Gerhard Anton Gramberg

Gerhard Anton Gramberg (born 5 November 1744 in Tettens; died 10 March 1818 in Oldenburg,Lower Saxony) was the city and district physician in Oldenburg, Germany during the late enlightenment. Gramberg was highly educated and part of the bourgeois class and considered an enlightenment thinker. His work as a physician focused primarily on the emerging field of social medicine and forensic medicine but who was also interested cultural politics, literature and music. Gramberg was particularly interested in literature and corresponded with prominent literary figures across Europe that included and was able to develop a significant literary output of his own. He wrote poetry, anthologies, treatises, essays and had a particular love of poetry written in Old High German. In 1792, Gramberg was awarded the Cothenius Medal in recognition of his work in the medical field.

Life Gramberg was born in Oldenburg, then under Danish rule and was the son of the clergyman Anton Gramberg (1695–1770) and Juliane Wilhelmine, née Petersen (1707–1769). He attended the gymnasium in Jever where he became lifelong friends with the education reformer . On 6 October 1794, Gramberg was promoted to chief medical officer of the duchy. His work included the training of new medical professional, inspection of pharmacies, the management of a medical practice and conducting preparations in the event of an epidemics, which were frequent.

Literary life Gramberg was part of a group of like-minded friends who believed in the German enlightenment, amongst them the essayist and diplomat and botanist and doctor Georg Christian Oeder. that would have been largely unknown if it wasn't for Gramberg.

Musical life Gramberg played the violin and through his music played a central role in the musical life of Oldenburg, which experienced a significant renaissance in the second half of the 18th century. He would often invite people to his house to play a piece and this led to his establishing a concert series for amateur musicians, first held in the winter of 1868. It became an event, held every Wednesday during the winter months. He also formed a musical ensemble of some 20 people, consisting of musicians from the town and an amateur choir. The emsemble began playing concerts for the Duke, the first held on 24 March 1769, that became a regular event in Oldenburg known as the "Good Friday Concert". In 1782, Gramberg wrote a cantata that was set to music by Carl M. Meineke.

Library Gramberg possessed an unusually large specialist library for the time, comprising 5,295 volumes, 2,114 of which were in the medical field. These volumes are now housed in the .