The article discusses the publications of Klaus-Dieter Herbst, crowning nearly twenty years of his research on early modern calendars. These unique works are presented in two versions: in the ninth volume of a series titled Acta Calendariographica – Forschungsberichte, published in 2020, and the website that has been systematically updated since 2014. The printed version includes an introduction to calendar matters (Part One) and a three-part biographical and bibliographic dictionary, devoted to the calendar makers, their career paths, family relationships, and calendar and publication achievements. The article outlines the specifics and structure of this publication, pointing to the ingenious solutions employed there and interesting problems raised.
Gottfried Kirch (1639–1710) was an astronomer born in Guben, the maker of calendars and the author of ephemerides. He owed his fame to the discovery of the Great Comet of 1680, and he gained prestige as the first astronomer of the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences. The article summarises the current state of knowledge about Gottfried Kirch and presents his astronomical and calednariographic activity at various stages of his life, via the lens of the stays in Langgrün, Lobbenstein, Leipzig, Coburg, Guben and Berlin (Dorotheenstadt).
The activity of Christfried Kirch (1694–1740), son of Gottfried Kirch (1639–1710), the first astronomer of the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences, has not yet received much attention in historiography. Christfried Kirch’s astronomy education – beginning with the studies with his father, to the unfulfilled plans of visits to the observatories in England and France – culminated in his acceptance as an observer of the Royal Prussian Society of Sciences on October 8, 1716. The article aims to present the development of Christfried Kirch’s career and his efforts to achieve the position once held by his father in the Society of Sciences in Berlin.
Gottfried Kirch (1639–1710) developed the screw micrometer to observe the occultation of ο Tauri by Saturn on January 7/17, 1679. The news about the instrument was not published immediately. The device was popularised by his calendar for 1696. The article presents preliminary findings concerning the dissemination of knowledge about this invention and responds to the claim that it was the most widely used micrometer in the German-speaking lands in the first half of the 18th century.
The article is an attempt to reconstruct a symbolic significance of the fire in life of polish family between XIII and XVIII centuries. On the basis of analyze of rich ceremonialism, which can be found in home, household and church space, some types of this element were defined by way of example. The basic merit of a fire is its consumer value, which providing family with life was the base of assessment and creating of additional sense. In symbolic stratum the main role played a ritual fire, which being a part of receiving ritual admitted new members of community (for example, children, women) . There was a fire in magical acts and fortune-telling in everyday practice. Made cyclically or by accident purifying fire protected house and cattle from contagion, dark forces and animal pests. Fire is also a destructive power, of which man was afraid and from which protected his family. The value of flame was also an area of death. Ritual gestures and acts usually used element’s substitutes like candle, smoke, ashes and stove. The rich symbolism of fire, its multi-aspect using and great variety of forms are an evidence of importance of this element in a family’s community space.
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