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Joachim Köppe
| Joachim Köppe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 16th century (?) |
| Died | after 1630s (?) |
| Occupation | Fencing master |
| Education | Doctor of philosophy and of medicine |
| Alma mater | University of Wittenberg |
| Influences | Heinrich Beler(n) von Bautzen |
| Genres | Fencing manual |
| Language | Early New High German |
| Notable work(s) | Newer Discůrs Von der Rittermeszigen und Weitberůmbten Kůnst des Fechtens (1619) |
Joachim Köppe was a 17th century German fencing master, originally from Bahrendorf in the Sülze Valley, about ten miles outside Magdeburg. A remark in a 1619 book documenting a theological spat with a Magdeburg pastor implies that his father was a Dorfpfarrer—a [Lutheran] village pastor.
He and his brother Jacob enrolled at the University of Wittenberg on May 1, 1596. A note in the Album Academiae Vitebergensis [Ältere Reihe] mentions that “hi propter aestatum non iuravunt"—that "because of their [young] age" they did not swear the academic oath. This would place his birth date around 1582-84.
A number of medical disputations place him at Wittenberg from 1601 to 1609, both as a student of medicine and an examiner. In 1606, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Frankfurt an der Oder. Between 1609 and 1610, he was at Paris, where he met Salvator Fabris and received a copy of Fabris' 1606 book from the master. On April 2, 1610, Magister Köppe appears in the Matrikel of the new University of Giessen, contemporary with Heinrich von und zum Velde.
While at Wittenberg, Köppe studied fencing under his praeceptor Heinrich Beler from Bautzen in Saxony, as well as at least another instructor, who appears to have been in the tradition of the old Fechtergesellschaften. After he left Wittenberg, he went on to become a physician and Bürger in Magdeburg. In 1619, he published his own treatise on rapier fencing titled Newer Discůrs Von der Rittermeszigen und Weitberůmbten Kůnst des Fechtens ("New Discourse on the Knightly and World Renowned Art of Fencing"). This was conceived as the first of at least three volumes, however, only this one volume was ever printed (albeit in four editions).
A “Köppe, Joachimus” appears from 1631 to 1638 in the Bürgerrolle der Alten Stadt Magdeburg. This would mean that he survived the complete destruction of the city in 1631.
Köppe was primarily an enthusiastic amateur: An analytical, experienced and eclectic fencer who had learned, acquired and understood fundamentals and skills from the methods of several local and international masters to a degree that he could formulate a coherent theory of his own. But he was not a professional instructor or Fechtmeister. Indeed, he expressly rejects the notion that, by publishing his book, he was abandoning his Beruff, i.e., his avocation as a physician. Köppe’s personal method was an amalgam of various influences whose skills he had encountered.
Contents
Treatise
Rapier
Copyright and License Summary
Additional Resources
The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.
- Köppe, Joachim (2018). New Discourse on the Art of Fencing. Trans. by Reinier van Noort. Self-published.
