Georg Herwegh
Encyclopedia
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
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Biography
He was born in StuttgartStuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
on 31 May 1817, the son of an innkeeper. He was educated at the Gymnasium Illustre of Stuttgart, and in 1835 proceeded to the University of Tübingen as a theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
student, where, with a view to entering the ministry, he entered the Protestant theological seminary. But the strict discipline was distasteful; he broke the rules and was expelled in 1836. He studied law for a short time, but decided to return to Stuttgart, and became editor of August Lewald
August Lewald
August Lewald was a German author.-Biography:Lewald was born at Königsberg. He entered the Russian service at Warsaw, as secretary, during the War of Liberation. He became an actor, and after 1818 he was manager and director of theatres at Hamburg, Stuttgart, and elsewhere...
's periodical Europa. Called out for military service, he had hardly joined his regiment when he became embroiled with a military officer with a flagrant act of insubordination, and had to flee to Emmishofen, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1839.
His Gedichte eines Lebendigen ("Poems of a living man") were published in Zurich between 1841–43 and immediately banned in Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. The lyrics combined revolutionary sentiment with a popular style and soon placed him at the forefront of the Vormärz
Vormärz
' is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. Also known as the Age of Metternich, it was a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to calls for liberalism...
revolutionary movement. The fervent effusions of his poems became immensely popular, so that when, after a short trip to Paris, Herwegh journeyed through Germany in 1842, he was greeted with enthusiasm everywhere.
King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. gave him an audience, and assured him that he liked nothing better than an energetic opposition. But Herwegh overstepped all the bounds of conventionality in a letter to the King, and was hurried out of Prussia. At Zurich, he found no pleasant reception. But the king of Württemberg pardoned him for desertion from military service, and in the canton of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, of which he now became a citizen, he married Emma Siegmund, daughter of a Jewish merchant at Berlin. He next took up his abode in Paris, and wrote a second volume of Gedichte eines Lebendigen (1844). He also translated all of Lamartine into German (1843–44).
During the failed German revolution of 1848, together with a group of German emigrants, he led a military mission to Baden as part of the Hecker Uprising
Hecker Uprising
The Hecker Uprising was an attempt by Baden revolutionary leaders Friedrich Hecker, Gustav von Struve, and several other radical democrats in April 1848 to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic in the Grand Duchy of Baden...
; with its defeat at Kadern, he had to flee to Switzerland once again. He lived in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
; after an amnesty he moved to Baden-Baden, Germany. Herwegh wrote songs for Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle was a German-Jewish jurist and socialist political activist.-Early life:Ferdinand Lassalle was born on 11 April 1825 in Breslau , Silesia to a prosperous Jewish family descending from Upper Silesian Loslau...
's Worker's Society and the Social Democratic Worker's Party. In 1877, Neue Gedichte was published. The most important work of his later years was the translation of many of Shakespeare's plays.
While other poets such as Ferdinand Freiligrath
Ferdinand Freiligrath
Ferdinand Freiligrath was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator.-Biography:Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher. He left a Detmold gymnasium at 16 to be trained for a commercial career in Soest...
gave up their revolutionary politics later on, Herwegh never changed his revolutionary outlook and his commitment to radical democracy. He was disappointed by and criticised Prussian nationalism and Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
's war against France
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
and annexion of Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
in 1870/71. In Herwegh's mind, poetry is a first step towards political action, it should however not be artless. Consequently, he—like Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
—defended Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
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