StandortAscher 10

Bunsen-Haus Birth house of Christian Carl Josias von Bunsen

Christian Carl Josias von Bunsen was born on August 25, 1791 in the house Ascher 10. No-body at the time suspected him to become one of the most significant scholars and diplomats of his era. Bunsen´s birth house was built by Arnold Heck in 1691.

Bunsen-Haus Geburtshaus Christian Carl Josias von Bunsen

Bunsen´s parents were simple people, his father was a historiographer. Bunsen grew up in the Bunsenstrasse 6 (later named after him). The talented boy visited the Fürstlich Waldeckische Landesgymnasium (today Alte Landesschule).

In his school days Bunsen already attracted the attention due to his special talent and his varied interests.

 
Christian Carl Josias von Bunsen

Later he became Prussian embassador. He worked in Rome (Vatican), London and Bern. In Rome he founded the Deutsche Archäologische Institut. He maintained private contact with Schopenhauer, Niebuhr, Schleichermacher and Friedrich Wilhelm IV. In Rome he also met his wife Frances Waddington, a native of England. They had twelve children together.

In 1858 Bunsen was raised to the status of baron by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. Political entanglements and his anglophile position finished his carreer at the beginning of the fifties.

All his life he stood up for freedom of worship, conscience and press. He died on November 18, 1860 at the age of 69 years. Today a plaque at his birth house commemorates the famous son of the city. His valuable private library fell to the Landesgymnasium.

 

© Sebastian Hessel/ Carl von Randow/ M. Möller

Literatur:

Hans Osterhold: Meine Stadt. Korbacher Bauten erzählen Stadtgeschichte, hrsg. vom Magistrat der Kreisstadt Korbach, 3. Aufl., Korbach 2004.

Die Häuser in Alt-Korbach und ihre Besitzer, bearb. von Hermann Thomas, Karl Wilke und Lothar Gerlach, hrsg. vom Stadtarchiv Korbach, Heft 3, Korbach 1959/2003.