Johann Timotheus Hermes

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Johann Timotheus Hermes, portrait engraving by Daniel Chodowiecki , 1787

Johann Timotheus Hermes (born May 31, 1738 in Petznick near Stargard in Western Pomerania , † July 24, 1821 in Breslau ) was a German poet, novelist and Protestant theologian.

life and work

Johann Timotheus Hermes studied theology in Königsberg and then became a teacher at the Knight Academy in Brandenburg Cathedral . After that he held several spiritual offices, was field preacher, court preacher in Anhalt and pastor in Pless . In 1771 Hermes was appointed professor of theology at the Magdalenäum in Breslau and four years later provost in the new town of Breslau. Later he was pastor at the Magdalenen and Elisabeth Church and from 1808 superintendent of the churches and schools in the Principality of Wroclaw.

Hermes is best known for his novels History of Miss Fanny Wilkes (1766) and Sophien's Journey from Memel to Saxony (1769–1773), which were very successful at the time and have been translated into several languages. The latter was one of the most widely read novels of the 18th century in Germany, which is why it earned the author the name "Sophien-Hermes", and is still of cultural and historical importance thanks to its realistic descriptions. The book also shows some elements of the psychological novel, which had its heyday in the 19th century. Nevertheless, Sophien's journey is a typical work of his epoch and one of the most important novels of the sensitivity with which Hermes brought the style of his role model Samuel Richardson into German literature. Although the author wrote a few novels afterwards, none of these works meant that he could build on the success of Sophien's journey or Miss Fanny Willkes . In 1779 he published the poems from Sophien's journey as songs and arias in a separate volume; the composer Johann Adam Hiller wrote the music for them. Other composers who set poems by Johann Timotheus Hermes to music were: Maria Theresia von Paradis , Joseph Martin Kraus , Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .

Hermes received a lot of ridicule from other writers, despite or because of its success. Thus did Goethe and Schiller in their Xenien fun of him.

In 1888, a bibliophile association was founded under the name Johann Timotheus Hermes in Josefstadt (Vienna district) , which initially lasted until Austria was "annexed" to the Nazi- ruled German Empire , as many of the members had to leave Austria at that time. In 1987 the Bibliophile Association was re-established.

Fonts

  • History of Miss Fanny Wilkes (1766)
  • Sophien's journey from Memel to Saxony (1769–1773)
    • Volume 1, Leipzig 1778, 634 pages ( full text )
  • For daughters of noble origin (1787)
  • Many Hermäon in the true sense of the word (1788)
  • For parents and married couples (1789)
  • Two literary martyrs and their wives (1789)
  • Songs for the best known church melodies plus 12 communion devotions (1800)
  • Anne Winterfeld (1801)
  • Concealment and Express or Lottchen and their Neighbors History (1802)
  • Mother, wet nurse and child in the story of Mr. Leopold Kerker (1809)

literature

  • Leo Cholevius : The lingua franca in Sophien's journey from Memel to Saxony . Dalkowski, Koenigsberg 1873.
  • Adolf Schimmelpfennig :  Hermes, Johann Timotheus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 197 f.
  • Georg Hoffmann: Johann Timotheus Hermes. A picture of life from the Protestant Church of Silesia in the Age of Enlightenment . Kauffmann, Breslau 1911.
  • Johannes Buchholz: Johann Timotheus Hermes' relationship to English literature . Univ. Diss., Marburg 1911.
  • Konstantin Muskalla: Johann Timotheus Hermes, a contribution to the cultural and literary history of the 18th century . Shepherd, Breslau 1912.
  • Annemarie van Rinsum: The novel “Sophien's Journey from Memel to Saxony” by Johann Timotheus Hermes as an expression of intellectual and cultural history of his time . Univ. Diss., Marburg 1949.
  • G. Schulz: Johann Timotheus Hermes and love . In: Yearbook of the Silesian Friedrich Wilhelm University in Breslau . 6, Wroclaw 1961.
  • Erich Beyreuther:  Hermes, Johann Timotheus. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 669 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Wikisource: Johann Timotheus Hermes  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Hermes, Johann Timotheus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heinrich Meister; TS More
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer and Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1738
PLACE OF BIRTH Petznick , Prussia
DATE OF DEATH July 24, 1821
Place of death Wroclaw