Franz von Heufeld

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Franz Heufeld , Edler von Heufeld from 1777 , ( 1731 in Mainau am Bodensee - 1795 in Vienna ) was an Austrian comedy poet , literary critic and theater director. In 1777 Heufeld and his brother Karl were raised to the hereditary nobility.

life and work

His birthplace Mainau scored in the 18th century to Further Austria . Heufeld studied from 1748 at the University of Vienna and graduated in law and philosophy . He then embarked on a civil service career and made literary contributions to the first Viennese moral weekly papers Die Welt (1764–1766) and The Austrian Patriot and Charlotte's Sensitive Letters to the Man Without Prejudice , but was also involved in various ways in Viennese theater life.

Although he was one of the explicit opponents of the extemporated burlesque and the Bernardoniad in the Viennese theater debate of the 1760s , after the death of Philipp Hafner , who died in 1764 at the age of only 28, he presented a few satirical antics, which are referred to as comedies but were close to the burlesque he once criticized and co-founded the tradition of Viennese comedy that was shaped by Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy . His friendship with the influential Josephinist writer , Joseph von Sonnenfels , consequently ended with his harsh criticism of Heufeld's comedy The Birthday .

Heufeld also dramatized Henry Fielding's Tom Jones and Jean Jacques Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloïse , with which he helped the genre of the touching comedy to break through. He recommended Mozart to apply for a job at the Viennese court with a comical German opera, a piece of advice that Mozart initially refused (and tried the tragic Zaide ), but finally accepted (and successfully implemented with the Abduction from the Seraglio ) . Heufeld also made an outstanding contribution to the Shakespeare reception, he translated, adapted and published in 1771 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. A tragedy in five acts based on Schakespear . The premiere of his version on January 16, 1773 at the Kärntnertortheater was the first Hamlet performance in the entire German-speaking area. Almost all of Heufeld's pieces were reprinted several times and remained on the stage for decades. In the years 1769 and 1774–76 he directed the theater next to the Kärntnertor, which was shaken by financial crises . He also edited two volumes of the Vienna Theater Almanac together with Christian Gottlob Klemm .

Mozart on hay field

“You shouldn't have sent me the letter from Heufeld, it made me more annoyed than happy. The fool thinks I'll write a comic opera; and so straight to uncertainty, to luck and dirt. I also believe that he would have done no disgrace to his Edlerey if he had written to his son and not her son. Well, he's just a Viennese limmel; or he believes people will always stay 12 years old. "

- Mozart : Letter to Monsieur mon trés cher Pére !, Mannheim, February 4th. 1778

Comedy games (selection)

  • Housekeeping according to fashion. Or: what kind of woman should one take? , 1765.
  • Fashion lovers. Or: what kind of man should one take? , 1766.
  • The farmer from the mountains in Vienna , 1767.
  • The birthday , 1769.
  • Julie or Contest of Duty and Love (after Jean Jacques Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloïse ), 1770.
  • The daughter of Philip's brother , 1771.
  • Doctor Guldenschnitt , 1781.

Publications available

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oswald Panagl , Robert Kriechbaumer : Stachel against the Zeitgeist , Böhlau Verlag , 2004, ISBN 978-3-205-77199-9 , p. 50.
personal data
SURNAME Heufeld, Franz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heufeld, Franz Edler von (full name); Heufeld, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian comedy poet, literary critic and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH 1731
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainau on Lake Constance
DATE OF DEATH 1795
Place of death Vienna