User:25eanglin/Georg Andreas Reimer

(Not to be confused with painter Georg Reimer.) Georg Andreas Reimer (born August 27, 1776 in Greifswald, † April 26, 1842 in Berlin) was a German publisher. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Andreas_Reimer

Life
Reimer grew up in Greifswald as the son of a merchant. In 1790 he began his apprenticeship in the Greifswald branch of the Berlin bookseller and music publisher Gottlieb August Lange. In 1795, he became managing director of the parent company in Berlin. In 1800, he took over the management of the bookstore of the Royal Secondary School in Berlin, which was founded in 1749 and which operated as "Reimersche Buchhandlung", meaning "Reimer Bookstore". Reimer terminated the existing lease agreement and bought the bookstore in 1822.

In the years that followed, he expanded the traditional range of school books to include German-language literature as well as humanities titles from theology, philosophy, classical studies, as well as scientific and mathematical titles. Reimer rose to become one of the most important and successful publishers in Germany. He added his own printing shop to the publishing house and bought other publishers and bookstores, including the Weidmannsche Buchhandlung in Leipzig.

The Georg Reimer publishing house achieved a high level of popularity among the literary public due to its collaboration with well-known authors of German Romanticism: Achim von Arnim, Novalis, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Jean Paul, Heinrich von Kleist, August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck, Ernst Moritz Arndt, Adolph Diesterweg, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Brothers Grimm. The close and friendly collaboration with Friedrich Schleiermacher was particularly important. In addition, Reimer established close contacts with the University of Berlin and other scientific institutions, which gave the publisher a high academic reputation. After Reimer's death, the publishing house was continued by his son Georg Ernst Reimer.

Reimer was politically involved in the Prussian reform movement and joined the Berlin Lawless Society in 1809. During Napoleon's occupation of Berlin, he offered shelter in his house to Prussian soldiers and opposition figures wanted by the occupying power, including Ernst Moritz Arndt. He took an active part in the wars of liberation in 1813/14. In 1816, Reimer bought the representative Sackensche Palais on Wilhelmstrasse, which became a meeting point for Berlin salon life. His publishing house published various political writings in which liberal and national positions were represented. Therefore, Reimer was subjected to state reprisals during the Restoration period.

Resting Place
Reimer is buried in an honorary grave in Berlin at Trinity Churchyard II. Reimer left behind an extensive collection of paintings that he had assembled from 1814 onwards and which included many works by Dutch painters and, worth noting, Caspar David Friedrich.

Progeny
In 1800 in Berlin he married Wilhelmine Reinhardt (1784–1864), daughter of Karl August Reinhardt, pastor in Magdeburg. The Reimer couple had 16 children, the following survived infancy:


 * Karl August (1801–1858), publisher (not to be confused with Karl August Walther).
 * Georg Reimer (1828–1866), painter of the Düsseldorf School of Painting.
 * Maria Auguste Reimer (1832–1907) ⚭ Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903), historian and scholar; Nobel Laureate in literature.
 * Marie Mommsen (1855–1936) ⚭ Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931), classical philologist.
 * Tycho von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1885–1914), classical philologist.
 * Karl Mommsen (1861–1922), bank director and member of the Reichstag.
 * Wilhelm Mommsen (1892–1966), historian.
 * Hans Mommsen (1930–2015), historian.
 * Wolfgang J. Mommsen (1930–2004), historian.
 * Ernst Mommsen (1863–1930), doctor.
 * Konrad Mommsen (1896–1973), journalist.
 * Theodor Ernst Mommsen (1905–1958), historian.
 * Ernst Wolf Mommsen (1910–1979), industrial manager.
 * Hans Mommsen (1873–1941), engineer.
 * Wolfgang A. Mommsen (1907–1986), historian.
 * Karl Reimer (1845–1883), chemist and industrialist.
 * Georg Ernst Reimer (1804–1885), publisher.
 * Ernst Heinrich Reimer (1833–1897), publisher.
 * Marie Reimer (1807–1847) ⚭ Albert Zeller (1804–1877), doctor and clinic director.
 * Ernst Friedrich Albert Zeller (1830–1902), his father's successor.
 * Anna Zeller (* 1832).
 * Maximilian Georg Zeller (1834–1912), landowner.
 * Rudolf Martin Zeller (1842–1911) ⚭ Berta Rosine Hirzel (1844–1887).
 * Adelheid Sethe (1809–1866) ⚭ Julius Sethe.
 * Anna Hirzel (1813–1885) ⚭ Salomon Hirzel.
 * Georg Heinrich Salomon Hirzel (1836–1894), publisher.
 * Georg Theodor Salomon Hirzel (1867–1924), publisher.
 * Heinrich Hirzel († 1963), publisher.
 * Rudolf Hirzel (1846–1917), classical philologist & scholar.
 * Siegfried Johannes (1815–1860), doctor.
 * Moritz Gebhard (1816–1867), landowner.
 * Dietrich Arnold (1818–1899), publisher.
 * Carl Ludwig (1856–1921), chemist.
 * Rudolf Leberecht (1819–1860), Australian emigrant.
 * Bernhard Traugott (1824–1903), landowner.
 * Hermann Andreas (1825–1906), doctor.

Literature Published
Kurt Gassen: Georg Andreas Reimer. In: Pomeranian life profile the III. Saunier, Stettin 1939, pp. 226–242.

Doris Reimer: Passion & Calculation. The publisher Georg Andreas Reimer (1776–1842). de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016643-7.

Roger Töpelmann: Romantic friendship and piety: letters from the Berlin publisher Georg Andreas Reimer to Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher. Weidmann, Hildesheim 1999, ISBN 3-615-00210-5.

Doris Fouquet-Plümacher: Every new idea can start a world fire: Georg Andreas Reimer and the Prussian censorship during the Restoration. Accounting Association, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-7657-1410-0.

Fritz Jonas: Reimer, Georg Andreas. In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 27, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 709–712.

Matthias Wolfes: Georg Andreas Reimer. In: Biographical-Bibliographical Church Lexicon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8, columns 1116–1126.

Hans-Christof Kraus: Reimer, Georg Andreas. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4, p. 338 f. (digital version).

Research Links

 * Literature by and about Georg Andreas Reimer in the German National Library catalog.
 * Edited letters from and to Georg Andreas Reimer in the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) website's correspSearch.
 * Georg Andreas Reimer – publisher - Biography (Memento from June 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive).