George Ezekiel

Johann George Ludwig Ezekiel (born August 12, 1819 in Halle (Saale) , † February 26, 1874 in Berlin ) was a German journalist and writer . At the beginning he also used the pseudonym Crescenzio Schwertinger .

Life

George Ezekiel was born as the son of Superintendent General Friedrich Ezekiel and his wife Emma. Born black. He spent most of his childhood and youth in his grandfather's house. This belonged to the close circle of friends of Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim , and so Ezekiel came into contact with literature at an early age.

Ezekiel completed his school days at the Roßleben monastery school . In 1839 he enrolled at the University of Jena for history and philosophy and later moved to Halle . There he was u. a. Student of the historian Heinrich Leo and the writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué . In 1841 Ezekiel went to Berlin , where he shifted his studies to literature and journalism .

After completing his studies in 1842, he undertook a long journey through France , the impressions of which flowed into his later historical novels . In 1843 he returned to Germany, where he worked as a journalist. In 1845 he got a job with Heinrich August Pierer in Altenburg and worked in the editorial department of Pierer's Universal Lexicon . He also acted as co-editor of the literary magazine Rosen .

In Altenburg, Ezekiel married Elisabeth Förster, a daughter of the Gotha-born writer Leberecht Förster (1788–1846) who lived in Altenburg . With her he had two daughters, including the future writer Ludovica Ezekiel .

In April 1848, Ezekiel founded the conservative popular paper Der Patrioten Hausfreund in Zeitz , and from November of the same year he settled in Berlin. There he was accepted into the editorial staff of the Neue Preußische Zeitung and was responsible for the "French article". Since he wrote from Berlin, he invented, as Theodor Fontane reports, a legitimist marquis who would have access to the highest social circles in order to ascribe his reports to him to increase the credibility of his correspondence . In 1855 he became one of the co-founders of the socio-political weekly Berliner Revue . In Berlin he also joined the literary association Tunnel over the Spree .

George Ezekiel died in Berlin in 1874 at the age of 54 and was buried in the Old St. Matthew Cemetery in Schöneberg . The grave has not been preserved.

Artistic creation

Ezekiel's literary work - more than 100 volumes of novels , short stories , poems - is only of interest today because of his depiction of the flow of time. The early work is influenced by his teacher and mentor Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. However, he soon came into contact with young Germany . Inspired by Georg Herwegh , his Prussian songs were written . In his later work, Ezekiel turned to the historical novel and found his models in Theodor Fontane , Eugène Sue and Walter Scott . Ezekiel's book about Count Bismarck is the first biography of the later Chancellor.

Works (selection)

Early novels and short stories

The executioner and his child or Altenburg two hundred years ago , Leipzig 1844
Night hikes through Altenburg by Spiritus Asper the Youngest , Altenburg 1844
[Anon .:] The bastard brothers, or secrets of Altenburg. From the estate of a detective . 2 vols. Altenburg, 1845.

Märkische novels

Dear Dorel, the pearl of Brandenburg , Berlin 1851
Before Jena , 3 volumes, Berlin 1859
From Jena to Königsberg , 3 volumes, Berlin 1861
Until Hohenzieritz , Berlin 1861
Silence before the storm , 3 volumes, Berlin 1862
Unter dem Eisenzahn , 3 volumes, Berlin 1864 ( Brandenburg in the 14th century)
Lux et umbra , 3 volumes, Berlin 1861
Four Junkers , 3 volumes, Berlin 1865

French history novels

Count d'Anethan d'Entragues , Berlin 1856
From Turgot to Babeuf: a social novel , 3 volumes, Berlin 1856
Court stories , Berlin 1859
Lily banner and tricolor , Berlin 1859
The Lady of Payerne , 2 volumes, Berlin 1864

Poetry

Prussian songs , Magdeburg 1846
The great elector. Little songs , Berlin 1851
Between swamp and sand, patriotic seals , Berlin 1863
From the Danish war. New Prussian Songs , Berlin 1864
New poems , Berlin a. a. 1866
Prussian high summer time. New war songs , Berlin 1866
Against the French, Prussian war and royal songs , 2 volumes, Berlin 1871

Others

From the life of Altenburg Castle , Altenburg 1843
Berlin and Rome or bigots and priests. From d. Presence of George Eesekiel , Altenburg 1846
Otto Theodor Freiherr von Manteuffel. A Prussian picture of life , Berlin 1851
Alexander II Nicolajewitsch, Emperor of Russia. A biographical note , Berlin 1855
Nikolaus Pawlowitsch, Emperor of Russia - A biographical note , Berlin 1855
Mixed company. Biographical sketches , Berlin 1867
Book by Count Bismarck . Bielefeld u. a. 1869 (contains family letters)
German War and Victory Chronicle 1870–1871 , Berlin 1871

literature

Ludovica Ezekiel : Ezekiel, George . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 270 f.
Otto Neuendorff: George Ezekiel . Ebering, Berlin 1932. Reprint: Kraus Repr., Nendeln 1967 (= Germanic Studies; 125).
Otto Neuendorff: Ezekiel, Johann George Ludwig. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 744 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : George Ezekiel - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Wikisource: George Ezekiel - Sources and full texts

Literature by and about George Ezekiel in the catalog of the German National Library
Works by and about George Ezekiel in the German Digital Library
Works by George Ezekiel at Zeno.org .

Individual evidence

^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2006. p. 303.

personal data
SURNAME	Ezekiel, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ezekiel, Johann George Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German journalist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 12, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH	Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH	February 26, 1874
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2006. p. 303.