Was Daniel Fahrenheit a Pole?

A scientist best known for inventing thermometers. He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk) when it was a part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But most of his life he spent in Germany.

So was he a Pole or a German?

Was Daniel Fahrenheit a Pole?
Only to a certain degree

LOL. Good one.

JaneDoe, Danzig's population was always to over 98% German, the language was always German too and so him just as well as Johann Hewelke (Hevelius), Arthur Schopenhauer and many others were all Germans.

Fahrenheit looks like a Germanic surname.

Guess who is right. He was from Gdansk, but his family were culturally German. Whether they had any Polish blood is anybody's guess, but if he had, we'd probably know.

Have you ever heard about Pomeranians?


I don't know if i have polish blood. I never heard about genes defining Poles(I suspect that Hitler could have said something like that). I thought that being a Pole is something related to mother language, traditions, self-identification, living space and citizenship.


So he was probably German.

Have you heard about Pommern? What are you trying to say? Are you disagreeing that the language spoken in Danzig was German?

Yes.

And his were all decidedly German, except citizenship which didn't exist in his day . Don't start pointless arguments.

Maybe his heart wasn't Polish, but his brain was definitely Polish!
;)

OK, since 1945 it obviously isn't.


I agree to that :-)

?



And before for centuries. Or maybe you say Donald Tusk family is 98% German and only German speaking?

Even before that, from the 1500s onwards beside the German-speaking majority the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Polish Jews, and Dutch. After winning the Polish-Teutonic War in 1525 Poland made The Duchy of Prussia it's fiefdom and large numbers of other people came.

And Scots too.

you see, this is exactly what I'm talking about, even in times where Danzig was in Polish hands, the majority of its people were Germans and the language was obviously German too.

Look, it's the same with Poland during the partitions, Poles spoke always Polish and deep down inside of every Polish heart, those territories even though officially not present, were always Polish too.

Surly he was a Pole, if you don't believe me ask Harry !

It should be noted that although Arthur Schopenhauer was born in Danzig his family moved to Hamburg when he was a boy and they moved because Arthur's ultra-rich merchant father didn't want to live in Prussian ruled Danzig without all the freedom from regulation and taxation that the Polish had allowed. The Schopenhauers were quite cosmopolitan having chosen the name Arthur for their son because of its internationality. I know rabid nationalism is a pastime for some in this forum, but claiming a thinkers like Schopenhauer, or even Fahrenheit, for a nation such as "Germany" is really pointless. Arthur himself compared the Napoleonic wars that ravaged "his" nation to a barroom brawl between louts that was beneath his concern. Great thinkers are a nation unto themselves.

OK, following your logic, whoever achieved something really big, is not to be claimed by anyone, right?

People can "claim" whoever they want but it's still silly and especially silly when those so claimed despise the sorts of people who go about claiming.

how do you know how he felt about himself? Since there's no other proof but the fact that he was born as a German, he's to be seen as such, don't you think?

Following your logic, no one is to be claimed by anyone at all but this is not how it works. Black is still black and if you're born Polish you're Polish etc...(unless it's known that you claim to be someone else)

Not exactly, when he was fifteen his parents died suddenly so he was sent to Amsterdam that would make him Dutch where he lived most of his life..

He was definitely ethnic German, but in Poland before the 19th century basically everyone who spoke Polish lived in Poland saw themselves as one thing, Polish, just like Copernicus.

I provided an example of how he felt himself in my original post. I am not going to argue with someone who didn't read and comprehend my post and who obviously hasn't read Schopenhauer. Go to the library and if Schopenhauer's writings are too much for you and you wish to know about Schopenhauer's life I highly recommend Rudigar Safranski's biography of him.

He was Polish - ask Harry !

He belongs to the world.

was a globalist, a citizen of the world, that is until he was asked for a pass!

Jesus Christ, I said basically everyone did see themselves as Poles, if he was of German blood it should be noted, no matter what nationality he saw himself as.

Penn boy my post was directed at Guesswho who claimed we have no way of knowing how Schopenhauer felt about nationalism, but we have his writings.

Then I apologize. Friedrich Nietzsche too felt Polish "Hans von Müller debunked the genealogy put forward by Nietzsche's sister in favor of a Polish noble heritage. It is not known why Nietzsche wanted to be thought of as Polish nobility."