Constantin von Tischendorf  (1815-1874),
a friend of Mendelssohn and Schumann
 
 

Constantin Tischendorf, steel engraving approx.  1845

        My Greatgreatgranduncle, Lobegott Friedrich Constantin Tischendorf, was born 18th January
        1815 at Lengenfeld/Vogtland the ninth child of a forensic physician. He attended the Bürgerschule
        there and in 1829 changed to the highschool at Plauen. In 1834 he started to study theology at
        Leipzig and through his scholar Winer soon found his special field of activity: textual critics of the
        New Testament. Even during his studies he published two articles to high praise. In 1838 he finished
        his studies with the doctorate of philosophy and in 1840 gained a chair for Theology at Leipzig.
        Already in 1839 he begun his far reaching voyages of study through whole Europe and the Middle
        East, always in search of early sources to the New Testament. From 1840 to 1843 he lived in Paris
        and in 1844 undertook his first journey to the orient, leading to the St.Catherine monastery on the
        Sinai, where in 1859 he made his greatest discovery: the so-called Codex sinaiticus, an ancient
        Greek handwriting of the New Testament from the 4th century. This later voyage was sponsored
        by the Czar of Russia, who later let publish a facsimily of the handwriting and honored Tischendorf
        with the status of nobility. His numerous reports on his voyages made him equally famous like as
        a leading paleograph not only of the 19th century. As one of the most respected members of the
        Leipzig university and an internetionally renowned expert of the bible science, Tischendorf died
        on the 7th of december 1874 at Leipzig, due to an insult he suffered some eighteen months earlier.
 

Two pages from the facsimily of the Codex sinaiticus,  the original since 1933 being preserved at the British Museum.
 

Constantin von Tischendorf, photography approx. 1870.
 
 

The handwriting of Tischendorf in a letter of 1848.
(Sammlung Dr. Klaus Zehnder-Tischendorf, Zofingen)

Besides his fame as a scientist, his considerable interests for the arts are far less known, especially
his connections with musicians like Felix Mendelssohn und Robert Schumann. Already as a pupil
Tischendorf wrote a number of poems, but in 1838 at Leipzig he published a collection of 91 poems
in print, called Maiknospen. Meyerbeer is said to have planned to compose a number of them, all-
though no proof of it has been found.But we have a nearly unknown song of Mendelssohn Lieben
und Schweigen. There are two contemporary copies still existing, one of them bearing the remark
as composed and dedicated to the poet.
 

 

Felix Mendelssohn: Lieben und Schweigen , undated Song
arranged for piano solo   

    Tischendorf and Mendelssohn had been direct neighbours in Leipzig for some years, but other-
    wise their relationship is  still uncovered. - Another friend was Robert Schumannm ,also a neigh-
    bour some years before at Leipzig. Tischendorf is mentioned several times in the diaries of the
    Schumanns and some of his letters to Schumann have been preserved. One of them is part of
    the Album of Robert and Clara Schumann, a collection they provided for their children, containing
    poems and letters of important friends and contemporaries. During his Paris years, Tischendorf
    served as a mediator to Schumanns friends Kastner, Berlioz, Heller, Chopin and Liszt. He even
    became closely accquainted with Wagner. Tischendorf is also known to have contributed some
    articles for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , but as many other authors is still not identified. But
    surely he knew the articles of Schumann on Norbert Burgmüller and we can even imagine him
    to have heard the first Burgmüller symphony in 1838 at Leipzig conducted by Mendelssohn.
    A magical circle indeed!
 

Constantin Tischendorf, pastell painting approx. 1841

    Bibliography:

     Behrend, Hildegard: Auf der Suche nach Schätzen. Aus dem Leben Constantin von Tischendorfs. Berlin 1952.
     Böttrich, Christfried: Tischendorf-Lesebuch. Bibelforschung in Reiseabenteuern. Leipzig 1999.
     Böttrich, Christfried: Bibliographie Konstantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874). Leipzig 1999.
     Schneller, Ludwig: Tischendorf-Erinnerungen. Leipzig 1927.

     Special thanks to Prof. Böttrich, Leipzig, for a number of personal informations.