Johann Ernst Wagner

Ernst Wagner

Johann Ernst Wagner (born February 2, 1769 in Roßdorf , † February 25, 1812 in Meiningen ), often just called Ernst Wagner , was a German writer , storyteller , playwright and cabinet secretary at the court of Saxony-Meiningen . He knew Goethe , Wieland and Jean Paul personally.

Life

Ernst Wagner spent childhood and youth in Roßdorf and nearby Fambach . Here he wrote his first poems in 1784 and 1785. In 1788 he met Friedrich Mosengeil in Fambach , with whom he then had a lifelong friendship. Then studied Ernst Wagner from 1788 to 1792 law at the University in Jena . Back in his home country, he was private secretary and land manager for Baron von Wechmar in Roßdorf from 1793 to 1803. In 1793 he married Elisabethe Bergeon († 1818), who came from Neuchâtel and was the governess of his landlord. From this marriage three sons and a daughter emerged, including the later famous landscape painter Carl Wagner (1796–1867). His older cousin was the Berlin doctor and honorary citizen Ernst Ludwig Heim .

In 1801 Wagner made the acquaintance of Jean Paul in Meiningen , who lived in the royal seat from 1801 to 1803. From Jean Paul he got suggestions and criticism for his so far unsuccessful attempts as a poet and writer. Both then remained in close contact until Wagner's death. In 1802, Duke George I of Saxony-Meiningen appointed Ernst Wagner as cabinet secretary to Meiningen. Since the duke died unexpectedly in 1803, Bernhard II was the new duke when Wagner took office in 1804 . In the residence, Wagner continued to oversee the ducal library and was a dramaturge and director at the amateur theater. At court he met Friedrich Mosengeil again, who was called to Meiningen as tutor to the Duke, who was still underage. Both deepened their old friendship and worked closely together in literary terms.

From 1805, Ernst Wagner stayed several times for a cure in Bad Liebenstein because of his spinal cord disease, which had existed since 1802 . His first successful novel, Wilibald's Views of Life , was also published in 1805 . In the next few years he created more prose volumes and became a widely read novelist of his time. Ernst Wagner died in 1812 as a result of his serious illness. Friedrich Mosengeil published Ernst Wagner's collected works in 12 volumes in 1827.

Works

• Wilibald's views of life , published in 1805 by “Hanischs Erben”, Hildburghausen.
• Ferdinand Miller (1805), published 1809 by Cotta , Tübingen.
• Isidora (1805), published by Cotta in 1812.
• The traveling painters , published in 1806 by Göschen , Leipzig.
• Journeys from abroad to home (1805–1808), published in 1808 by Hanisch's heirs.
• Historical ABC of a forty-year-old Hennebergischer Fibelschützen (1808–1810), published in 1811 by Cotta.
• Jesus of Nazareth (1812), unfinished.

literature

• W. Greiner: Friedrich Mosengeil and Ernst Wagner . In: Luginsland , weekly supplement of the Eisenacher Zeitung . No. 31 to 34/1926.
• AL Corin: One hundred letters from Johann Ernst Wagner to Jean Paul Fr. Richter and August Studnitz . Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Université de Liège Fascicule LXXXV. 1942.
• Adolf Svoboda: Ernst Wagner (1769–1812), biographical and industrial history study of a forgotten poet from the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen , Südthüringer Forschungen 30, contributions to art and cultural history, Meininger Museen, Meiningen 1999. ISBN 3-910114-02 -4
• The (almost) forgotten poet of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen Johann Ernst Wagner , A reading book by Adolf Maria Svoboda, Elch-Verlag, Bad Liebenstein 2001. ISBN 3-933566-16-9
• Johann Ernst Wagner. Two novels , by Adolf Maria Svoboda, Elch-Verlag, Bad Liebenstein 2004. ISBN 3-933566-26-6
• Ludwig Julius Fränkel:  Wagner, Ernst . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 486-489.

Web links

• Literature by and about Johann Ernst Wagner in the catalog of the German National Library
• Ernst Wagner at altmeiningen.de