Harck Olufs, Native of the Island of Amrum in the Diocese of Ribe in Jutland, Strange

Riese, Otto, 1697-1779Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.7

Word count: 47K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Harck Olufs aus der Insul Amron im Stifte Ripen in Jütland, gebürtig, sonderbareAuthor: Riese, Otto, 1697-1779,Language: German, Class: HT: Social sciences: Communities, Classes, Races, Release Date: Aug 5, 2016

Editor's review

This is a German public-domain text. Its author, Otto Riese (1697–1779), writes in a biographical vein about Harck Olufs, born in the parish of Ripen and from the island of Amrum in Jutland; the word “sonderbare” in the subtitle signals the curious, case-specific character of the contents. Its classification under community, class, and ethnicity within the social sciences indicates that it is closer to a record of a particular person and the social environment in which he lived than to a systematic theoretical work. For readers, its value lies in offering a window onto social life in the border region between northern Germany and Denmark in the eighteenth century, and it can be read alongside other local chronicles, biographies, and folklore materials. When reading, note the Early Modern German spelling and style, treat it as a historical narrative rather than a modern biography, and approach it with questions about region, identity, and communal relations; the reading will then be more concretely rewarding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of social history in 18th-century northern Germany and Denmark
German culture enthusiasts interested in biography, local chronicles, and folkloric case studies
Students with German reading ability who need public-domain historical sources for specialized research
History readers who enjoy understanding past community life through marginal figures

Not a good fit for

General readers without German reading ability and no access to a translation
Readers expecting systematic social theory or macro-historical narrative
Casual readers seeking light stories who are unwilling to adapt to Early New High German expression
Researchers requiring contemporary scholarly annotation and a rigorous evidentiary framework

Reading tips

First familiarize yourself with the geography of Amrum and the parish of Ribe; the place names and identity clues will then be clearer when you read the main text.
Keep notes on personal relationships and place names as you read to form a brief chronology, reducing the confusion caused by the Early New High German narrative.
Read alongside 18th-century local chronicles or social histories of northern Germany and Denmark to situate the case within its historical context.
There is no need to read straight through; select key passages of the subject's life according to interest, then return to what the subtitle's “sonderbare” (peculiar) refers to.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What language is this book in, and can an ordinary Chinese reader read it?

The book is a German public-domain text and retains 18th-century spelling and expressive conventions. Readers without German will find direct reading difficult; it is advisable first to consult relevant Chinese or English background materials on the figure and region, then decide whether to read section by section with the aid of tools.

Is Harck Olufs a real historical figure?

Judging from the title and subtitle, the text recounts a specific person, identified as from Amrum and born in the parish of Ribe. The materials do not provide further biographical details, however; readers should treat it as a case narrative within a historical text, verify specific facts against other sources, and avoid making absolute judgments based on this book alone.

Is this book suitable as a theoretical work on social history?

Not really. It is closer to a personal case study and local narrative; thematically it falls under community, class, and ethnicity, but it is not a systematic theoretical work. For social history study, it is better used as case material alongside theoretical works and local chronicles.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Riese, Otto, 1697-1779 Author

Otto Riese (1697–1779) is an author about whose life very little is reliably recorded in German-language sources; his nationality, education and professional career cannot be established from available public information, and only one work by him is held in the collection. That work is entitled Harck Olufs aus der Insul Amron im Stifte Ripen in Jütland, gebürtig, sonderbare, which, judging from its title, concerns a figure named Harck Olufs, born on the island of Amrum in the diocese of Ribe in Jutland. It appears to belong to the tradition of local biography and curiosity literature, written in German, with the word sonderbare in the title suggesting unusual or remarkable subject matter. The book is thus closer to early modern regional character writing than to systematic scholarship. Because public information is limited, Riese's other writings, style and influence cannot be confirmed, and readers can only use this single surviving title as a clue to his subjects and approach.