Johann Gottlieb Christaller

Johann Christaller was born in Winnenden, near Stuttgart in the then Kingdom of Württemberg, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. His father was a tailor and a subsistence farmer of modest background, who was keen on books and had a large personal library with more than 2000 books. Johann Christaller had two sisters, Johanna and Christiane. Later, from 1841 to 1844, Christaller was an apprentice and an assistant to a town clerk in the mayor's printing office in Winnenden Among his options after his apprenticeship were entering the public service, going to a university to study languages or going to the seminary in Basel. He was ordained as a pastor on 7 November 1852. By the end of his seminary education, in addition to his native German, he had become fluent in English, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. ==Literary work on the Gold Coast==

According to scholars, Christaller was “deeply influenced by the sociohistorical theories of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), whose views on the life cycle of communities and on the equality of different cultures was opposed to the historical conception of the Enlightenment, which considered Western civilization as superior to other cultures and as the ideal and goal toward which other cultures did or should aspire.” In 1853, Johann Christaller was posted to Ghana by the Basel Mission Home Committee, stationed at Akropong, about 32 miles (51 km) north of Accra while his classmate August Steinhauser was sent to Christiansborg, Osu. Christaller arrived at Osu, now a suburb of Accra, on 25 January 1853. At the Akropong mission station, he met other missionaries, Widmann, Dieterle and Joseph Mohr. The first edition of that newspaper was published on 1 March 1883. In his later years, he was an Elder in his local church and attended several Pietist fellowships in the area. From time to time, he visited his old colleagues in Basel. Other views Translation as a mediation tool J. G. Christaller believed that had the British colonial administrators known the depth and breadth of literary work conducted in Twi, the Sagrenti War between 1873 and 1874 during which the British invaded Asante could have been prevented. In his grammar book published in 1875, Christaller noted that a letter written in English from the then British Governor, Sir Garnet Wolseley to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Nana Kofi Karikari, which suggested a peace treaty between the British and Asante could have been authored in the Twi language. That letter was intercepted by Amankwa Tia, a subject of the Ashanti stool. Fante literary work by English scholars Christaller did not have a high opinion on the literary work, Mfantsi Grammar (1868) written by British philologists, D. L. Carr and J. P. Brown and printed in Cape Coast. The book mimicked English principles in phonetics and orthography which Christaller saw as ill-suited for the Akan language in general. In 1913, an updated second edition was published by J. P. Brown in response to Christaller's criticism. ==Personal life==

Johann Christaller married Christiane Emilie Ziegler, a fellow missionary and a native of Waiblingen on 27 January 1857 at Akropong. Emilie died on 13 August 1866 at Kyebi in Akyem Abuakwa at the age of 37. She was buried under a palm tree at the old Basel Mission cemetery in Keybi. He returned to Germany in 1868. He later married Bertha Ziegler, sister of his late wife Christiane in 1872. They also had four sons and a daughter. ==Publications and awards==

His best known publications include A Grammar of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi (Twi, Chee) Based on the Akuapem Dialect with Reference to Other (Akan and Fante) Dialects published in 1875 and A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Twi, , published in 1871 followed by an updated edition in 1881 and a revised version in 1933. • Christaller, J. G. (1875) “A Grammar of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tschi (Chwee, Twi) Based on the Akuapem Dicalect, With Reference to Other (Akan and Fante) Dialects” – “Twi mmebusem mpensa-ahansia mmoaano”, Basel • Christaller, J. G., Asante, David, Opoku, Theophilus (1871) “Anyamesem anase Kyerew Kronkron Apam-dedaw ne Apam-foforo nsem wo Twi kasa mu” (“The Holy Bible translated from the original tongues into the Twi language”), Basel • Christaller, J. G., Locher, C. W., Zimmermann, J. (1874) “A Dictionary, English, Tshi (Asante), Akra; Tshi (Chwee) Comprising as Dialects: Akan and Fante; Accra connected with Adangme; Gold Coast, West Africa,” Basel • Christaller, J. G., (1879) “A collection of 3,600 Tshi Proverbs In Use Among the Africans of the Gold Coast as Speaking the Asante and Fante Language, Collected, Together with their Variations, and Alphabetically Arranged,” Basel • Christaller, J. G., (1881) “A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tschi (Chwee, Twi) With a Grammatical Introduction and appendices on the Geography of the Gold Coast and Other Subjects,” Basel, 2nd rev. ed., edited by J. Schweizer in 1893, published as “A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Languages Called Tshi (Twi),” Basel • Clerk, N. T. with foreword by Christaller, J. G. (1890), "Neue Reise in den Hinterländen von Togo, nach Nkonya, Buem, Obooso, Salaga, Krakye, 2. Dezember 1889 bis 5. Februar 1890," Mitteilungen der geographischen Gesellschaft für Thüringen, vol. IX, pp. 77 – 98 [An account of the northern Volta of the Gold Coast, written entirely in German in the "Missionsgeorgraphischer Teil" of the periodical, Journal of the Geographical Society of Thuringia] • Christaller, J. G. (1892), “Die Sprechen Afrikas,” Stuttgart • Christaller, J. G. (1929) Missionar J. G.Christaller: Erinnerungen aus seinem Leben Stuttgart and Basel == Death and legacy ==

Christaller died on 16 December 1895, just before undergoing surgery. ==Literature==

• Friedrich Agster, Winfried Maier-Revoredo, Margarete Henninger: "... destined for Africa". On the 100th anniversary of the death of the missionary and linguist Johann Gottlieb Christaller. Protestant church community and city Winnenden, Winnenden 1995 • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Christaller, Johann Gottlieb. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, , Sp. 1001-1002. (Biographical Bibliographic Church Lexicon) • Paul Steiner: Christaller, Joh. Gottlieb. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 47, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1903, pp. 480-483. • Diedrich Hermann Westermann: Christaller, Johann Gottlieb. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, , p. 219 ( digitized). ==See also==