Joseph Richter (writer)

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Joseph Richter (born March 16, 1749 in Vienna ; † June 16, 1813 there ) was an Austrian writer .

Life

Richter, born in the same year as Goethe , came from a petty-bourgeois background. His family was resident in Vienna in the second generation. Until the dissolution of the order by Joseph II, the youth attended a Jesuit school , which was obviously not without importance for his later critical distance from the clergy , and was then a commercial clerk . At the age of 26 he published his first volume of poetry, but was so successful with his soon very extensive literary output that he was able to devote himself entirely to "other" activities.

Pisk denied Richter's authorship of 11 periodicals, 36 plays, 15 novels and short stories, 5 volumes of poetry, 23 humorous writings, 19 political books and brochures, and 30 "writings of various kinds," d. H. of biographies, dictionaries and leaflets.

“As a declared and enthusiastic Josephine [...] he went into battle, as a bigot and confidante of the police [...] he left the literary arena; also an Austrian fate. (Lit. Plakolb, p. 305) "

After Emperor Leopold II had already "softened" the Josephine reforms, Franz II took them back for the most part: the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette's guillotination had stifled any tendencies towards enlightenment.

“The cosmopolitan outlook of the Josephine era has diminished to bourgeois behavior, the claim of the Enlightenment potentate to be the first servant of the state withered with Emperor Franz to the sense of duty of a subordinate official. ( Hans Tietze , quoted in Plakolb p. 306). "

In 1802 Richter, who had previously unsuccessfully applied as a censor twice , obtained from the emperor a monthly grant of 30 guilders from “secret police funds”, “that he would also use himself for the benefit of the state.” Among other things, the former had Bergen Police Minister personally pleaded for the writer who

"... really tried for years in his Eipeldauerbriefe [...] the mood of the people to work, and you use your pen yourself from the side of the police station, [...] for which you have given him small rewards from time to time. (Plakulb p. 307.) "

meaning

Through his Eipeldauer letters, Richter is considered an important writer of the Josephine Enlightenment .

The editor of the Eipeldauer letters, Ludwig Plakolb, who was relevant in the second half of the 20th century , is critical of Richter:

"Richter, a very fruitful writer, but only a moderate inventor, took advantage of the success [note: success of the first Eipeldauer publication, which was published several times] and recently had" the Eipeldauer "travel to the city in 1787 to buy for his cousin [ ...] to lead a lawsuit [Note: The Eipeldauer, albeit with a financial loss, "wins"]. "

Richter's wit and accuracy earned him the reputation of a ruthless critic of the times, but the author's résumé only partially lived up to it: One of Dr. Eugen von Paunel's selection of the Eipeldauer letters , compiled in 1917 and made available to a large circle of readers, contributed significantly to Richter's admiration - the editor Gustav Gugitz had added a meticulously compiled register, from which later citing people used excerpts, and often without them To have read contexts. Placolb to this:

"This made Richter the most widely read informant of his time, but it stood in the way of a coherent reading in the correct chronological order."

Richter published these “letters” between 1785 and the end of his life in 1813. He was replaced by Franz Xaver Gewey as editor and publisher, who in turn was succeeded by Adolf Bäuerle in 1819 .

Richter's literary work was for the most part published under pseudonyms such as Eipeldauer , Obermayr or Pater Hilarion . His stylized dialect was soon found on the stage.

Works

  • Journey from Vienna to Paris , letter novel, 1781
  • ABC book for big children, satire, 1782
  • Picture galleries of secular, catholic and monastic abuses [1784, 1784 and 1785]
  • Thoughts of a profane about the current revolution of the Freymauer Order . 1786
  • Arch-Viennese painted after life in a carnival catechism, 1784
  • Letters from an Eipeldauer to his master cousin in Kakran via d'Wienstadt, etc. 1785 ff.
  • The life of Frederick the Second King of Prussia sketched by a bold man. Amsterdam 1789 online Vol. 1,2  - Internet Archive and Vol. 3,4  - Internet Archive .

  • The letters of an Eipeldauer about d'Wienstadt . Ludwig Plakolb. Winkler, Munich 1970; Licensed edition Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna, undated

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Pisk, Phil. Diss., Vienna 1926
  2. Strictly speaking, the phase of general "publication flood", which had been initiated by the generous censorship patent of June 11, 1781, had already expired when the first volume of the Eipeldauer-Letters appeared in 1785. Placolb to this:
    The imperial decree marks the birth of Austrian journalism. [...] Leaflets, pamphlets and pamphlets flooded the city. Beer table and café politics were suddenly, if not ready for print, then at least printed and sold; the opinion of the so-called little man, the hitherto suppressed know-it-all, found publishers and buyers. Writers established themselves overnight; their writings did not survive the day. Joseph Richter is an exception. (Lit. Plakolb, p. 303)