Thank God Heinrich Adolph Wagner

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Gottlob Heinrich Adolph Wagner in 1832

Adolph Wagner (completely Gottlob Heinrich Adolph Wagner , born November 14, 1774 in Leipzig , † August 1, 1835 in Großstädteln ), also written Adolf Wagner , was a German literary historian , playwright , translator and writer .

Life

Wagner's birthplace (right)
A portrait of a youth
His place of death - Gut Großstädteln

Adolph Wagner was born as the son of General Accise beneficiary Gottlob Friedrich Wagner in the suburban Sandgasse in Leipzig, which later became Seeburgstrasse. His older brother Carl Friedrich Wagner (1770–1813) was the father of the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883). Adolph Wagner attended the Thomas School until 1792 and then studied theology and philosophy at the University of Leipzig . In 1798 he moved to the University of Jena for two semesters to attend lectures by Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814). In Jena he met Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) and Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853).

Back in Leipzig and penniless, he preferred a life as a private scholar and freelance writer to the academic career offered to him. His first major work at the beginning of the 19th century was six volumes on the life of reformers . He spoke at least eight languages ​​and translated works by Lord Byron , Walter Scott , Carlo Gozzi and Sophocles , among others . As editor he dealt with the writings of Giordano Bruno , Dante Alighieri , Francesco Petrarca , Robert Burns and Johann Gottfried Seume .

Wagner had a large circle of friends, including the Leipzigers Johann Georg Keil (1781–1857), Wilhelm Ambrosius Barth (1790–1851), Heinrich Brockhaus (1804–1874) and August Mahlmann (1771–1826) as well as E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776– 1822), Jean Paul (1763-1825) and Fouqué (1777-1843) belonged. Around 1806 he had an unhappy relationship with the 1805 widowed writer Wilhelmine Walks (1777-1825). A special friend was the lawyer and writer August Apel (1771–1816), who probably also supported him financially. On his estate in Ermlitz near Leipzig, Wagner directed amateur performances, including his own pieces, which he published under the pseudonym Ralph Nym. After Apel's death in 1816, Wagner withdrew from social life.

In 1824 Wagner was introduced to Goethe (1749–1832) in Weimar , and in 1826 he dedicated his critical edition on the main works of Italian literature, Il Parnasso italiano , to the “Poet Prince” . Goethe thanked them with an engraved silver cup. The University of Marburg awarded Wagner an honorary doctorate for this book .

At the age of 49, Adolph Wagner gave up his bachelor life and on October 18, 1824 married his long-time friend Christiane Sophie Wendt (1792–1860). She was the sister of the philosophy professor Amadeus Wendt (1783-1836). The couple moved into the house Zum Goldenen Hut ( Reichsstrasse 24, corner Goldhahngäßchen ) after Wagner had previously lived with his sister Friederike in the back building of the royal house on the market .

In 1827 his nephew, fourteen-year-old Richard Wagner, returned from Dresden to Leipzig. Here his uncle Adolph became his spiritual father figure. He talked to Richard about famous poets, encouraged his interest in music and made his extensive library available to him. The boy came into contact with Tannhäuser, the Nibelungenlied and Nordic sagas, which later became his subjects. In 1826, Adolph Wagner called for theater reform in his book Theater and Audience . Richard will have read this book too.

Adolph Wagner spent his last lifetime as a guest of the literary Count Peter Wilhelm von Hohenthal (1799-1859) on the Großstädteln estate south of Leipzig, where he also died.

Fonts (selection)

  • Biographies of famous reformers . 6 volumes, Voss, Leipzig, 1801
  • The stage swarm . Leipzig, 1804
  • Two epochs of modern poetry in Dante, Petrarka, Boccaccio, Goethe, Schiller and Wieland . Breitkopf u. Härtel, Leipzig 1806.
  • Custody against abuse ... Leipzig, 1808
  • Illumination of the speech of the Senator Count von Fontanes in the Conservation Senate on December 27, 1813 [1814/1815]
  • Wilhelm Coxes history of the House of Oestreich from Rudolf von Habsburg to Leopold the second death, 1218-1792: In 4 vols . Edited by Hans Karl Dippold and Adolph Wagner, Brockhaus, Amsterdam, Leipzig, Altenburg, 1810/17.
  • Story of Lady Emma Hamilton . Leipzig, 1816
  • Theater and audience - Eine Didaskalie , Weygand'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig, 1826
  • Il Parnasso italiano, ovvero, I quattro poeti celeberrini italiani, edizione giusta gli ottimi testi antichi con note istoriche e critiche , Ernst Fleischer, Leipzig, 1826

literature

  • Sabine Knopf: God, when I think of my uncle Adolph! ... from this race I come from. In: Leipziger Blätter No. 69, October 2016, pp. 56–58

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gina Klank, Gernoth Griebsch: Encyclopedia Leipziger street names . Ed .: City Archives Leipzig. 1st edition. Verlag im Wissenschaftszentrum Leipzig, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-930433-09-5 , p. 195/196 .
  2. ↑ Ernst Müller: The house names of old Leipzig . (Writings of the Association for the History of Leipzig, Volume 15). Leipzig 1931, reprint Ferdinand Hirt 1990, ISBN 3-7470-0001-0 , p. 69
  3. ↑ Ludwig Tieck: The faithful Eckart and the Tannenhäuser . In: Romantic seals , Jena 1799
  4. ^ Friedrich von der Hagen : The Nibelung Song , Berlin 1807
  5. ^ Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: The hero of the north , Berlin 1810
personal data
SURNAME Wagner, Gottlob Heinrich Adolph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ralph Nym
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German literary historian, playwright, translator and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1835
Place of death Big cities