Otto von Corvin

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Otto von Corvin

Otto von Corvin , or Otto Julius Bernhard von Corvin-Wiersbitzki (born October 12, 1812 in Gumbinnen , † March 1, 1886 in Wiesbaden ) was a German writer . He is best known today as the author of the book Der Pfaffenspiegel (1845), with which he attacked the Catholic Church.

Life

youth

Corvin came from a Polish-Prussian family and was the son of Gumbinnen's postal director Heinrich von Wiersbitzki and his wife Catharina Wilhelmine Sophie Mandel. In 1817 Corvin's parents divorced.

As the son of a major a. D. he initially embarked on a military career and completed the cadet schools in Berlin and Potsdam , from 1830 he worked as a lieutenant in Mainz and Saarlouis . Since his hopes for a position in the Foreign Office or the diplomatic service were not fulfilled, he took his leave and settled as a writer in Leipzig; but without much success.

Writing activity

He earned his living as a contract writer and editor of various hunting magazines. Together with Friedrich Wilhelm Held , he was the editor of the Locomotive magazine . Through this work Corvin quickly made the acquaintance of the Leipzig Literary Association.

The free thinker later joined liberal democratic and anti-clerical circles. The debate about the Trier pilgrimage of 1844 to the holy skirt on display prompted Corvin to write and publish his Pfaffenspiegel (1845).

In 1839 Corvin married Helene, a daughter of the businessman Franz Bernhard Peregrin Cardini, in Frankfurt am Main . The marriage remained childless.

politics

Corvin was enthusiastic about the German Revolution of 1848/1849 from an early age . He was a trainer for the German Democratic Legion , and from the spring of 1848, as “Chief of the General Staff” of the “German Democratic Legion”, he was one of the leaders of the revolution in Alsace and on the Upper Rhine . During the Hecker train he took part in the battle near Dossenbach on April 27, 1848 . On July 23, 1849, Corvin handed the Rastatt fortress over to the Prussian Army . As a prisoner of war, he was sentenced to death on September 15, 1849. However, his lawyer Rudolf Kusel managed to have the sentence converted into six years of solitary confinement, which Corvin served in Bruchsal .

foreign countries

Immediately after his release in 1855, Corvin left Germany and worked in Great Britain as a freelance journalist for several newspapers and magazines. In 1861 the Augsburger Allgemeine sent him to New York , where he worked socially and politically. As a special reporter, mostly for German newspapers, he took part in the Civil War and reported from the front.

He has also worked as a freelancer for renowned newspapers such as The Times , New York Times , the Allgemeine Zeitung and Charles Dickens Household Words, as well as for the journal Die Gartenlaube . After his return he wrote as a reporter for the Wiener Neue Freie Presse .

Retirement

Grave of Otto von Corvin in the north cemetery in Wiesbaden

In 1874 Corvin returned to Germany and settled in Wertheim . He invented a process for the production of handicraft metalwork, which were named after him " Corviniellos ". He sold the patent to a Krefeld company in 1876 . He later moved to Leipzig for a short period of time , and wanted to spend his retirement in Wiesbaden . Otto Julius Bernhard von Corvin-Wiersbitzki died there on March 1, 1886 at the age of 74.

He found his final resting place in the north cemetery in Wiesbaden .

Works

  • Memories of a People's Fighter , Binger Brothers, Amsterdam 1861
  • The flagellants . H. Freistühler, Schwerte / Ruhr 1975. ISBN 3-87237002-2 <Repr. d. Edition Leipzig 1860>
  • The golden legend. A natural history of the saints , Bern 1876; Rudolstadt 1889
  • Historical monuments of Christian fanaticism , Leipzig 1845. Editions from 1868 as Pfaffenspiegel , with the original title as a subtitle. Heyne, Munich 1982. - ISBN 3-453-50019-9 <Repr. d. Edition Rudolstadt 1885>
  • Illustrated world history for the people , with FWAnHeld, 4 volumes 1844–51
  • From the cell prison. Letters from the eventful, difficult times 1848–1856. Leipzig, published by Wilhelm Friedrich undated (approx. 1884). 546 pages
  • First love . Roundabout, Leipzig 1939
  • The holy junk shop and other spiritual chapters . Nordland-Verlag, Berlin 1944

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Otto von Corvin  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Corvin, Otto von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Corvin-Wiersbitzki, Otto Julius Bernhard von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Gumbinnen , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1886
Place of death Wiesbaden