C. Friedrich
602
1883). They all created world-‐class works. Yet, it is only known to few that some of
them were practicing the profession of a pharmacist, such as the poet and novelist
Theodor Fontane, like wise the painter Carl Spitzweg. This should be reason
enough to take a closer look at the importance of pharmacists for the German
cultural history. Initially, artists arising from their occupation as pharmacists are
considered, in the second part it is intended to examine the depiction of
pharmacists, i.e. their representation in visual arts, literature and music.
WRITING PHARMACISTS AT THE TURN FROM THE 18
TH
TO THE 19
TH
CENTURY
Since the Renaissance in literary studies, poets have been regarded as
imitators of nature and as creators of an elevated new world. At the end of the 18
th
and at the beginning of the 19
th
century pharmacists, increasingly focused on
nature. Scientifically interested pharmacists were involved with studies of nature
not limited to pharmaceutical topics. In this period we can find pharmacists as
writers in the natural sciences: they composed works such as chemical,
technological, botanical, zoological and physical text-‐ and handbooks as well as
reference books and studies in various fields of the natural sciences. Moreover, the
pharmacists Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff (1770–1837) and Johann
Friedrich Göttling (1753–1809) founded their learned journals (1). As a matter of
course they appeared as authors of books and magazines. This strongly influenced
their relation to the written word. Unsurprisingly, such pharmacists contributed to
the range of literature and fiction. Among these works were e.g. ‘occasional’ poems
for weddings or birthday parties as well as for academic or professional jubilees,
which were composed by colleagues or students of the pharmacist in question. But
beyond these pieces of work we also find independent compositions.
For instance, the pharmacist and contemporary of Goethe, Johann
Bartholomäus Trommsdorff (1770–1837), wrote fairy tales resembling his poetic
inclination and phantasy (2). However, preferred genres for writing pharmacists
were autobiographies and travelogues. The last of which are commonly associated
with the personal interests of an author, in particular pharmacists in the botanical
field gave detailed reports on their tours after gathering their collections.
Autobiographies, in contrast, reflect much about the contemporary atmosphere of
life and express a certain literary talent when depictions go beyond professional
occupations.
One of the best pharmacist autobiographies is ‘Memories from the 90 Years
of my Life’ by Ernst Wilhelm Martius (1756–1849). The history of our research on
the emergence of this work resembles his struggle in writing and placing his life in
the context of his time. For this reason, we find reports about the conditions at the
University of Erlangen, in particular regarding medicine and pharmacy, as well as
on the French Revolution and famous contemporaries such as the Countess of
