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Foundation of the Ken Whyld AssociationFirst Stage:
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 Duke August Library, Wolfenbüttel |
About 35 chess friends from near and far had accepted
our invitation to travel to Brunswick in order to attend the KWA foundation
meeting – the correspondence chess GM and chess dealer Juan Morgado
from Buenos Aires undertook the longest journey. The first event, long
awaited, was marked by a trip to the famous Duke August Library in Wolfenbüttel
(15 kms from Brunswick), the former royal seat of the “Welfen”
(i.e. an old German dynasty). This library contains a collection of sources
of European book history from the last years of the medieval period to
the present, and has evolved into a place of research and study of European
cultural history.
A warm welcome by the library director, Prof. Dr.
Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, was followed by an introductory lecture of 20
minutes, given in English by Dr. Gillian Bepler. The big library hall
provided a truly impressive backdrop with the shelving as an integral
part of the architectural concept of the room. Equally overwhelming are
the stocks: the library comprises about 850,000 volumes, including about
415,000 printed before 1850, about 3,500 incunabula, 75,000 of the 16th
century, 150,000 of the 17th century and 120,000 of the 18th century.
You can get an insight into the history of the Duke August Library by
reading the following web page: Short
History of the Library (in German only).
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Dr. Jill Bepler delivering her lecture ... |
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and the interested audience |
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... this time from a different perspective |
Bodo
Pawlik, Günter Büsing, Frank Schubert and Bernd Ellinghoven in a central position |
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The guided tour immediately afterwards, took place in two groups (“English”
and “German”) and included, because of the limited time available,
only a section of the library. This included the “globe room”,
which has a collection of old maps and world maps as well as globes, the
room with the chess exhibits naturally became the favourite object of
observation.
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Tony
Gillam, Jurgen Stigter, Dr. Bepler and Calle Erlandsson |
A copy of “Gustavus Selenus” (Das
Schach- oder König-Spiel), the first printed chess book in German,
published in 1616, and the accompanying manuscript were in the centre
of a small gallery of books and manuscripts with exquisite rarities on
the subject of chess and “Rhythmomachia”, the ancient number
game.
Henri
Serruys, Hans-Jürgen Fresen, Matthias Limberg and Wolfgang Pähtz |
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Juan
Morgado, Henri Serruys, Godehard Murkisch and Peter Holmgren (bending over the glass case), Günter Büsing and Claes Løfgren |
A massive and simple game board (“folding box”), once in the
possession of Duke August, was a further eye-catcher. Surely it was in
everyday use and the upper side is equipped with an inlaid chess board.
At the bottom there is a nine men’s morris. In the interior were
stored the (unfortunately missing) gaming pieces, and the insides are
arranged as a tric-trac playing area (“backgammon”).
Dr.
Bepler, Tony Gillam and Calle Erlandsson next to the game board of Duke August |
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An exhibit of outstanding importance is the chess table of the German
poet and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (*1/22/1729 †2/15/1781),
who lived in Wolfenbüttel from 1770 till his death and who worked
as a full-time librarian in the Duke August Library. You may inspect here
a transcription of notes about Lessing’s chess table from 1880.
This letter was only recently discovered in private ownership and reached
the library as a gift of the firm Klittich-Pfankuch: Lessing's
Chess Table (in German only).
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Prof. Dr. Schmidt-Glintzer and Mr. Roger Klittich in front of Lessing’s chess table |
At the end of the guided tour, which produced an exceedingly positive
response from the visitors and which was met with suitable applause, Michael
Negele addressed some words of thanks in the name of the Ken Whyld Association
and of all participants, to our hosts, Dr. Jill Bepler and Prof. Dr. Helwig
Schmidt-Glintzer, as well as to Mr. Roger Klittich, who had so excellently
organized this visit.
Rolf
Littorin, |
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