Garlieb Helwig Merkel

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Garlieb Merkel

Garlieb Merkel (born October 21, jul. / 1. November  1769 greg. In Loddiger, ( Lēdurga ), Governorate of Livonia , now in limbaži district , Latvia , † April 27 jul. / 9. May  1850 greg. Depkinshof in Riga , today: Rāmavas muiža , Ķekavas novads ) was a German-Baltic publicist and writer .

Life

Since his father died early because of his enlightenment attitude as a country pastor, Garlieb Merkel had to acquire his knowledge autodidactically. He initially worked as a tutor on estates belonging to the Baltic nobility.

Confronted with the misery of the rural population early on, he wrote the book Die Letten, especially in Liefland, at the end of the philosophical century , which was published in Leipzig in 1796 . This book is one of the foundations of Estonian and Latvian historiography.

Merkel studied at the University of Leipzig and Jena from 1796 and turned to Weimar in 1797. He then went to Frankfurt (Oder) , where he received his doctorate.

He lived in Berlin from 1799 to 1806; there published the Franklin together with August von Kotzebue , but fell out with him, so that he soon became the main author. With the Napoleonic occupation he had to leave Berlin. He went to Riga, from where he continued his anti-Napoleonic writings. He was a staunch opponent of serfdom. His works later influenced the Latvian national movement. From 1808 he owned the Depkinshof near Riga. Later a street in Riga was named after him, today's Merkela iela.

Against the restoration , which stifled all democratic approaches after the wars of liberation , he wrote About Germany as I found it again after a ten-year removal , which he was only able to publish as a book in Riga in 1818, since it was banned in Germany .

In 1838 he gave up all journalistic activities due to difficulties with the censorship.

Works

  • The Latvians. Published in Leipzig in 1796; newly edited and commented by Thomas Taterka, Harro von Hirschheydt Verlag, Wedemark 1998, ISBN 3-7777-0007-X .
  • Hume's and Rousseau's treatises on the original treaty and an attempt on serfdom. Gräff, Leipzig 1797.
  • Collection of peoples paintings along with an experiment on the history of mankind. Bohn, Lübeck 1800.
  • Letters about Hamburg and Lübeck. Hartknoch, Leipzig 1801.
  • Is the steady advancement of humanity a delusion? 2nd edition Deubner and Treuy, Riga 1811.
  • Sketches from my memory book. / Representations and characteristics . First published in Riga in 1812; newly edited and commented by Uwe Hentschel, Bernstein-Verlag, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-939431-06-0 .
  • Correspondence I . edition lumière, Bremen 2019. ISBN 978-3-948077-05-1 .

literature

  • Roger Bartlett: Nation, revolution and religion in the conception of society by Garlieb Merkel. 2005.
  • Heinrich Bosse: Living from writing. Garlieb Merkel as a journalist. In: Otto-Heinrich Elias (Ed.): Between Enlightenment and Biedermeier. Eleven contributions to the 14th Baltic Seminar 2002. Carl-Schirren-Gesellschaft, Lüneburg 2007 (=  Baltic Seminars 12), ISBN 978-3-923149-46-9 , pp. 211–255.
  • Jörg Drews (Ed.): "I will certainly show great energy". Garlieb Merkel (1769–1850) as a fighter, critic and project maker in Berlin and Riga . Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2000, ISBN 3-89528-281-2 .
  • Carola L. Gottzmann , Petra Hörner: Lexicon of the German-language literature of the Baltic States and St. Petersburg . De Gruyter, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019338-1 , p. 909-916 .
  • Deniss Hanovs: The National Movement in Latvia in the 19th Century. The Nation as a Quasi-Religion. 2003.
  • Jürgen Heeg: The last bastion of political journalism in the fight against Napoleon. The magazines of the journalist Garlieb Merkel from Livonia. 1996.
  • Jürgen Heeg: Garlieb Merkel as a critic of the Livonian Estates Society. On the political journalism of the Napoleonic period in the Baltic provinces of Russia. 1996.
  • Ina Ulrike Paul:  Merkel, Garlieb. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , pp. 149-151 ( digitized version ).
  • Michael Schwidtal: "Confident in his strength, the King of the Skies swings up to battle and victory." The Schiller picture in Garlieb Merkel's literary journalism . In: Liina Lukas (ed.): Literature in Baltic references. Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz and Kristian Jaak Petersen. University, Riga / DAAD, Bonn 2007 (=  Triangulum 12.2006 = special issue), pp. 189–212.
  • Jānis Stradiņš: Garlība Merķeļa "Latvieši" un mēs. 1996.
  • Karl August Varnhagen von Ense : Testimonia auctorum de Merkelio, that is: Paradise garden for Garlieb [Helwig] Merkel. Kölln: Hammer 1806
Digitized version , Tartu University Library
  • Vita Valdmane: "The Latvians" by Garlieb Merkel. A comparison of the first Latvian and the first Russian translation with the first two German editions . In: Gisela Brandt (ed.): Contributions to the history of the German language in the Baltic States , vol. 3. Academic publisher Hans-Dieter Heinz, Stuttgart 2003, pp. 95-102.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merkel, Garlieb Helwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Baltic publicist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH Loddiger, Livonia
DATE OF DEATH May 9, 1850
Place of death Depkinshof near Riga