Ludwig von Wildungen

Ludwig Karl Eberhard Heinrich Friedrich von Wildungen , both Ludwig and Friedrich (* April 24, 1754 in Kassel ; † July 14, 1822 in Marburg ), was a German forester , author and romantic poet.

Live and act

Coat of arms of those of Wildungen

Wildungen was the offspring of a family that was known in northern Hesse as early as the 13th century and which died out with him in the male line. Traditionally, the von Wildungen ministerials from the Landgrave of Hesse , such as rent masters, foresters and hunters . Ludwig von Wildungen's father was a Hesse-Kassel privy councilor and envoy to the Franconian Imperial District Assembly in Nuremberg at the time . The son attended grammar school in Nuremberg from 1764. From autumn 1769 he was at the royal pedagogy in Halle . From 1771 to 1776, he studied in Halle, then in Marburg law . On April 2, 1776 he became an assessor in the Hessen-Kassel government in Marburg. A little later he also entered the service of Duke Karl Wilhelm von Nassau-Usingen as a partner . In June 1780 he became a councilor and was given responsibility in the forest sector, among other things.

In May 1781 he received the appointment to the Hesse-Kassel government council in Rinteln , but did not take up his service there, but was instead assigned to the provincial government in Marburg. From July 4, 1793, he was the second sub-delegate at the Princely Solms-Braunfels ' Debit and Administration Commission. On November 22nd, 1799 he was appointed head forester in Marburg; he retained the princely office of Solms-Braunfels as a secondary position. After the French rule (1807-1813) he worked again in his former sphere of activity.

He was a member of numerous associations and societies such as the "Friends of Nature Research" in Berlin, Jena, Erfurt and Hanau and, from 1786, of the "Pegnesian Order of Flowers" in Nuremberg. He belonged to the "Societät der Forst- und Jagdkunde" in Waltershausen . In 1780 he joined the Marburg Freemason Lodge "Zum krönten Löwen", and in 1812 he was a co-founder of the "Marc Aurel Aurel zum Flammenden Stern" lodge in Marburg, to which he belonged until his death.

On April 24, 1809, the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Marburg appointed him honorary Dr. phil.

Wildungen was buried in the forest in the midst of trees he had planted at the foot of the Richtsberg in the south of Marburg; his grave is still there today. A memorial stone was dedicated to him in the Braunfels wildlife park on August 9, 1827. The Ludwig-von-Wildungen-Straße in Kassel is named after him.

Works as a writer

Wildungen is one of the founders of the modern art of hunting. His love for nature was also expressed in his poems and songs - he is considered one of the most important representatives of romantic hunting poetry between 1790 and 1860. His first songs for foresters and hunters appeared in 1788; they were set to music by J. Chr. Müller in 1790. From 1794 to 1800 he published an annual paperback called New Year's Gift for Forest and Hunting Lovers ; In 1800 it was renamed the paperback for forest and hunting enthusiasts . By 1812, 14 volumes had appeared in which he conveyed scientific, in particular hunting-zoological knowledge and information about forestry and hunting to a larger readership.

From 1815 to 1822 Wildungen published the Waidmanns Feierabende handbook in six volumes. He also wrote articles for various journals, mainly Georg Ludwig Hartig's Journal for forest, hunting and fishing and the hunting magazine Sylvan . After his death in 1829 he published forest and hunting poems collected from his estate and accompanied by his biography.

The folk song Grün ist Wald und Flur developed from Wildungen's poem Praise of the Green Color , on which texts of numerous club songs of German sports clubs are based, including the song Blue and White, How I Love You .

literature

• Richard Heß :  Wildungen, Ludwig Karl Eberhard Heinrich Friedrich von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, pp. 513-515.
• Catalogus Professorum Academiae Marburgensis , arr. v. Franz Gundlach. Marburg: Elwert 1927, p. 446 f.
• Norbert Nail: A green through and through. Poet and "Beschuezzer der Waelder" - The biographical riddle around the Philipps University . In: Marburger UniJournal , No. 37, December 2011, p. 54 [with photo of the LvW's grave]. ( uni-marburg.de PDF), and No. 38, May 2012, p. 56 ( uni-marburg.de PDF).
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses for the year 1856. Sixth year, p. 762 ( uni-duesseldorf.de Wildungen).
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses to the year 1855. Fifth year, p. 620 ( uni-duesseldorf.de daughter).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Carl Bernhard Nicolaus Falckenheiner: History of Hessian Cities and Donors. Volume 1, Kassel, 1841, p. 209 ( books.google.de - here “von Widungen”).
2. ↑ Root list of the Pegnese Flower Order
3. ↑ Jagdlexikon ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the German hunting newspaper