Johann Arnold Ebert

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Johann Arnold Ebert
Johann Arnold Ebert, painting by Benjamin Calau , 1770
Frontispiece of the third revised edition (1756) of Young's Night Thoughts in the translation by Johann Arnold Ebert

Johann Arnold Ebert (born February 8, 1723 in Hamburg , † March 19, 1795 in Braunschweig ) was a German writer and translator.

Life

The son of a city soldier attended the Hamburg Johanneum and then the local academic high school . In his youth Ebert was strongly influenced by the poet Friedrich von Hagedorn , who encouraged him and strengthened his interest in the English language and literature. He first studied theology in Leipzig from 1743 , but drew the displeasure of the Hamburg church authorities through the publication of a serenade and broke off this study. He then switched to philology and was accepted into the circle of Bremen contributions , in whose literary endeavors he played a major role. During his studies in Leipzig he was also in contact with the literary Gottsched group .

In 1748, through the mediation of his friend Karl Christian Gärtner, he became court master at the Braunschweiger Collegium Carolinum , where he was soon given instruction in the English language. He also taught the Hereditary Prince Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand in English. With the important writers who lived in Braunschweig and the surrounding area at the time, with Justus Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae , Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem , Karl Christian Gärtner and Konrad Arnold Schmid , later with Johann Joachim Eschenburg and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (on his appointment to the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel he made a significant contribution) he was in friendly contact. In 1753 he became a full professor and also gave lectures on the history of scholars. In 1770 Eschenburg took over these lectures, whereas Ebert received lessons in the Greek language. In 1773 he married Louise Graefe, daughter of the Chamber Council and composer Johann Friedrich Graefe . In 1775 he received a canonical at the St. Cyriakus monastery , and in 1780 he was appointed councilor. Ebert died in Braunschweig in 1795 and was buried in the Martinifriedhof .

Ebert's importance is based less on his own lyrical works than on his role as a cultural and literary mediator. Above all, his translation of Edward Young's Night Thoughts from English had a great influence, arousing enthusiastic enthusiasm for Young and a large number of imitations. Ebert thus made an outstanding contribution to the reception of English-language literature in the German-speaking area.

Works

  • Johann Arnold Ebert: Epistles and mixed poems . Hamburg 1789

literature

  • Cord-Friedrich Berghahn, Gerd Biegel and Till Kinzel (eds.) : Johann Arnold Ebert. Poetry, translation and cultural transfer in the Age of Enlightenment , Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-8253-6583-7
  • Annett Lütteken: Ebert, Johann Arnold . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 183
  • Georg Hübner: Lessing's escape from Hamburg to Wolfenbüttel: the role of Prof. Johann Arnold Ebert in this momentous decision, documented on the basis of the correspondence between him and GE Lessing. Hamburg 2003 (Series of the Lessing Society, 13)
  • Joseph Leighton: Ebert, Johann Arnold . In: Walther Killy (Ed.): Literaturlexikon. Authors and works in German . Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh, Munich 1992, Volume 3, p. 155.
  • Fritz Meyen : Bremen contributor to the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig. K. Chr. Gärtner, JA Ebert, FW Zachariä, KA Schmid. Orphanage Buchdr. und Verl., Braunschweig 1962 (Braunschweiger Werkstücke 26)
  • Christel Matthias Schröder :  Ebert, Johann Arnold. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 253 ( digitized version ).
  • Wilhelm Creizenach :  Ebert, Johann Arnold . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 586 f.
  • Hans Schröder : Lexicon of Hamburg writers up to the present , Volume 2, Dassovius-Günther, Hamburg, 1854, p. 107, no. 861

Web links

Commons : Johann Arnold Ebert  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Joseph Leighton: Ebert, Johann Arnold . In: Walther Killy (Ed.): Literaturlexikon. Authors and works in German . Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh, Munich 1992, Volume 3, p. 156f., Annett Lütteken: Ebert, Johann Arnold . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 183.
personal data
SURNAME Ebert, Johann Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer and translator
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1723
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1795
Place of death Braunschweig