Eduard von Schenk

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Eduard von Schenk

Eduard Schenk , from 1827 Knight von Schenk (born October 10, 1788 in Düsseldorf , † April 26, 1841 in Munich ) was a Bavarian statesman and poet.

Life

Eduard Schenk was born on October 10, 1788 in Düsseldorf as the son of the diplomat and tax officer Johann Heinrich Schenk . Schenk grew up in a middle-class household under his father, who was making a career at the Bavarian court, who was part of the intellectual elite of the time and had connections to Goethe , Wieland and Lessing . Eduard spent his youth and school days in Munich . The early contact with the Catholic theologian Johann Michael Sailer at home was of great importance for his religious formation. He graduated from high school in 1805 at the (today's) Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich . In 1806 the 18-year-old enrolled at the University of Landshut to study law . During his studies, he stayed in the Sailers district and the legal scholar Savigny . This later determined his view of the state and the law. Here he also met like-minded people such as Karl Graf von Seinsheim and the barons Max Prokop von Freyberg-Eisenberg and Karl von Gumppenberg . He received his doctorate in law. In 1812 Schenk filed for state bankruptcy (today: state examination) and shortly afterwards became an accessist at the court of appeal (court of appeal) in the Isar district . Schenk found his first job in September 1813 as an assessor at the City Court in Munich. 1817 converted from the Protestant to the Catholic Church. The marriage in 1814 to Therese Neumayr, who was raised as a Catholic and a daughter of Clement von Neumayr , could also have been significant. His father-in-law, who worked in the Ministry of Finance, was likely to have helped Schenk's career.

The rise in the civil service career followed, so that Schenk was taken over as a secret secretary in the Ministry of Justice in January 1818 . Three years later he rose to the rank of privy councilor . In 1822 or, according to Julius Elias, in 1823, Schenk went on a trip to Italy. He turned down an offered promotion combined with a move to the “ Palatinate ”, but was promoted to Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. Platen, Zedlitz, Tieck , Rückert and Heinrich Heine frequented his house . He also had correspondence with Franz Grillparzer , Wilhelm Hauff and others.

After Ludwig I took office as a king , he was appointed director of the section “for church affairs and teaching” (Supreme Church and School Council) of the Ministry of the Interior on January 1, 1826 . In September 1828 Schenk was promoted to the State Council in the ordinary service and succeeded as Minister of the Interior of his previous superior Joseph von Armansperg . The appointment was at the same time connected with an increase in rank. Eduard von Schenk was considered more docile by the monarch Ludwig I than the previous incumbent, who advocated the separation of religion and state . Around 1826, Schenk made a devoted friend in Michael Beer , who influenced Schenk's work as a poet. With the French July Revolution of 1830 , Ludwig I's policy became reactionary, which Schenk knew how to implement. With the tightened press regulations on the occasion of the unrest at Munich University , Schenk aroused resistance from the Second Chamber of the Bavarian State Assembly . The liberal opposition in the Second Chamber urged Ludwig I to dismiss his minister in May 1831. This circumstance had no consequences for the king's confidence in Schenk. The minister was removed from office and appointed General District Commissioner in Regensburg , as well as State Councilor in extraordinary service. In January 1837 Schenk got the position as a lifelong Reichsrat . Schenk now worked in the First Chamber of the Bavarian Estates Assembly as the loyally devoted Secretary Ludwig I.

Around 1838 Ludwig I gave Schenk to his successor and Crown Prince Maximilian II . In 1838 he was reappointed to the ordinary service of the State Council in Munich. The award of the Grand Cross of the Order of Michael in 1839 actually indicated a return to a high position. However, it was not fulfilled because Eduard von Schenk died unexpectedly on April 26, 1841 in Munich at the age of 52. The death of Schenk hit Ludwig I deeply.

Schenk's estate is kept in the Regensburg State Library .

Act

Eduard von Schenk's literary work was noticed early on. His political side was given little consideration, although it was recognized early on that he had influence on the Bavarian King Ludwig I. This influence is due to the fact that his views of the nature of the state, society, religion and royalty coincided with that of Ludwig I. Schenk already worked on lyrical and dramatic texts in his youth. In 1822 he published his first poems. In the same year, the text Thoughts and Sensations at the foot of the altar at the Feyer Festival of Easter and Corpus Christi was added, which was a "somewhat tasteless [] and unpoetic [] Catholic [] propaganda script" according to Dirk Götschmann 's assessment .

Before Crown Prince Ludwig I ascended the throne, Sailer recommended Schenk in a memorandum from 1823. In 1824, the later regent entrusted the civil servant with planning the establishment of a supreme cultural authority. Schenk was responsible for the relocation of the University of Landshut to Munich and the restructuring of the Academy of Sciences. Schenk had success writing in the spring of 1826 with the drama Belisarius, which was premiered at the Munich court theater . The stage success delighted the monarch as well as the public. Ludwig I considered Schenk to be a "gifted poet". He gave the writer Schenk his own works for review and undertook suggested corrections.

As Minister of the Interior in the service of Ludwig I, Eduard von Schenk joined the restorative education and church policy. According to the historian Dirk Götschmann, it was implemented. The reform projects of jurisdiction, administration, economy, trade and social order, however, had no effect. The church, however, revived as Schenk zealously initiated the fulfillment of the State Church Treaty . The interior minister implements projects such as the senior medical committee and regulations for library use. Schenk also took part in the stud farm. He passed an implementation law for an army addition. Projects such as draining the Freising Moors or building canals between the Danube and Munich remained to be considered. Schenk made himself unpopular in implementing the king's specifications in the Second Chamber of the Bavarian State Assembly . The refusal to grant leave of absence to liberal officials who were elected to this and the tightening of the press regulations on January 28, 1831 led to the rejection of Schenk by the members of the Chamber. Schenk had to take responsibility for this and was forced to resign.

In 1838, Eduard von Schenk gained the confidence of Crown Prince Maximilian II, which Ludwig I tried to exploit at the same time. However, the promotion of the successor did not work out as Ludwig I wished and the Crown Prince soon withdrew.

Characteristics and meaning

His poetic talent flattered Ludwig I beyond his ability in matters of church and school affairs, so that Schenk aspired. The monarch's recognition of artistic work, to which Schenk was inferior in his own work, shaped both relationships. Schenk never misused the associated special position, but rather rewarded the king with "the greatest loyalty and extremely devoted [m] service". Eduard von Schenk, in his own opinion, glorified royalty itself, which was reflected in "an honest admiration for his master". Following the opinion of the historian Dirk Götschmann, Schenk is a talented and capable man and, because of the admiration of his king, is representative of the "embodiment of the zeitgeist". In the obituary of the Allgemeine Zeitung Schenk wrote: “I cannot express to you how much the loss of this man is deplored in all circles of society; even his outward appearance was so friendly and amiable that it is difficult to believe he ever had one Had an enemy ". The literary and art historian Julius Elias considered Schenk, who was stylized by contemporaries as the heir to Schiller and Kleist , was far overrated. According to Elias, Schenk's works reveal “a terrible poverty of invention and basic incompetence”. Bernhard Lübbers , director of the Regensburg State Library, Schenk is considered a poet whose “poetic work deserves an unbiased investigation from the German side”. Schenk was a talented "networker".

Awards

Works

  • Belisarius. Tragedy, first performance: February 23, 1826.
  • Henriette of England. Drama, first performance: December 1, 1826.
  • The Crown of Cyprus. Drama, first performance: March 29, 1832.
  • Adolph of Nassau. "Historical drama", unprinted.
  • Albrecht Dürer in Venice. Comedy, world premiere on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of death.
  • The Greeks in Nuremberg. Comedy.
  • Old and new art. Ludwig's dream. Ancestors and grandchildren. Kadmos and Harmonia .
  • Michael Beer sponsors the comedy Albrecht Dürer in Venice . Schenk's plays appeared in three volumes (Stuttgart 1829–35). 1834–38 Schenk published the Charitas paperback and Michael Beer's "Complete Writings" (Leipzig 1835, with the poet's biography).
  • The number of his writings includes around 300 in the estate.

family

He was the son of Johann Heinrich Schenk (1748-1813) and his wife Helene Sybilla Magdalena von Saur (1755-1814). He himself married Therese Neumayr in 1814, the daughter of Clement von Neumayr . The couple had two sons and as many daughters:

  • Heinrich von Schenk (* around 1815, † 1868), (was in violent opposition to his father due to his Protestant faith; from 1843 civil servant, but prematurely retired in 1849 because of improper behavior towards superiors; 1863 again at the instigation of his uncle Max Neumayr Ministry of the Interior)
  • Friedrich von Schenk (* 1818, † around 1877)
  • Therese von Stachelhausen ∞ Julius von Stachelhausen (estate and factory owner)
  • Maria von Schenk, nun

Worth mentioning

His bust was displayed in the Hall of Fame in Munich.

literature

  • Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy . In: Series of publications by the historical commission at the Bavarian Academy of Science, Volume 48 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-36040-1 , p. 202-211 ( digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  • Bernhard Lübbers: Just look at the poet here. Eduard von Schenk - A forgotten writer (=  negotiations of the historical association for Upper Palatinate and Regensburg . Volume 151 ). 2011, OCLC 854736494 , p. 139-172 .
  • Ursula Regener, Bernhard Lübbers (ed.): FederFührend. Eduard von Schenk and the Romanticism in Bavaria (=  catalogs and writings of the State Library . Volume 9 ). Morsbach Verlag, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-937527-66-6 , pp. 169 .
  • Tobias Appl, Bernhard Lübbers (ed.): Johann Michael von Sailer's letters to Eduard von Schenk. With an appendix to Melchior Diepenbrock's letters to Schenk (=  contributions to the history of the Diocese of Regensburg . Supplement 23). Verlag des Verein für Regensburg Bishopric History, Regensburg 2014, p. LXXVI, 272 .
  • Julius Elias :  Schenk, Eduard von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 37-44.

Web links

Commons : Eduard von Schenk  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 202. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 205. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 207. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  4. ^ Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich. 4 volumes. Munich 1970–1976 .; Volume 3, p. 226.
  5. ↑ a b c Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 208. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 209. (online at Digitale-sammlungen.de )
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Julius Elias:  Schenk, Eduard von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 37-44.
  8. ↑ a b c d Bernhard Lübbers: A poetic statesman: Regensburg State Library receives the estate of Eduard von Schenk (1788–1841). (PDF; 481 kB) Accessed March 28, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 201. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  10. ↑ a b c d e f Dirk Götschmann: The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior 1825–1864. Organization and function, civil service and political influence of a central authority in the constitutional monarchy. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, p. 206. Digitale-sammlungen.de
  11. ↑ Staatliche-bibliothek-regensburg.de
  12. ^ House of Bavarian History (Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Art): Stürmer, Johann Baptist Ritter von. Retrieved March 27, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Barbara Sperling:  Schenk, Johann Carl Friedrich von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 672 ( digitized version ).
personal data
SURNAME Schenk, Eduard von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schenk, Eduard von (full name); Schenk, Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bavarian statesman and poet
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1841
Place of death Munich