Leonhard Wächter
Georg Philip Ludwig Leonhard Wächter (born November 25, 1762 in Uelzen , † February 11, 1837 in Hamburg ), pseudonym: Veit Weber , was a German writer . His stories, mostly laid out in an idealized historical period - not infrequently in the Middle Ages - were successful during his lifetime; today his work is classified more as trivial literature .
Life
Leonhard Wächter was born in Uelzen in 1762 as the son of a deacon . From 1783 to 1786 he studied theology , history and literature in Göttingen. There he came into contact with alumni of the Göttingen Hainbund . He had a special friendship with Gottfried August Bürger . He then moved to Hamburg, which as a liberal city-state offered journalists, publishers and writers relatively free opportunities to work. Like many of his contemporaries (such as Georg Forster , Friedrich Schlegel or Achim von Arnim ), Wächter was enthusiastic about the French Revolution . He went to France in 1792 and fought there with the rank of captain under the command of the Girondi general Dumouriez . He was wounded in the battle of Jemappes . He returned to his parents' house in 1793, where he lived until the entire family moved to Hamburg in 1796. Until 1819 Wächter was a teacher in Ludwig Voigt's educational institution and an assistant at the city library. In 1813 he took part in the struggle of the Hanseatic Legion against the French occupation of the city of Hamburg. During his life he made many trips to England, Austria and Switzerland.
In Göttingen, like his friend Bürger, he was a member of the Freemason Lodge "To the golden circle". In 1809 he became a member of the "Emanuel zur Maienblume" lodge in Hamburg.
Numerous documents are kept in the Hamburg State Archives .
plant
The legends of prehistoric times (7 volumes, Berlin, 1787–98), in which he describes a freely invented, idealized Middle Ages, are considered his main work . Goethe received his novel Wilhelm Tell (1804) in connection with Schiller 's drama of the same name.
Other works:
- Heideröslein (1792, historical novel)
- The Night Messenger (1793, short stories)
- Woodcuts (Berlin 1793, historical miniatures)
- Histories (Hamburg 1794)
- Ulrich von Hutten (1818, biography)
- Youth Entertainments (1827)
literature
- Max Mendheim : Guardian, Leonhard . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 428-431.
- Olaf Reincke (Ed.): Oh pleasure to be everything to everyone. German fashion reading around 1800. 2nd edition Reclam, Leipzig 1981 ( Reclams Universal-Bibliothek , 756), in it: Two “legends of the past” (“Das Ritterwort”, “The gray brother”).
- Christian Friedrich Wurm : Leonhard Wächter's historical estate , in 2 volumes, Perthes -Besser & Maucke, Hamburg 1838–1839, (contains: Notes on Leonhard Wächter and his writings . Vol. 2, pp. V f.).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ last home address “Wächter, Leonh. Private teacher, St. Georg, an der Koppel no 94 “, 1837, in: Hamburg address book at the Hamburg State Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guardian, Leonhard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Weber, Veit (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 25, 1762 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Uelzen |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 11, 1837 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |