Diederich from Werder

Diederich from Werder

Diederich von dem Werder (born January 17, 1584 at the Werdershausen manor , now part of the town of Southern Anhalt , Anhalt; †  December 18, 1657 at the Reinsdorf manor near Köthen, since 1950 part of Görzig , Anhalt) was a German translator , epic poet and hymn writer . He conveyed the first German stamped poetry , the newer Italian baroque literature, to the German-speaking world , primarily through the translation of the epic The Liberated Jerusalem by Torquato Tasso .

Life

Werder is the son of Gebhard von dem Werder and his wife Katharina von Hahn. His brothers, who were later also included in the Fruitful Society , are Heinrich von dem Werder and Kuno Hartwig von dem Werder .

As a child, Werder was accepted as a page at the court of Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel . There he also attended the Kassel court school Collegium Mauritianum. In the summer semester of 1596 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig ; two years later he continued his studies at the University of Jena . Then he begins a cavalier tour through France and Italy. There he studied for a semester at the University of Siena in 1609 .

After his return, Landgrave Moritz appointed him stableman and chamberlain. In 1610 he distinguished himself with bravery at the siege of Jülich and was promoted to Rittmeister. After the fighting ended, he went back to the court in Marburg. There he became court marshal and privy councilor, and he was also given responsibility for the Kassel court school. For Landgrave Moritz he is also on various diplomatic missions, so he comes to the courts of Denmark, Saxony, Brandenburg and others. He was also a representative on two imperial election days. As a Teutonic Knight , his coat of arms is prominently highlighted in the Lucklum Ordensballei in front of 42 other knights.

Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen accepted Werder into the Fruit-Bringing Society in 1620 . He gives it the company name of the multi-grained with the motto cooling strengthens . As an emblem, a ripe pomegranate, broken open, in which you can see the grains ( Punica granatum L. ). Werder's entry can be found under number 31 in the Koethen company register. The rhyme law is also noted there, with which Werder thanks for the admission:

Look at the grains of apples and grenades

Whether they are not part of the society of fruit

And multi-grain I am called with fug drumb

That I show the right core of the language:

When I see Teutsch BARTAM cooling down I strengthen myself

And he incites me to a difficult job

I have redeemed Jerusalem in rhymes

And our language was thereby made news praise.

But when Werder failed in negotiations with Tilly , he fell out of favor at the Hesse-Kassel court and therefore withdrew to his home estate in Reinsdorf in Anhalt in 1622. This is where Werder begins its rich literary work.

In 1623 Werder was appointed captain of an infantry company in the Anhalt state defense works .

He had already withdrawn to his estates when the court went to Halle after the battle of Breitenfeld , where Gustav II Adolf of Sweden was staying to negotiate with the Protestant princes. The king wanted to give Werder its own regiment, which Werder initially refused, but was then persuaded by the Swedish general Baner . He led a Swedish regiment from 1631 to 1635. He took his leave and went back to his Anhalt property and tried to keep the consequences of the ongoing Thirty Years' War away from the country. For this he was appointed sub-director of the principality.

In 1645 he was sent to the Brandenburg court by Landgravine Amalie Elisabeth von Hessen-Kassel to arrange the wedding of her son Wilhelm von Hessen-Kassel with Princess Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg . After the negotiations were brought to a successful conclusion, the elector appointed him privy councilor, colonel and governor of Altgatersleben on January 25 in Königsberg with a salary of 500 thalers. That was even increased again, but again reduced to 500 in 1652. He finally moved to his estate in Reinsdorf and was only active in literature until his death.

family

On July 21, 1618 he married Dorothea Katharina von Waldow († February 12, 1627) daughter of Hofmarschall Wolf von Waldau from the Schwanowitz family. With her he has the son Paris von dem Werder (1623–1674) and four daughters, who died at an early age. In his second marriage, he married Juliane Ursula von Peblis († 1655) on June 14, 1629, widow of Adolph Wittich von Krosigk and a sister of Georg Hans von Peblis , who is also a member of the Fruitful Society. The couple had a daughter who died early.

Works (selection)

• The Buss Psalms set in poetry. Leipzig 1632.
• Peace speech, in the presence of many princes, princesses and fräwlein, also a large number of high nobility, scholars and other distinguished men, fravs and virgins. Hamburger Presse, Hamburg 1918 (reprint of the Hamburg 1640 edition).
• War and victory of Christ, sung in 100 sonnets, since in each and every verse the two words "war" and "victory" are at least once found. Oelschlegel, Hall 1633.
• Dieterich's own godly tears from Werder, which he sent on to the former wholedlen much more and virtuous Frawen Dorotheen Catharinen, born of Waldaw out of the Schwanowitz family, his much-loved husband, ... in her praise of Hertzen. Dörffer, Zerbst 1625.
• (Translation) Ludovico Ariosto : Der Rasende Roland. Literarischer Verein, Stuttgart 2002 (reprint of the Leipzig 1634 edition, Werder translated chants 1–30).
• (Translation) Giovanni Francesco Loredano : Dianea or Räthselgedicht: in which, among many graceful compliments, important state matters, thoughtful history, and clever advice, artfully hidden by means of the majestic German language. Lang, Bern 1984 (reprint of the Nuremberg 1644 edition).
• (Translation) Torquato Tasso : Gottfried von Bulljon or the redeemed Jerusalem. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1974 (reprint of the Franckfurt 1626 edition).

Literature (selection)

• Achim Aurnhammer: Torquato Tasso in the German Baroque. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1994, ISBN 3-484-36513-7 , pp. 313-353.
• Ida-Marie Cattani: Studies on the Tasso image of the 17th and 18th centuries: Studies on the translations of the <Liberated Jerusalem> by D. von dem Werder, JF Kopp . Diss. Friborg 1941
• Bruna Ceresa: Diederichs von dem Werder German translation of Tasso's "Gerusalemme liberata". Zurich 1973 (dissertation)
• Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Diederich von dem Werder: Attempt to reevaluate his major works. Lang, Bern 1973, ISBN 3-261-01084-3
• Gerhard Dünnhaupt: The penetration of the marinist style into the German novel prose with Werder's "Dianea" translation. In: Studi Germanici. nuova series XI.3, 1973, pp. 257-272.
• Ingeborg Ulrich: Torquato Tasso's "Liberated Jerusalem" in the German translation by Diederich von dem Werder and Johann Diederich Gries. University of Bonn, Bonn 1950 (dissertation).
• Georg Witkowski : Diederich von dem Werder: A contribution to the German literary history of the 17th century. Veit, Leipzig 1887.
• Valentin König, u. a., Genealogische Adels-Historie , Volume 1, p. 1032, digitized family tree

List of works and references

• Sheets for literature, art and criticism , Volume 3, p. 139ff, digitized biography
• Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Diederich from Werder. In: Speer – Zincgref. The registers. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-7772-9305-9 (Personal Bibliographies on the Prints of the Baroque, Vol. 6), pp. 4251-4267.
• Diedrich von dem Werder . In: Anton Balthasar König (Ed.): Biographical lexicon of all heroes and military people . tape IV . Arnold Wever, Berlin 1791, p. 428 ( Diedrich von dem Werder in the Google book search).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Johannes Sinapius, Olsnographia or actual description of the Oelßnischen Fürstenthums in Nieder-Schlesien , Volume 1, S. 923f, digitalized family tree

Web links

• Literature by and about Diederich von dem Werder in the catalog of the German National Library
• Publications from and about Diederich von dem Werder in VD 17 .
• Digitized prints by Diederich von dem Werder in the catalog of the Herzog August Library