Feodor von Wehl

Engraving by August Weger

Feodor Wehl , from 1884 Feodor von Wehl zu Wehlen (born February 19, 1821 at Gut Kunzendorf near Bernstadt ; † January 22, 1890 in Hamburg ) was a German writer , journalist and theater manager.

Life

Feodor Wehl came to Berlin at an early age to see his uncle, the stable master of Prince Carl of Prussia . He attended the military secondary school and was then transferred to the garrison in Neuruppin . There he suffered a serious riding accident in 1836. After a long sick bed and rehabilitation, Wehl resigned from military service and returned to his family.

Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach , his doctor and family friend, advised him to continue his education and study medicine. Wehl chose philosophy and history and went on long study trips to Paris , London and Rome . On these trips Wehl discovered the theater for himself and began to write smaller plays himself. When he returned to Berlin, he introduced himself as a playwright in the royal court theater and also made the acquaintance of several members of the ensemble; u. a. Auguste Crelinger , Charlotte von Hagn , Moritz Rott , Karl Seydelmann , Karl Wauer and Amalie Wolff-Malcolmi .

Through his friendship with the artistic director Karl Theodor von Küstner , he also came together with authors such as Adolf Glaßbrenner , Philipp Kaufmann and Karl von Holtei . With their help, Wehl was soon able to publish successfully in magazines such as “Berliner Stecknadeln” or “Berliner Wespen”. With the satirical poem "The Devil in Berlin" he caught the attention of the censors and was officially warned in 1845. As he approached a fist - travesty tried he was accused of insulting and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. This sentence was reduced to six months by his pardon, but it resulted in his subsequent banishment from the capital.

In 1846, Wehl settled in Magdeburg and in the 1846/47 season he was the dramaturge of the local theater. Politically interested and close to Junge Deutschland , this was of course also noticeable in the staged works. The audience loved him for it. The following year Wehl went to Hamburg and worked with Georg Gottlieb Schirges at the Telegraph for Germany .

From 1851 Wehl edited the magazine Die Jahreszeiten and learned a. a. also know Heinrich Laube . He soon hired him to edit his magazine for the elegant world . Due to the different assessments of French plays in particular, the two friends broke up.

From 1859 Wehl acted as one of the responsible editors of the liberal daily Reform . Despite these “difficulties”, he received his doctorate in absentia from the University of Hamburg in the same year .

In 1860 Wehl founded the German Schaubühne , a monthly magazine with the concern of theater plays and their arrangements, but also as a "critical review of the performance of the individual stages to report". In the same year Wehl married Mathilde Treusein in Hamburg and had a son with her. In the following year, Wehl and his family settled in Leipzig , where they mostly wrote for the features section of the Constitutionellen Zeitung . From 1866 onwards, however, he increasingly addressed the Prussian politics of the day - as a friend of the small German solution .

At the beginning of the Prussian-German war , Wehl went back to Northern Germany with his family and settled in Uhlenhorst as a freelance writer. Until 1848 Wehl had advised the artistic director of the Stuttgart court theater, Ferdinand von Gall, on various issues . Hofkammerdirektor von Gunzert wanted to build on this collaboration again. Wehl was hired as "artistic director" with effect from July 23, 1874 and settled in Ludwigsburg , as his son served in the garrison there. Gunzert's successor, Hofdomänenrath Tscherning, gave Wehl notice in October 1884.

In 1886 he returned to Hamburg and wrote again as a columnist for the magazine Reform . Feodor von Wehl died four weeks before his 69th birthday on January 22, 1890 in Hamburg, where he found his final resting place.

Works (selection)

• Berlin wasps. Issue 1–5. Simion (Issue 3–5: Reclam), Berlin (Issue 3–5: Leipzig) 1843
• Berlin pins. Issue 1–2. Schepeler, Berlin 1844
• The devil in Berlin. Dramatic scenes . Verlags-Comptoir, Hamburg 1845 ( digitized version )
• The little illustrated tourist guide gradually to Heligoland , Berendsohn, Hamburg 1848
• The gallant ladies of world history . Vol. 1-3. Berendsohn, Hamburg 1848–1851
• Hamburg's literary life in the eighteenth century. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1856 ( digitized version )
• Novellas. New heart stories. Expedition, Hamburg 1860
• Everyday stories. A book of novels. Trewendt, Breslau 1861
• All of Helgoland for 10 silver groschen. Illustrated tourist guide from Hamburg to Heligoland and companion on the island in all its parts. Berendsohn, Hamburg 1861 ( digitized version )
• Flying summer. Easy sketches. Meinhold, Dresden 1862 ( digitized version )
• Scary stories. Meinhold, Dresden 1862 ( digitized version )
• Dramas. Vol. 1-5. (1–4: comedies; 5: plays.) Matthes, Leipzig [1864–1869]
• The man of the dead or Eternal Love. A story for sensual minds. Wienecke, Dresden 1866
• Didascalia. [Dramaturgical essays.] Matthes, Leipzig 1867
• In leisure hours. Serious and cheerful essays to read aloud. Matthes, Leipzig 1867
• Fun stories. Matthes, Leipzig 1867
• From heart to heart. Poems. Matthes, Leipzig 1867
• "At the whizzing loom of time." [Articles.] Vol. 1–2. Matthes, Leipzig 1869
• Heart Mysteries. Matthes, Leipzig 1870
• Collected dramatic works. Vol. 1-6. (Vol. 1–5: 2nd edition) Reclam, Leipzig [1879–1886]

1. A groom marrying his bride. - Age does not protect against folly. - The aunt from Swabia. - A woman who reads the newspapers. - A modern fate . - Romeo in the office .
2. The cosmos of the Lord v. Humboldt . - The Haase house. - Count Thyrsis. - He who laughs last laughs best.
3. The three long hare. (Based on a comedy by Fritz Reuter ). - A glowing coal. - One shouldn't paint the devil on the wall. - A prelude to love. (Solo pleasure game). - How good it is sometimes not to meet someone. (Solo pleasure game) . - How to come to an explanation.
4. She knows how to help. - Everything for others - Democritus and Heraclitus or the laughing and the weeping philosopher. - Open the window and close the window. - Politics everywhere.
5. A boyish prank. - Holderlin's love . - Constantine , or the victory of Christianity.
6. Siebeneichen, the man of loyalty. - honor and love. - A pioneer of love. - The treasure. - How can one be wrong.

• Fifteen years as director of the court theater in Stuttgart. A section from my life. Richter, Hamburg 1886
• Young Germany . A small contribution to the literary history of our time. With an attachment of letters from Th. Mundt , H. Laube and K. Gutzkow [to Wehl] that have not been published since then . Richter, Hamburg 1886
• Theodor Storm . A picture of his life and work. Reher, Altona 1888
• From former France. Minor treatises. Bruns, Minden 1889
• Time and people. Diary entries from 1863–1884. Vol. 1-2. Reher, Altona 1889
• Alfred Meissner . Memories. With numerous previously unprinted letters from Alfred Meißner. Ottmann, Leipzig 1892
• Dramaturgical building blocks. Collected essays from the estate, ed. by Eugen Kilian. Schulze, Oldenburg u. Leipzig [1892]

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Adami : In front of and behind the curtains. Almanac of tried and tested stage plays, humorous hen party masks, theater mysteries, actor novels and anecdotes . Förster publishing house, Berlin 1844.
• Franz Brümmer : Lexicon of German poets and prose writers of the 19th century, Vol. 4 . Reclam, Leipzig 1900, p. 297ff.
• Ludwig Julius Fränkel:  Wehl, Feodor (von) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 44, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 448-455.
• Adolf Hinrichsen: The literary Germany . 2nd edition. Verlag des literary Deutschlands, Berlin 1891, pp. 1368f.
• Adolf Stern : Lexicon of German national literature . Bibliographical Institute, Berlin 1899.
• Guido Heinrich: Wehl, Feodor von. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 ( article online ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Founded in 1837 or 1838 by Karl Gutzkow .
2. ↑ Only one volume appeared.

Web links

Wikisource: Feodor Wehl  - Sources and full texts