Wenzel Scherffer from Scherffenstein
Wenzel Scherffer von Scherffenstein (* around 1603? In Leobschütz ; † August 27, 1674 in Brieg ) was a German baroque poet and translator.
Life
The poet, who comes from an old Upper Silesian aristocratic family, was born in Leobschütz around 1603 and spent his youth in the vicinity of Teschen , but details have not been passed down. Apparently he only enjoyed an education from private court masters . However, his musical and linguistic talents remain undisputed. German, Polish and Latin are documented, as is his poetry in Rotwelsch and Silesian dialect. Scherffer's poetry is based on the rules laid down by Martin Opitz (“ Von der Deutschen Poeterey ”), although it has a more popular and humorous tone than the great model.
From 1661 he found a permanent position at the Brieger Hof as court poet and organist of the palace church, and this is where the majority of his often imaginative and humorous casual poems were written . Scherffer's most extensive single work was the 8000 Alexandrinerverse German translation of Dedekind's satirical Brute , which earned him not only the inclusion in Zesen's German-minded cooperative , but also the elevation to the imperial crowned Poeta laureatus .
Works (selection)
- as an author
- Funeral chants and grave scriptures. Brieg 1646
- Spiritual and secular poems, first part . Brieg 1652
- as translator
- Friedrich Dedekind : The brute and the brute. Brieg 1640
- Hermann Hugo: Godly desire . Brieg 1662
Literature (selection)
- Hans Peter Althausen: Landsknechtlanguage and Rotwelsch in Silesia. Wenzel Scherffer's <Teutsche Ordonantz> . In: Jahrbuch für Ostdeutsche Volkskunde , 7 (1963), pp. 66–91.
- Helmut Henne: Standard language and dialect in the Silesian Baroque . Cologne 1966
- Michael Schilling: German language translations and adaptations of the <Pia desideria> Hermann Hugos . In: Germanica Wratislaviensia , 88 (1989), pp. 85-89
List of works and references
- Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Wenzel Scherffer von Scherffenstein . In: Personal bibliographies for the prints of the Baroque, Vol. 5 . Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7772-9133-1 , pp. 3594-3607.
Web links
- Literature by and about Wenzel Scherffer von Scherffenstein in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by and about Wenzel Scherffer von Scherffenstein in VD 17 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Scherffer von Scherffenstein, Wenzel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German baroque poet and translator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | uncertain: around 1603 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leobschütz |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 27, 1674 |
| Place of death | Brieg |