Duden, Konrad

Philologist, lexicographer

Born: 03.01.1829 on Bossigt farm near Wesel

died: 01.08.1911 in Sonnenberg

When Duden retired in September 1905, he chose Sonnenberg as his retirement home in order to be closer to his son, the chemist Prof. Dr. Paul Duden, who lived in Höchst. On the second floor of the house at Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße 16, he spent the next six years working on his main life's work, the simplification and standardization of German spelling, in particular on further editions of his spelling dictionary, and continued to maintain lively contact with many academics and teachers.

In February 1908, he joined the Wiesbaden branch of the "Allgemeiner Deutscher Sprachverein", founded by Friedrich von Bodenstedt in 1886, as a member of the board and gave numerous lectures on the history of language. His lecture on March 10, 1908 on "The task of writing and German orthography" was particularly memorable. On November 2, 1908, Duden was elected honorary chairman of the branch association.

In 1909, the 80-year-old Duden concluded a publishing contract under which he was to merge the 8th edition of his "Orthographisches Wörterbuch" with the 2nd edition of his "Rechtschreibung der Buchdruckereien" to form the 9th edition of the dictionary. He also continued his lecturing activities. When he died after a short illness in 1911, the manuscript of the 9th edition of the "Duden" was ready for printing.

He was buried in Bad Hersfeld. A memorial plaque on the perimeter wall of his Sonnenberg home, a grave in the Sonnenberg cemetery where his wife Adeline was buried, the naming of the Sonnenberg elementary school in 1952 and the street named after Duden in 1957 keep his memory alive.