Peter August Friedrich von Manteuffel

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Peter August Friedrich von Manteuffel

Peter Friedrich August von Manteuffel (January 19 * . Jul / 30th January  1768 greg. In Reval ; † April 26 . Jul / 8. May  1842 . Greg in Meks ) was a Baltic German nobleman and Estonian writing letters .

life and work

Count Peter August Friedrich von Manteuffel was born in the Estonian capital Reval into an old Baltic German noble family. His father, Count Karl Reinhold Manteuffel (1721–1779) was a lieutenant colonel in the tsarist army . His grandfather Gotthard Johann Zoege von Manteuffel († 1763) was the district administrator and vice-governor of Estonia. The mother Helene († 1772) came from the noble family von Uexküll . The family owned important estates throughout Estonia and Livonia .

Peter von Manteuffel had a younger and an older sister. He lost his mother when he was four and his father when he was eleven. His youth is described as full of adventure. Peter von Manteuffel seemed to have been inclined to the joys of life, especially parties, dance and women.

In the summer of 1787 Peter von Manteuffel began the Grand Tour through Europe, which is mandatory for nobles . The companion and private tutor was Otto Wilhelm Masing (1763-1832), who had completed his theology studies at the University of Halle the year before . Manteuffel stayed in Germany for a long time and attended lectures at the University of Leipzig . He also traveled to Rome .

In Vienna he met the shepherd's daughter Johanna Dressler (* 1776), who came from Großbreitenbach in Thuringia . She accompanied Manteuffel on his return to Estonia. Since a wedding was out of the question due to the differences in class, she became the housekeeper at the Peter von Manteuffels estate in Meks. The love affair resulted in three daughters between 1794 and 1798. They were given the surname Zweig and later rose to the nobility through marriage. The youngest daughter Amalie later married the Baltic German circumnavigator Otto von Kotzebue (1787–1846), a son of the writer August von Kotzebue (1761–1819). Johanna's parents, who settled down as pub workers, also moved to Meks .

After Johanna's death, Peter von Manteuffel married Baroness Helene Louise Elisabeth von Uexküll-Güldenband (1788–1849) in October 1816 . The marriage resulted in two sons and two daughters. The daughter Elisabeth Wilhelmine (1818–1902) later married a son August von Kotzebues, Lieutenant General Paul Demetrius Kotzebue (1801–1884).

Peter von Manteuffel died in 1842 at the age of 74 on his Gut Meks, where he had spent most of his life. He was buried in the Kosch cemetery.

Literary work

The eccentric Peter von Manteuffel was known for his sympathy for the Estonian peasant population. In his early years, the estophile nobleman also presented poems in Estonian, which he published as a verse dialogue under the title Üks Ennemuiste lugu ühhe Warga peäle . Most of his poems, however, have been lost. Often they were dedicated to individual women like Liisu or Tiiu. One can only assume that certain village girls were hiding behind it. In addition, the authorship of Peter von Manteuffel is believed to be behind some anonymous poetry and prose writings.

In 1838 Peter von Manteuffel published the enlightening volume of stories Aiawite peergo walguse about the life and customs of the Estonian rural population. The Estonian-language book contains various short prose, mainly village stories. The stories also contain folk poems that were probably passed down orally at the time. Manteuffel made use of free ideas in his works, borrowed from calendar stories and other short prose of the time.

The vivid portrayal of rural life, successful descriptions of the milieu, lots of humor, intrigues and love stories made the volume popular among the Estonian rural population. It was reprinted just a year later. In contrast to the rest of the mostly dry Enlightenment literature of the time, the author's moralizing attitude is in the background.

The orientalist , sinologist and Finnougrist Wilhelm Schott (1802-1889) translated excerpts from the book in the Archive for Scientific News from Russia into German in 1854 . Two years later a translation into Finnish by Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884) appeared.

In 1839, Peter von Manteuffel's prose work Willem Nawi ello-pävad appeared in print in Tallinn . The less successful book propagates abstinence from alcoholic beverages, which the author also mentions in his foreword. With his book, Manteuffel addressed the widespread problem of alcoholism in the country. The content is borrowed from the popular educational book “Die Branntweinpest” by the writer Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848), published in Aarau in 1837 .

Curiosities

Peter von Manteuffel was a peculiarity among the Baltic Germans because of his popular affection for the Estonian rural population and their language. In the Learned Estonian Society , he has never been recorded.

He also tried (unsuccessfully) in the construction of flying machines with wings and pedals. That is why von Manteuffel was called "the crazy count" by his contemporaries.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (ed.): Genealogical manual of the Estonian knighthood , vol .: 1, Görlitz [1931], pp. 639–640.
  2. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Manteuffel, Gotthard Johann Zoege. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  3. ↑ Digitized version.
  4. ↑ Digitized version.
  5. ↑ Volume 13, pp. 391-399.
  6. ↑ Digitized version.
personal data
SURNAME Manteuffel, Peter August Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Baltic German nobleman and man of letters
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1768
PLACE OF BIRTH Reval
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1842
Place of death Meks