Was it a life well-lived that this memorial plaque commemorates? This is the memorial for Dr. Ludwig Wiese in Potsdam. Ludwig Adolf Wiese was a German pedagogue and ministerial official. He was born on December 30, 1806 and died on February 25, 1900. Wiese received his initial education in Ku00f6nigsberg in the Neumark. His father worked there as a military gunsmith.
Wiese’s academic journey took him to Kolberg. He also studied in Berlin at the Garrison School and the Plamann Educational Institute. In 1822, he entered the Obertertia of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin. He passed his university entrance examination in 1826. Subsequently, Ludwig Wiese studied theology and philology at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Berlin. He left the university in 1829. Wiese then prepared for a career in higher education. He earned a Dr. phil. with his dissertation. The dissertation was titled De Valerii Messalae Corvini vita et studiis. This degree allowed him to bypass the faculty examination.
Ludwig Wiese began his probationary year on September 29, 1829. It was at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin. By Easter 1830, he had become a regular teacher there. In 1832, he became a vice-rector in Clausthal. Then, in 1833, he took on the same role at the Gymnasium in Prenzlau. In 1838, Wiese was appointed professor at the Joachimsthalschen Gymnasium in Berlin. He taught religion, German, Latin, and Greek.
In 1843, he declined the offer to become director of the St. Afra State School in Meiu00dfen. Instead, he received the title of Alumnus Inspector. He was entrusted with the sole management of the Alumnat at the Joachimsthalschen Gymnasium. By 1848, Wiese was appointed director of the Marienstiftsgymnasium in Stettin. It was considered one of the most important in Prussia at the time. However, he remained in Berlin. This was due to the urging of Minister Graf von Schwerin.
In July 1852, Ludwig Wiese became head of higher education. It was in the Prussian Ministry of Culture. From 1856 to 1870, he served on the study commission of the Cadet Corps. He also joined the Higher Military Studies Commission. From 1864, he was on the study commission of the War Academy. In 1865, Wiese was appointed to the Supreme Examination Commission. This was for senior administrative officials.
Ludwig Wiese retired in 1875. He settled in Potsdam. After his death, the Wiese-Spilleke Foundation was established. It supported needy widows of senior grammar school teachers. These were teachers from schools particularly close to him. Gymnasiums that no longer started foreign language teaching with Latin were excluded.
Wiese received an honorary doctorate from the Theological Faculty of the University of Greifswald in 1879. The University of Edinburgh awarded him a Doctor of Law in 1885. On his 90th birthday, December 30, 1896, he was made an honorary citizen of Potsdam. In 1910, the Herford city council decided to name a new street after Ludwig Wiese. This street was near his birthplace. It stood at the corner of Johannisstrau00dfe and Wiesestrau00dfe.