Oscar von Gebhardt facts for kids

Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt (born June 22, 1844 – died May 9, 1906) was a German Lutheran theologian. A theologian is someone who studies religion. He was born in Wesenberg, which was part of the Russian Empire and is now Rakvere, Estonia.

He was known for his work with old Christian writings and his belief in the importance of librarians.

Early Life and Studies

Oscar von Gebhardt studied theology at the University of Dorpat and other universities in Germany. After finishing his studies, he started working in university libraries. He worked in libraries at places like the University of Strasbourg, the University of Leipzig, the University of Halle, and the University of Göttingen.

Career in Libraries

Gebhardt became a very important person in the world of libraries. In 1891, he became the director of the publication department at the Royal Library at Berlin. This meant he was in charge of what the library published.

Just two years later, in 1893, he became the chief librarian and a professor at the University of Leipzig. As a professor, he taught paleography. This is the study of old writing and ancient documents.

His Beliefs and Works

Oscar von Gebhardt was very interested in early Christian literature. He spent a lot of time studying these old texts.

He strongly believed that being a librarian was a special and important job. He thought librarians should be academic experts, but also separate from teaching at a university.

He helped publish many important books. For example, he worked on "Novum Testamentum Graece" (1875–1900), which is a Greek version of the New Testament. He also edited "The Miniatures of the Ashburnham Pentateuch" (1883), which looked at old illustrations.

With his friends Adolf von Harnack and Theodor Zahn, he worked on a series of books called "Texte und Untersuchungen zur Gerschichte der altchristlichen Literatur" (1882–1905). This series focused on studying the New Testament and writings from early Christian leaders.

Gebhardt passed away in Leipzig in 1906.

Published Works

Here are some of the important works Oscar von Gebhardt was involved with:

• Oscar von Gebhardt, Die Evangelien des Matthaeus und des Marcus aus dem Codex purpureus Rossanensis. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1883. This book was about the Gospels of Matthew and Mark from a special old manuscript.
• As editor: Novum Testamentum Graece: recensionis Tischendorfianae ultimae textum cum tregellesiano et Westcottio-Hortiano contulit et brevi adnotatione critica additisque locis parallelis (3rd edition 1886; original author: Constantin von Tischendorf). He edited this Greek New Testament.
• Acta martyrum selecta: Ausgewählte Märtyreracten und andere Urkunden aus der Verfolgungszeit der christlichen Kirche, 1902. This book contained selected stories and documents about Christian martyrs from times when they were persecuted.