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[German Version] 1. Johannes (Kupfermann; Sep 17, 1546, Wesel – Jan 26, 1623, Halle). After studying at Marburg (1566) and Jena (1570, M.A. 1573), Olearius began teaching at the Gymnasium in Königsberg (today Kaliningrad) in 1574. In 1577 he was appointed professor of Hebrew and in 1578 professor of theology at Helmstedt (1579 Dr.theol.). In 1581 he was appointed superintendent in Halle, where he set the organization of the church in order and occasionally held theological disputations. He was a clo…

[German Version] Word, name, clause, or alphabet consisting of the initial letters (syllables, words) of sequential verses or strophes of a poem. Acrostics have Eastern roots (for instance Hymnos Akathistos, including the alphabetic acrostics in the OT and in Latin hymns). They originally had magical, mnemonic and protective significance. They were a literary art form in the Middle Ages and in the Baroque period, also in hymns; for example, EG 523 (names of authors), 525 (commemorative names), 70, 147, 367 (dedicatory initials), 242, 361, 402 (proverb, motto). Ada Kadelbach Bibliogr…