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Gottfried Bernhardy

German philologist and historian (1800–1875)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ75982 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gottfried Bernhardy (20 March 1800 – 14 May 1875), German philologist and literary historian, was born at Landsberg an der Warthe (now Poland) in the Neumark.

Life

He was the son of Jewish parents in reduced circumstances. Two well-to-do uncles provided the means for his education, and in 1811 he entered the Joachimsthal gymnasium at Berlin. In 1817 he went to Berlin University to study philology, where he had the advantage of hearing F. A. Wolf (then advanced in years), August Böckh and Philipp Karl Buttmann. In 1822, he took the degree of doctor of philosophy at Berlin, and in 1825 became an associate professor. In 1829, he succeeded Christian Carl Reisig as professor and director of the philological seminary at Halle, and in 1844 was appointed chief librarian of the university.

Works

The most important of Bernhardy's works were his histories (or sketches) of Greek and Roman literature:

Grundriss der römischen Litteratur (5th ed., 1872)

Grundriss der griechischen Litteratur:

Pt. i, Introduction and general view, 1836.

Pt. ii, Greek poetry, 1845.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Gottfried Bernhardy” is german philologist and historian (1800–1875). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gottfried, Bernhardy and German, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1800, 1875, 1811, 1817—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1800-03-20, 1800-01-01—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Gottfried, Bernhardy and German is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “german philologist and historian (1800–1875)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q75982. VIAF identifies the subject as 49969147. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1800, 1875, 1811 and 1817.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gottfried Bernhardy”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gottfried Bernhardy primary sources, Gottfried Bernhardy archive and Gottfried research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gottfried Bernhardy”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gottfried Bernhardy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.