Copernicus was German, not Polish

Published by carolyn on Sat, 2017-07-08 12:30

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Prussian, placed the sun instead of the earth in the center of the solar system in 1542, making a monumental contribution to world scientific knowledge. Is this a Polish face? No, it is a Germanic face.


By Carolyn Yeager

US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WAS IN POLAND ON THURSDAY, JULY 6 and got his history wrong again. He did it in Jerusalem in May and now he's done it again ... in order to cater to post-WWII historical distortions. In Warsaw, speaking to thousands, he said:

Despite every effort to transform you, oppress you, or destroy you, you endured and overcame. You are the proud nation of Copernicus — think of that — Chopin, Saint John Paul II. Poland is a land of great heroes. And you are a people who know the true value of what you defend.

Poland has been claiming Copernicus as a Polish son for a long time because, well, he did live in the territory called the Kingdom of Poland during most of his life. He was born in German Silesia, as was his father and mother before him. He grew up speaking German – it was his native language. He did all of his work and correspondence in Latin and German, none in Polish. However, it is said he could also speak Polish, Italian and Greek.

Right: German-language letter from Copernicus to Duke Albert of Prussia, giving medical advice for George von Kunheim (1541)

The Wikipedia entry for him is much changed from what it was ten years ago. At that time his German origin was more clearly stated. But now the efforts of Poles and Jews have succeeded in wiping away as much of that as possible by using Polish historian sources and place names. But it can't be done completely since too much evidence exists. Such as, along with his mother's family being German (Waltzenrode), while studying canon law at Bologna in 1496, he joined a student organization which was open to students of all kingdoms and states whose mother-tongue was German.

Another reason to believe Copernicus was German is that Trump mentioned only one other Polish “genius:” Frederic Chopin, the great pianist/composer. (Chopin was only half Polish, half-French through his father, and it's noteworthy that he left the city of Warsaw when still a young man to settle in the more stimulating city of Paris, where he remained until his death – never returning to Poland.) No other individual of such elevated brilliance as Copernicus was ever produced by the Polish people, so it's highly unlikely Copernicus could have been produced by them. By contrast, a number of the world's greatest geniuses have been produced by the Germans in a variety of important fields.

It is too bad that the political narrative pushed by the New World Order – of which the European Union plays its role – forces so many historical lies to be told. The history of WWI and WWII, and the part played by the USA and World Jewry is distorted beyond recognition; the truth has even become criminalized.

For example, the truth of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was not told in President Trump's speech. The uprising was a futile gesture since the Soviets were already on their way to “liberating” Warsaw. But the Poles wanted to liberate themselves first so they would not be obligated to the Russians for the favor. By carrying out the 'uprising', the city was destroyed and 15,000 Poles and 16,000 Germans lost their lives for no good reason – 50,000 casualties altogether. The Poles gained nothing and were not Freedom Fighters. Nor did the Wehrmacht reduce the city to rubble out of a hatred for Poles but because Polish snipers were hiding out in every building.

The Warsaw Uprising occurred because “the Russians were coming” and the Poles feared their rule. The “Nazis” were actually only holding on to their already won territory.

President Trump said some good things in his speech but as a historian, he fails. “This is a nation more than one thousand years old,” he said. No, it isn't. That's a Polish invention too. I told the story of the real history of Poland on The Heretics' Hour in October 2014. Give it a listen. Or read Poland and the Falsifications of Polish History by Else Löser for yourself.

Comments

I think that Copernicus may have been half-Polish, through his father. His mother Barbara Watzenrode was German and he was raised largely by his mother's brother.
 
Chopin was half-French, through his father. Chopin is not a Polish name.
 
The Poles have so few great men to show. I wonder why Trump did not mention Felix Dzerzhinsky as a famous Pole.

A section headed “Nationality” toward the bottom of the Copernicus Wikipedia page, gives this helpful information:

There has been discussion of Copernicus's nationality and of whether, in fact, it is meaningful to ascribe to him a nationality in the modern sense. But there are some facts that should be considered when talking about Copernicus's nationality.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born and raised in Royal Prussia, a semiautonomous and polyglot region under rule by the Kingdom of Poland.[135][136] Copernicus was the child of German-speaking parents and grew up with German as his mother tongue.[137][138][139] His alma mater was the University of Kraków in Poland. When he later studied in Italy, at the University of Bologna Copernicus joined the "German Nation", the student organization for German-speakers of all allegiances (Germany would not become a nation-state until 1871).[140][141] Copernicus' father lent money to King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland to finance the war against the Teutonic Knights,[142] but the inhabitants of Royal Prussia also resisted the Polish crown's efforts for greater control over the region.[135]

Encyclopædia Britannica,[143] Encyclopedia Americana,[144] The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia,[145] The Oxford World Encyclopedia,[146] and World Book Encyclopedia[147] refer to Copernicus as a "Polish astronomer". Sheila Rabin, writing in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, describes Copernicus as a "child of a German family [who] was a subject of the Polish crown",[11] while Martin Weissenbacher writes that Copernicus's father was a Germanized Pole.[148]

Historian Michael Burleigh describes the nationality debate as a "totally insignificant battle" between German and Polish scholars during the interwar period.[149] Polish astronomer Konrad Rudnicki calls the discussion a "fierce scholarly quarrel in ... times of nationalism" and describes Copernicus as an inhabitant of a German-speaking territory that belonged to Poland, himself being of mixed Polish-German extraction.[150]

Poet Czesław Miłosz describes the debate as an "absurd" projection of a modern understanding of nationality onto Renaissance people, who identified with their home territories rather than with a nation.[151]

Similarly, historian Norman Davies writes that Copernicus, as was common in his era, was "largely indifferent" to nationality, being a local patriot who considered himself "Prussian".[152]

Miłosz and Davies both write that Copernicus had a German-language cultural background, while his working language was Latin in accord with the usage of the time.[151][152] Additionally, according to Davies, "there is ample evidence that he knew the Polish language".[152] Davies concludes: "Taking everything into consideration, there is good reason to regard him both as a German and as a Pole: and yet, in the sense that modern nationalists understand it, he was neither."[152]

From this, he cannot be claimed as "Polish." I haven't yet found any serious scholar willing to declare Copernicus' father definitely a full Pole. I'm still looking.

The Poles do the same with Veit Stoss, the amazing German sculptor in wood. I have written about this too.

How about Lech Walensa? The East Germans didn't lead the anti-Communist charge.
In music, the fabulous soundtrack composer Zbigniew Priesner, the most renown director Krystof Kieslowski.

Thank you for writing this, Jake, because it makes my point perfectly. If these men you named are the greatest sons of Poland you can come up with, men who have made an international reputation for themselves, it shows that the Polish "nation" cannot have produced a genius/scholar/innovator of the likes of Nikolaus Kopernick (Copernicus). Where is a single other one of his ilk? 

We are not just talking about men of accomplishment, or talent or persistence, but of those rare persons who move civilization forward with new, surprising discoveries.

I have a very short write-up on this great hero on my blog: https://k0nsl.org/blog/detox/john-paul-the-pole-his-successor
 
 Best wishes,-k0nsl

One of my favorite books (it's nearly a thousand pages of German awesomeness): "The German Genius" by Peter Watson:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003M69A64/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UT...

No other ethnic group comes even close to what the Germanic people have contributed to modern western civilization.

Maybe you would be kind enough by helpng me add more contributions to this post on my blog? It already is quite a substantial list but if we can add more to it..why not?
 
See: https://k0nsl.org/blog/detox/german-accomplishments/

Pride in being German needs to be inspired among all Germans today. This ridiculous, immoral, vile and totally undeserved "German Guilt complex" that I hear about among Germans in Germany needs to be extinguished and Germans need to wake the hell up. The truth is that Germans and Germany are a wonderful culture, people and nation.  There are many historical lies about Germans and Germany that need to be destroyed.
Links to websites like Carolyn's and yours need to be shared widely, especially among young people.
 

Thank you Carolyn
for givingi the German "genius" some space. I don't fight over a Coperncus - he is of course a German. And Beethoven - I let him enjoy Dutch heritage.
 

Hi Klaus, I just learned the interesting story of Beethoven. I had never noticed that his name was Van, not Von. His grandfather, a musician also named Ludwig, came from Flanders to Bonn, Germany as a young man. He had one son, Johann, who married Maria Magdalena Keverich, a German. Johann and Maria's second son was Ludwig van Beethoven, so he was German through his mother and Germanic Dutch through his father. Not bad.

Why is the mother forgotten in these instances when only the father's background is mentioned? It takes two. Laughing

Hi Carolyn,thanks for all of your great info.I found a typo on CACopernicus,But the Poles wanted to liberate themselves first so they would not be obligated to the Russians for (the) favor.
 
it should be "their" favor. Have you considered doing your articles as audios. I am a big fan of audio programs. Dana

That is not a typo, but is correct English for what I was conveying. You are wanting to simplify my meaning.  Maybe that's why you're a big fan of audio programs. :-)

All the best ...

Dear Ms. Caroline,
                         It would have been better if Trump had mentioned Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski who helped win American freedom during the American Revolution. Both were Polish. Another name to add is the Hungarian Michael Kovats Fabriczky who served with Pulaski.

He did mention Pulaski and Kosciuszko by name in his speech. You can read it here.

"The signs of this friendship stand in our nation’s capital. Just steps from the White House, we’ve raised statues of men with names like Pułaski and Kościuszko."

Thanks!

Dear Miss Caroline, Very good article. Beeing a Pole I would like to keep Copernicus as a Pole  because as someone said in here we have only few great names but we are also a much smaller  nation.  However truth is  truth and can not be changed so please keep on your good work on history, white race and  Zionism, we are reading it.
 
PS; Maria Skladowska was Polish sientist who discovered in between Polonium and Radium chemicals  crucial for production of atomic energy.

Philip, famous men cannot be assigned to a nationality because it doesn't have many and would like more.

Copernicus was not an ordinary scientist and should not be compared to one. He was a supernova, one of the most brilliant stars in the human universe.

Marie Curie went to Paris at age 24 and never returned to Poland. Her higher degrees and scientific work was done in France. She married a French scientist and collaborated with him. Maybe she would not have made her discoveries if she had remained in Poland. Face the facts. She is actually considered a French scientist of Polish birth.

You mean the center of the solar system NOT the universe. The center of the universe is EVERYWHERE because the universe is infinite. Please correct your article to say the center of the solar system. Our sun is not the center of our galaxy and there is no reason to consider it the center of the universe anymore than any other sun. It is however definitely the center of our solar system.

Yeah, you're right. I changed it. I wonder why no one else caught that.

Danke, dass du die Wahrheit gezeigt hast!

1.Polish father 2.Born in Poland 3.Went to study in Krakow 4.Never lived in Germany 5.Died in Poland
This is funny how pick your "facts" and completely ignore others.
And if u want to see another great Pole try Marie Skłodowska Curie,also this shows how incredibly bias and misleading your artcile and site is.

1  German mother (Walzenrode), German-speaking Polish father

2  Father born in German Silesia, which happened to be enclosed in the boundaries of the Kingdom of Poland at the time.

3  Krakow was and is known as a German city, architecturally and intellectually.

4. He lived in Prussia (which is German) and in Italy and always spoke and wrote in German only.

5. He died in Prussia, which is not Polish, but German

So who is it that picks their facts? You are wrong on every item.

Marie Curie was not anywhere close to being on the intellectual level of Copernicus.

He was born in Prussia,part of Kingdom of Poland.

Krakow was and is know as a City of Polish Kings.

He Lived In Prussia (Kingdom of Poland) And Italy.He spoke German,Latin,Polish,Italian and Greek.Majority of his works was in Latin(common language of Kingdom of Poland).He write only few documents in german.

He fought with Polish army against Teutonic Order(German Order).He also represented the Polish side in the ensuing peace negotiations.

He died in Prussia Kingdom of Poland.

This is a great lesson in how Poles create fake history and try to add their make-believe to Wikipedia pages. All you've done here, "Klaus", is to show your ignorance.

He was born in Prussia,part of Kingdom of Poland.

Means nothing, as it is widely understood that in those days people identified with their genealogy and the language they spoke, not very much with the name of the so-called kingdom labeled on the maps. Those Medieval Federations and Kingdoms were not nations, but conglomerates gathered together for various reasons. Borders and rulers changed, but the people kept their own identities through families. Nicolaus is the German spelling of his name, and his siblings were named Andreas, Barbara and Katharina -- all German names. His live-in housekeeper/mistress was Anna Schilling. His German uncle Lucas Walzenrode supervised his education after the death of his father in 1483 when Copernicus was only 10 years old.

Krakow was and is know as a City of Polish Kings.

The Poles label things as they wish, but most historians agree that Cracow was a German city. Germans designed and built the city, and were the dominant culture.

He Lived In Prussia (Kingdom of Poland) And Italy.He spoke German,Latin,Polish,Italian and Greek.Majority of his works was in Latin(common language of Kingdom of Poland).He write only few documents in german.

No,  he wrote in Latin and German, he spoke in German. It is said he could also speak in Italian, Greek and Polish when needed, but historian Ed Rosen points out that he used phonetic descriptions of Polish words which suggests he was not fluent.

In recording the names of the numerous Polish peasants involved in these Leases, Copernicus "registered the phonetic characteristics of the Polish language correctly."1 Yet in the same entry Copernicus wrote both Czepan and Zcepan2. This transposition of the first two letters indicates that he was trying to reproduce phonetically the sounds he heard, and provides no basis for the conclusion that he "not only knew the Polish language but spoke it fluently enough to be able to use it in his dealings with Polish peasants"3. He wrote the Polish names as well as could be done by an intelligent and conscientious administrator essentially unfamiliar with that language. How did he and his German-speaking predecessors and successors as administrators communicate with their Polish subjects? In this region and period of rapid demographic change, Poles were migrating northward in increasing numbers into a land previously populated predominantly by German-speaking peasants. In these commingled groups, persons familiar with the limited bilingual vocabulary required for these transactions may not have been hard to find.

Latin was not the "common language of the Kingdom of Poland" but of academia. That's why most of Copernicus' writings are in Latin. The rest in German, but not all survive. Nothing in Polish. The common people did not speak Latin!

He fought with Polish army against Teutonic Order(German Order).He also represented the Polish side in the ensuing peace negotiations.

NO, that was his father who supported the Polish side (according to one source) and did some mediation between the parties after the fighting. But I don't see any indication he or his father actually fought with the Polish army. I believe you have misread or made that up.

He died in Prussia Kingdom of Poland.

That doesn't make him Polish.

"This is a great lesson in how Poles create fake history and try to add their make-believe to Wikipedia pages. All you've done here, "Klaus", is to show your ignorance...."
 
Ironic If you consider,how many times you lied and how many times you changed your story...Basically two points of your article: 1.Poles and Jews changed history. 2.He can't be Polish,because there was no Pole like him.Somehow im the one who is showing his ignorance here.please.....Same story with Warsaw Uprising,history of Poland and Krakow.
 
"Means nothing, as it is widely understood that in those days people identified with their genealogy and the language they spoke, not very much with the name of the so-called kingdom labeled on the maps..."
 
You claimed He was born in German silesia,and that is simply not true.And you're accusing people of creating fake history.
 
"No,  he wrote in Latin and German.he spoke in German. It is said he could also speak in Italian, Greek and Polish..."
 wait,You just said:
 "..always spoke and wrote in German only."
 
Again changing story,creating fake history. My point still stands you just writen the same in different way.
 
"NO, that was his father who supported the Polish side (according to one source) and did some mediation between the parties after the fighting. But I don't see any indication he or his father actually fought with the Polish army. I believe you have misread or made that up."
 
Yes his father too,also his uncle which you mentioned Lucas Watzenrode was a decided opponent of the Teutonic Knights and he had close relations with Polish monarchs.Copernicus Faought with Royal Polish forces against German kinghts in Olsztyn and Warmia.
 
"The competence and commitment of Bishop Watzenrode’s nephew could not have passed unnoticed because Copernicus remained in office until November 1519. Later on he was appointed chancellor of the cathedral chapter in Frombork but after the Teutonic troops had burnt the town and the canons’ residences (curiae) there on 23 January 1520, he had no choice but to return to Olsztyn where he resumed his administrative duties and remained in the castle until October 1521. Disturbed by news of victories for the Teutonic Order, and worried about the safety of the castle, Copernicus wrote a letter to Sigismund, the Polish King, begging him for help. In this letter of 16 November 1520 he assured the king that the canons wanted to act as befitted ‘noble and honourable’ citizens faithful to the king and prepared to die for the cause. The Polish monarch sent reinforcements led by Zbigniew Słupecki to Olsztyn while Copernicus was busy doing his best to strengthen the defensive system of the castle. Due to their combined efforts, the reinforced Olsztyn garrison was able to fight off the Teutonic mercenary troops led by Wilhelm Schaumburg. Dreading another enemy attack he continued purchasing military equipment as administrator of the castle until March 1521 when an armistice was signed between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order, for the time being averting the threat of another siege."
 
this is also very interesting:
 
"He was member of Warmia chapter's economic and administrative center,together with part of the chapter, represented a program of strict cooperation with the Polish Crown and demonstrated in all his public activities (the defense of his country against the Order's plans of conquest; proposals to unify its monetary system with the Polish Crown's; support for Poland's interests in the Warmia dominion's ecclesiastic administration) that he was consciously a citizen of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic. Soon after the death of uncle Bishop Watzenrode, he participated in the signing of the Second Treaty of Piotrków Trybunalski (7 December 1512), governing the appointment of the Bishop of Warmia, declaring, despite opposition from part of the chapter, for loyal cooperation with the Polish Crown."
 
There is no way,that If you did any kind of reasearch you wouldn't be able to find this.Like I said before,you pick facts Ingore ones that do not fit to your "theory" or just call them fake or make-belive.Just because you dont like them.Afterall you can blame eveything on Jew and Polish conspiracy.
 
"Latin was not the "common language of the Kingdom of Poland" but of academia. That's why most of Copernicus' writings are in Latin. The rest in German, but not all survive. Nothing in Polish. The common people did not speak Latin!"
 
Im not claiming Latin was used by common people,But it was commonly used among nobility in Kingdom of Poland.
 
 Overall you can't claimed,He was German by birth,because of his Polish father.Neither by place where he was born(Prussia,Kingdom of Poland).Your only valid argument is that he among other languages spoke and wrote in german.and that dosen't make him German.
 
I have just read some other articles on your site...Just wow...I'm done.

l. I do not lie, and have only changed one small detail in the story.

2. You are correct about these two points I am making: 1.Poles and Jews change history. 2.He can't be Polish,because there was no Pole like him

Poles have been changing and making up their history all along (including continually changing, editing Wikipedia pages), and a 'super nova' like Copernicus does not come out of a nation that has never produced one before or since. In this case, there is another explanation to be had.

3.  Copernicus' father was born in German Silesia, namely in the village of Kopernic near Neiße. According to Wikipedia, his family moved to Krakow, where he was a well-to-do merchant who dealt in copper, selling it mostly in Danzig (a majority German town). In 1458 he moved to Thorn in Prussia. Copernicus was born in 1473.

4.  The 'German only' referred to 'not Polish'. His mother tongue was German. The language we speak is the most telling aspect of our identity and influences the way we think. Of course, he spoke Latin when/where it was appropriate.

5. The paragraphs you quote (but don't say where they're from or who wrote them) do not say that Copernicus actually fought with Polish forces. It says he was the administrator of the castle at Olsztyn and he was diligently carrying out his duties in that regard. Nor does it say that about his father and grandfather. I never questioned his patriotism to the land of his citizenship, nor did I say he was loyal to the Teutonic Knights in spite of their name. They were a Catholic religious-military order formed in the 11th Century for the protection of Christians in the Holy Land and the Baltics.

6.  Contrary to what you say, speaking and writing in German does make him German. We can agree he was born and lived in the Kingdom of Poland and his father was a Germanized Pole.

Carolyn
Unforuntely your historical knowlage is poor. Krakow has always been a Polish city. Never German. 

And what do you know about it? Your comment is the reason I don't publish all comments- not because I'm a censor but because so many comments I get are as stupid as this one. I am not going to pay to host millions of idiotic pieces of nothing.

Just saying.

If Copernicus lived all his life in Poland he would have to be mentally slow not to speak Polish. Of course he spoke Polish very well.   How could he communicate with other Poles who were his employees  his neighbours and friends? Maybe he also wrote in Polish as well, but like some of his german manuscripts were lost so his polish manuscripts could be lost too. At that time however the language of sciense was Latin so his writings were  mostly in Latin.

philip, What I wrote to Brian Dunlop goes for you too.

I'm not going to accept anymore of your comments on Copernicus because you're just repeating the same arguments I've already answered/refuted. Your arguments are now just something off the top of your head. In other words, you have no knowledge ... very similar to Jews who write to deny holocaust revisionist arguments. They say, "maybe this" or maybe that." A total waste of time.

Copernicus was NOT the first one to discover that Sun is in the centre of our solar sistem. It was Bruno an Italian. He however withdraw his finding from publication because the Catolic church promised to burn him on stake if he did not. Copernicus was already too old to bother about such things. 

Sorry, but Copernicus lived from 1473–1543); Giordano Bruno from 1548 to 1600. Bruno built his theories based on the Copernican model. Bruno WAS burned on the stake by the Catholic church, but more from other Catholic heresies than cosmological. 

You have it backwards.

[After the mongols almost completely destroyed it in 1241] Kraków was rebuilt by 1257 and received self-government city rights from the king based on the Magdeburg Law (Named after the German city of Magdeburg)  In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols, 18 years after the first raid. A third attack, though unsuccessful, followed in 1287. The year 1311 saw the Rebellion of wójt Albert (Mayor Albert) against Polish King Władysław I. It involved mostly German-speaking citizens of Kraków [who were obviously fed up with the ineptitude of the Polish king under whom their property kept being destroyed! -cy] However, the rebellion cost Poland the city of Danzig, which was taken over by the Teutonic Order in 1309.

*     *

Kraków was a member of the (Germanic) Hanseatic League and many [German] craftsmen settled there, established businesses and formed craftsmen's guilds. City Law, including guilds' depictions and descriptions, were recorded in the German language Balthasar Behem Codex. This codex is now featured at the Jagiellonian Library. By the end of the thirteenth century, Kraków had become a predominantly German city. [12]

In 1489, German sculptor Veit Stoss  of Nuremberg finished his work on the High Altar of the St. Mary's Church. He later also made a marble sarcophagus for Casimir IV. By 1500, Haller (a German) had established the first printing press in the city.

Around 1502 Kraków was already featured in the works of Albrecht Dürer as well as in those of Hartmann Schedel (Nuremberg Chronicle) and Georg Braun (Civitates orbis terrarum) (all Germans).

Around 1511 Hans von Kulmbach (German) painted the series of panels for the Church of Pauline Fathers and the Church of St. Mary. In 1520, Johan Behem (German) made the largest church bell, named the Sigismund Bell after King Sigismund I. At the same time Hans Dürer, younger brother of Albrecht Dürer, was Sigismund's court painter. [14]  

*    *

Ethnic breakdown of Cracow in the 14th Century - 5000 Poles, 3500 Germans, 800 Jews, 200 Hungarians/Italians, 500 others.

Most everything that is of any value and beauty in Krakow was created or built by Germans. Since then, all the Poles have done is to copy and to maintain what the Germans made and built.That's just the way it is - I didn't make it so - or make it up.

Dear Carolin, Just because the majority of inhibitants in Malmo-Swiden are Arabs, and Kebab and shishkebab shops  are on every corner, doesn't make it an Arab city.  Maybe the majority of tradesman and craftsman in Krakow were German speaking people who migrated there to make good living, but Krakow was always Polish city, the city of Polish kings. 

Sorry again, philip, but you're just not a good thinker. You were not there and don't know what kind of a city it was. The Arab Muslims living in Malmo, Sweden on welfare, etc. cannot be compared to the artists, fine craftsmen and efficient businessmen and builders who made up the German population in Krakow from around the 12th to the 16th century. The paintings and sculptures in the churches, the first cast church bell, the first printing press installed, all by Germans. If Poles had been capable of doing such things, they would have been the ones to do it. Krakow flourished because of its German population.

What do the Arabs contribute to Malmo? Please don't go on with such ridiculous attempts to prove me wrong.

Since all I'm getting now are crank comments from Poles making the same failed objections over and over, I am closing the comments to this post. There's been plenty of time for everyone to have their say.