Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder

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v. Hippel d. Ä.

Theodor Gottlieb Hippel , from 1790 von Hippel (born January 31, 1741 in Gerdauen / East Prussia, † April 23, 1796 in Königsberg / East Prussia ) was a German statesman, writer and social critic of the Enlightenment . He was a member of the Prussian Land Rights Commission , City Council, Lord Mayor and, finally, City President of Königsberg. Hippel, an advocate of educational ideas , campaigned for the legal equality of women . He was a friend of Immanuel Kant .

Life

from Hippel d. Ä.

Theodor Gottlieb Hippel grew up in a Pietist family . His father was a village school teacher. While Königsberg was a Russian governorate during the Seven Years' War , Hippel began studying theology in 1756 at the age of fifteen. In May 1759 he entered the house of the Dutch judicial councilor Dr. Theodor Polykarp Woyt takes a position as private tutor. At an event of the Königsberg Dreikronenloge, a scion of the well-known Berlin Masonic Lodge "To the Three Worlds" , which wanted to reconcile the kingdoms of Prussia, Russia and Poland in the sense of reason, he met the Russian military member Hendrik von Keyser, a nephew of TP Woyt, know. In 1760/61 he was allowed to accompany von Keyser to the imperial court of Saint Petersburg . After his return he wanted to marry a noblewoman, but was rejected for reasons of class.

He changed subjects, studied philosophy with Kant and quickly graduated from law school. Now, at the age of only 21, he was admitted to the three-crown box, to which large parts of the Königsberg society belonged. He began his legal career as a lawyer as early as 1764. In 1771 he became assessor at the Königsberg court, shortly afterwards commissioner for the Polish territories conquered by Frederick the Great (province of East Prussia ). In 1773 Frederick appointed him royal detective. A little later he was also appointed director of the Königsberg criminal court and elected to the city council.

Theodor Gottlieb Hippel was able to quickly acquire a fortune due to this rapid rise within the royal administration. In the Masonic lodge, too, he was soon elected “ Master of the Chair ”. In 1780 he was finally at the peak of his professional career. He became the "conducting" mayor and police director of Königsberg and began to reorganize the corrupt administrative system. He was particularly concerned with the reorganization of the poor and the police in the interests of clarification.

He was a regular participant in the round tables of Kant, where he held a place of honor as the first citizen of the city. In contrast to Kant, von Hippel saw himself as a Christian, who however criticized the contemporary representatives of the churches and in many respects shared the skepticism of the Enlightenment. Like other representatives of the Enlightenment who opposed Kant's rationalist approach, von Hippel made a distinction between the entrenched dogmas of the churches and the unity of reason, feeling, inwardness and faith. Hippel supported one of Kant's concerns by helping talented visitors to the Albertus University of Königsberg to find influential positions with recommendations. He withheld his literary activity from the participants in the Kantian round table.

During his time as a royal Prussian civil servant, he wrote numerous legal articles. He was involved in the elaboration of the " Prussian general land law ", whereby he advocated legal equality for women in comments. In 1786 he received the medal and the title of “City President” and the title of Geh from King Friedrich Wilhelm II for his services . Council of war . As early as 1780, Hippel had asked the king to restore the old family nobility. This was not granted until 1790. On January 3, 1790, as a Privy Councilor of War in Königsberg , he was raised to the imperial nobility together with his brother Gotthard Friedrich Hippel, pastor of Arnau, and several cousins . The Prussian nobility recognition followed on November 6, 1790 in Berlin .

In his works, however, he often made fun of the Königsberg landed gentry. He was unable to fully complete his reform efforts regarding the Königsberg administration. What was particularly difficult for him was the dual role as a judge who, for example, had to sentence a child murderer to death, and as a critical publicist who anonymously criticized this death sentence from a psychological point of view. He gradually fell ill, felt isolated and suffered defeats, e. B. the disclosure of his secret activity as an author. His friends included the philosopher and writer Johann Georg Hamann and the writer Johann Georg Scheffner .

In 1794 he was additionally commissioned to introduce the Prussian administration in Danzig . A short time later, von Hippel, who had remained unmarried, died at the age of 55. He was buried in the scholarly cemetery (Königsberg) .

The sole heir and administrator of the estate was his eponymous nephew Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Younger , who in 1835 finally published all of von Hippels' works.

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Hippel wrote hymns while still a student. His later publications were anonymous. Hippel's work includes literary works, novels, comedies, poems and philosophical treatises with an educational claim. In his novels pietistic, satirical and philosophical-didactic elements combine. He is also known for his witty and humorous treatises on women's rights.

Title copper to Hippel's work On Marriage by Daniel Chodowiecki

In 1774 the first edition of his work On Marriage , which was gradually committed to an emancipatory claim, appeared (last version from 1793). In 1778 the publisher Friedrich Voss in Berlin published his work, CVs in ascending order , which is no longer available today and which is written from the perspectives of many subjects who merge into one another. This novel, broken by various first-person roles, in which satirical to serious reflection on writing, was his best-known and most renowned contemporary work. It was highly valued in literary circles and their publications. Both Goethe and Schiller as well as later Jean Paul dealt with this work, which had triggered a literary fashion wave of I-narratives. In the 19th century there was a rather critical reception, and since the 20th century this work has been considered almost illegible due to the unconvincing construction of the various first-person forms.

At the age of 50, von Hippel began to write his autobiography, which only contains the story of his childhood and youth up to the age of 20. Probably because of the desired fame, the author glossed over some stations, for example the information about his parents' house is incorrect. In this work, too, von Hippel speaks out in favor of poetic freedom and “naturalness”.

Letters to his friend Johann Georg Scheffner have also been received. It can be assumed that Hippel stylized himself less than usual, since he asked his friend several times to destroy the letters upon receipt. He reports about his feeling of abandonment, illness and melancholy, but on the other hand he is also funny and writes ironically and amusingly. Scheffner was later the source of the exposure of the author of the anonymous or pseudonymous publications.

Hippel was a very early and at that time in Germany leading pioneer of women's emancipation . Both his work On the bourgeois improvement of women (1792) and the changes evident in the 1793 edition of his work On marriage are considered classic texts of the German and European women's rights movements . In the course of time, von Hippel continuously modified this study, so that it changed from a defense of civil marriage to a text on the rights of women. The first, non-emancipatory version was edited in the GDR by Günter de Bruyn (on the grounds that it was funnier than the third version). Posthumously in 1801 his work on female education came onto the market.

His thoughts on Freemasonry were shattered under unexplained circumstances, as reported by his nephew and estate administrator. He also removed the corresponding passages from the correspondence with Scheffner on the grounds that there were excesses.

To this day, von Hippel is still valued as an important, often humorous writer. Currently, however, the focus is more on his work on the situation of women.

Works

Newer editions of works:

  • About marriage , ed. v. Faust, Wolfgang Max, Stuttgart 1972. (Edition follows the 1st edition from 1774).
  • About marriage , reprint of the anonymously published edition from 1796. Notos, Selb 1976.
  • About the civil improvement of women , with an afterword by Ralph-Rainer Wuthenow . Frankfurt / Main 1977, Syndicate authors and publishing company. ISBN 3-8108-0034-1
  • On legislation and state welfare , Königstein / Ts. 1978.
  • About marriage , ed. v. de Bruyn, Günter , Berlin 1979 (edition follows the 1st edition from 1774).
  • Estate on female education , Situation 1999 (sources and writings on the history of women's education, vol. 21).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelslexikon. Volume 84 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1984, Volume V, p. 229.

literature

Monographs

  • Hamilton HH Beck: The Elusive "I" in the Novel. Hippel, Sterne, Diderot, Kant. New York 1987, ISBN 978-0-82-040279-6 .
  • Urte von Berg: Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel. Mayor and writer in Königsberg 1741–1796. Göttingen 2004 (Small Writings for Enlightenment, Volume 13), ISBN 3-89244-815-9 .
  • Max Faust: Life and Enlightenment of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel. In: Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb, von, About marriage. Edited by Max Faust. Stuttgart 1972, pp. 99-106.
  • Joseph Kohnen : Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel. A central personality in Königsberg's intellectual history: biography and bibliography , Lüneburg 1987.
  • Joseph Kohnen: A Pioneering Monument to Modern Prose. Theodor Gottlieb von Hippels "preliminary report" for the book About marriage. In: Reason - Freedom - Humanity. About Johann Gottfried Herder and some of his contemporaries. Festival ceremony for Günter Arnold for his 65th birthday. Lunpeter and Lasel, Eutin 2008, pp. 462–476.
  • Anke Lindemann-Stark: Life and résumés of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel. Röhrig, St. Ingbert 2001, ISBN 3-86110-262-5 .

Biographical articles

Essays, encyclopedia and magazine articles

  • Beck, Hamilton, Kant and the Novel, in: Kant Studies Vol. 74, 1983, pp. 271-301.
  • Beck, Hamilton, Tristram Shandy and Hippel's Biographies by Ascending Line , in: Studies in the Eighteenth Century 10 (1981), pp. 261-278.
  • Beck, Hamilton, Of Two Minds About the Death Penalty: Hippel's Account of a Case of Infanticide, in: Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 18 (1988), pp. 123-140.
  • Beck, Hamilton, Framing the Debate: Hippel's Response to Zimmermann's Attack on the Enlightenment, in: Eighteenth Century Life 14 (May, 1990), pp. 29-38.
  • Beck, Hamilton, Moravians in Königsberg in the Eighteenth Century, in: Königsberg. Contributions to a special chapter in the German intellectual history of the 18th century . Ed. Joseph Kohnen. Frankfurt / M. et al .: Peter Lang, 1994, pp. 335-374.
  • Beck, Hamilton, Neither Goshen Nor Botany Bay: Hippel and the Debate on Improving the Civic Status of the Jews, in: Lessing Jahrbuch XXVII (1996), pp. 63-101.
  • Beck, Hamilton: 'Speak That I May See You!' The Dialogic Element in Hippel's CVs , in: Königsberg Studies. Contributions to a special chapter in German intellectual history in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Ed. Joseph Kohnen. (New York: Peter Lang, 1998), pp. 123-135.
  • Faust, Max, Life and Enlightenment of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, in: Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb, von, Über die Ehe, ed. v. Faust, Max, Stuttgart 1972, pp. 99-106.
  • Hager, Maik, a "strange man" and popular writer. A look at the socially critical and philosophical writings of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, in: Geschichte-erforschen.de - online magazine for history in science and teaching.
  • Neiseke, Eric http://www.koeblergerhard.de/ZRG123Internetrezensions2006/BergUrtevon-TheodorGottliebvonHippel.htm A printed publication in the Savigny-Zeitschrift für Rechtsgeschichte will follow.
  • Shaw, Gisela, Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1741–1796) as a pioneer of the women's movement in Germany. "Lachender Philosopher" or "Prophet" ?, in: German Life and Letters, Vol. 54, No. 4, October 2001, pp. 273-290.
  • Wuthenow, Ralph-Rainer , The role of women in the views of a bachelor, in: Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb, von, About the bourgeois improvement of women, ed. v. Wuthenow, Ralph-Rainer, Frankfurt / Main 1977, pp. 260-275.
  • Jürgen Manthey : Mayor and writer (Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel) , in ders .: Königsberg. History of a world citizenship republic. Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-423-34318-3 , pp. 235-276.

Web links

Commons : Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel  - Quotes
personal data
SURNAME Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb from the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb; Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb von; Quittenbaum, Johann Heinrich Friedrich (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German statesman, writer and social critic
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1741
PLACE OF BIRTH Gerdauen , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1796
Place of death Königsberg (Prussia)