Johann Heinrich Merck
Encyclopedia
Johann Heinrich Merck German
author and critic
, was born at Darmstadt
, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist.
He studied law at Gießen
, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's department at Darmstadt, and a year later himself became paymaster. For a number of years he exercised considerable influence upon the literary movement in Germany; he helped to found the Frankfurter gelehrte Anzeigen in 1772, and was one of the chief contributors to Nicolai
's Allgemeine Bibliothek.
In 1773 he accompanied the Landgravine Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt to Saint Petersburg
, and on his return was a guest of the duke Charles Augustus of Weimar
in the Wartburg
. Unfortunate speculations brought him into pecuniary embarrassment in 1788, and although friends, notably Goethe; were ready to come to his assistance, his losses — combined with the death of five of his children — so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide on June 27, 1791.
Merck distinguished himself mainly as a critic; his keen perception, critical perspicacity and refined taste made him a valuable guide to the young writers of the Sturm und Drang
. He also wrote a number of small treatises, dealing mostly with literature and art, especially painting, and a few poems, stories, narratives and the like; but they have not much intrinsic importance. Merck's letters are particularly interesting and instructive, and throw much light upon the literary conditions of his time.
Merck's Ausgewählte Schriften zur schönen Literatur und Kunst were published by A Stahr in 1840, with a biography.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
author and critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
, was born at Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist.
He studied law at Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's department at Darmstadt, and a year later himself became paymaster. For a number of years he exercised considerable influence upon the literary movement in Germany; he helped to found the Frankfurter gelehrte Anzeigen in 1772, and was one of the chief contributors to Nicolai
Christoph Friedrich Nicolai
Christoph Friedrich Nicolai was a German writer and bookseller.Nicolai was born in Berlin, where his father, Christoph Gottlieb Nicolai , was the founder of the famous Nicolaische Buchhandlung...
's Allgemeine Bibliothek.
In 1773 he accompanied the Landgravine Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, and on his return was a guest of the duke Charles Augustus of Weimar
Carl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach from 1758, duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation in 1809, and grand duke from 1815 until his death...
in the Wartburg
Wartburg Castle
The Wartburg is a castle situated on a 1230-foot precipice to the southwest of, and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany...
. Unfortunate speculations brought him into pecuniary embarrassment in 1788, and although friends, notably Goethe; were ready to come to his assistance, his losses — combined with the death of five of his children — so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide on June 27, 1791.
Merck distinguished himself mainly as a critic; his keen perception, critical perspicacity and refined taste made him a valuable guide to the young writers of the Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s, in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism...
. He also wrote a number of small treatises, dealing mostly with literature and art, especially painting, and a few poems, stories, narratives and the like; but they have not much intrinsic importance. Merck's letters are particularly interesting and instructive, and throw much light upon the literary conditions of his time.
Merck's Ausgewählte Schriften zur schönen Literatur und Kunst were published by A Stahr in 1840, with a biography.