schiller in 1793 and was much influenced by that great poet and thinker. Although Hölderlin is now recognized as one of the great German poets, he was little recognized in his own times. He earned a limited income through tutoring and during the later decades of his life suffered from insanity. Major works by Hölderlin include Hyperion (Vol. 1:1797, Vol. 2: 1799), and the fragment Der Tod des Empedokles. He wrote many individual poems including "Die Eichbäume", "An den Äther", "An die Parzen", "Hyperions Schicksalslied" and "An die Deutschen".

June 7, 1854

Birth of Max Kretzer in Posen, East Prussia (now Poland). An expressionist writer.

June 7, 1873

Birth of Franz Weidenreich in Edenkoben, Germany. An anatomist, whose work on Peking man and other hominids elevated him to an important position in the area of human evolution.

June 7, 1896

Birth of Otto Heinrich Schindewolf in Hannover, Germany. Schindewolf was a controversial paleontologist who drew attention to fundamental problems in evolution.

 

June 7, 1973

Willy Brandt, the German Chancellor visits Israel. He is the first German chancellor to visit Israel while in office as chancellor.

June 7-10, 1979

First direct election of the European Parliament.

 

June 7, 2001

Jürgen Habermas recieves the Peace Prize of the German Book Dealers Association.