Schiller name. Biography of Schiller Friedrich

SCHILLER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH(Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich) (1759–1805), German poet, playwright and aesthetic philosopher. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach (Württemberg); comes from the lower classes of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-tavern keeper, his father is a regimental paramedic. After studying in elementary school and studying with a Protestant pastor, Schiller in 1773, at the insistence of the Duke, entered the newly established military academy and began to study law, although since childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest; in 1775 the academy was transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study was extended, and Schiller, leaving jurisprudence, took up medicine. Having completed the course in 1780, he received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

While still at the academy, Schiller moved away from the religious and sentimental exaltation of his early literary experiences, turned to drama, and in 1781 he completed and published Robbers (Die Rauber). Early next year Robbers were staged in Mannheim; Schiller attended the premiere without asking the sovereign for permission to leave the duchy. Having heard about the second visit to the Mannheim theater, the Duke put Schiller in the guardhouse, and later ordered him to practice medicine alone. On September 22, 1782, Schiller fled the Duchy of Württemberg. The following summer, apparently no longer fearing the Duke's revenge, the intendant of the Mannheim Theater Dahlberg appoints Schiller as a "theater poet", concluding a contract with him to write plays for production on the Mannheim stage. Two dramas that Schiller was working on even before fleeing Stuttgart - Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa (Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua) And Deceit and love (Kabale und Liebe), - were staged at the Mannheim Theater, and the latter was a great success. Dahlberg did not renew the contract, and Schiller found himself in Mannheim in very straitened financial circumstances, moreover, tormented by the pangs of unrequited love. He willingly accepted the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, Privatdozent G. Körner, and for more than two years (April 1785 - July 1787) stayed with him in Leipzig and Dresden.

Second edition Robbers(1782) had on the title page an image of a roaring lion with the motto “In tyrannos!” (Latin: “Against tyrants!”). The plot of the play is based on the enmity of two brothers, Karl and Franz Moor; Karl is impetuous, courageous and, in essence, generous; Franz is an insidious scoundrel who seeks to take away from his older brother not only his title and estates, but also the love of his cousin Amalia. For all the illogicality of the gloomy plot, the irregularities of the rough language and youthful immaturity, the tragedy captures the reader and viewer with its energy and social pathos. First of all Robbers and prompted the French in 1792 to make Schiller an honorary citizen of the new French Republic.

Fiesco(1783) is significant primarily because it anticipates Schiller’s later triumphs in historical drama, but, writing a play based on the biography of a 16th-century Genoese conspirator, the young poet was not yet able to grasp the dramatic essence of historical events and clearly identify moral issues. IN Cunning and love(1784) Schiller turns to the well-known reality of the small German principalities. IN Don Carlos (Don Carlos, 1787) the concept of personal and civil freedom was clarified and clarified. Don Carlos The first period of Schiller's dramatic work ended.

In July 1787, Schiller left Dresden and lived in Weimar and its environs until 1789. In 1789 he received a professorship of world history at the University of Jena, and thanks to his marriage (1790) to Charlotte von Lengefeld, he found family happiness. The poet's meager salary was not enough even to satisfy modest needs; help came from Crown Prince Fr. Kr. von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E. von Schimmelmann, who paid him a stipend for three years (1791–1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I. Fr. Cotta, who invited him in 1794 publish the monthly magazine Ory. The Thalia magazine, an earlier venture into publishing a literary magazine, was published very irregularly and under various names between 1785 and 1791; in 1796, Schiller founded another periodical, the annual Almanac of the Muses, where many of his works were published. In search of materials, Schiller turned to J.W. Goethe. They met soon after Goethe returned from Italy (1788), but then things did not go beyond a superficial acquaintance; now the poets became close friends. In 1799, the Duke doubled Schiller's allowance, which essentially became a pension, because... The poet was no longer engaged in teaching and moved from Jena to Weimar. In 1802, the Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation, Francis II, granted Schiller the nobility. Schiller was never in good health, was often ill, and developed tuberculosis. Schiller died in Weimar on May 9, 1805.

Communication with Körner aroused Schiller's interest in philosophy, especially aesthetics; as a result appeared Philosophical letters (Philosophische Briefe, 1786) and a whole series of essays (1792–1796) – About the tragic in art (Über die tragische Kunst), About grace and dignity (Über Anmut und Würde), About the sublime (Uber das Erhabene) And About naive and sentimental poetry (Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung). Schiller's philosophical views were strongly influenced by I. Kant. In contrast to philosophical poetry, purely lyrical poems - short, songlike, expressing personal experiences - are less typical for Schiller, although there are remarkable exceptions. The so-called “ballad year” (1797) was marked by Schiller and Goethe with excellent ballads, incl. in Schiller - Cup (Der Taucher), Glove (Der Handschuh), Polikratov ring (Der Ring des Polycrates) And Ivikov's cranes (Die Kraniche des Ibykus), which came to the Russian reader in magnificent translations by V.A. Zhukovsky. Ksenia (Xenien), short satirical poems, were the fruit of the joint work of Goethe and Schiller.

Studying materials for Don Carlos, Schiller prepared his first historical study - The history of the fall of the Netherlands from Spanish rule (Geschichte des Abfalls der vereinigten Niederlande von der spanischen Regierung, 1788); in Jena he wrote History of the Thirty Years' War (Die Geschichte des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, 1791–1793).

Schiller's second period of dramatic creativity began in 1796 Wallenstein (Wallenstein) and ended with a fragment from Russian history Dimitri (Demetrius), work on which was interrupted by death. While studying History of the Thirty Years' War, Schiller saw in the Generalissimo of the Imperial troops Wallenstein a dramatic figure who was grateful. The drama took shape in 1799 and took the form of a trilogy: acting as a prologue Camp Wallenstein (Wallensteins Lager) and two five-act dramas - Piccolomini (Die Piccolomini) And Death of Wallenstein (Wallensteins Tod).

Next play Mary Stuart (Marie Stuart, 1800), illustrates Schiller’s aesthetic thesis that for the sake of drama it is quite acceptable to change and reshape historical events. Schiller did not bring to the fore in Mary Stuart political and religious problems and determined the outcome of the drama by the development of the conflict between the rival queens. Leaving aside the question of historical authenticity, it should be recognized that Mary Stuart- the play is extremely scenic, and the title role was invariably loved by all the great European actresses.

At the core Maid of Orleans (Die Jungfrau von Orleans, 1801) - the story of Joan of Arc. Schiller gave free rein to his imagination, using material from a medieval legend, and admitted his involvement in the new romantic movement, calling the play a “romantic tragedy.” The poet was well-read in Greek drama, translated from Euripides and studied Aristotelian theory dramas, and Messina bride (Die Braut von Messina, 1803) he experimentally tried to introduce the chorus of ancient tragedy and the Greek concept of fate into medieval drama. William Tell (Wilhelm Tell, 1804), the last of his completed plays, is a large-scale picture of the struggle of four Swiss forest cantons against the tyranny of Imperial Austria.

Beginning with Don Carlos Schiller wrote his dramas in blank verse, sometimes interspersed with metrical verse. The language of his works is sublime, melodic and expressive, although sometimes overly rhetorical and pompous, but on stage he makes an extremely winning impression. Schiller enriched the literature of his country with outstanding dramatic works. In addition to his own plays, he created stage versions of Shakespeare's Macbeth And Turandot C. Gozzi, and also translated Racine’s Phaedra. In Russia, Schiller has been known since the end of the 18th century.

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, art theorist and playwright, professor of history and military doctor. He entered the history of literature as one of the brightest representatives of humanism.

Schiller's mother, in contrast to his father, was distinguished by gentleness, compassion and kindness. She loved to gather children around her and read them poetry and various Christian literature.

In 1764, the Schiller family moved to the city of Lorch. During this period of his biography, the boy became seriously interested. His teacher was a local priest, who had a serious influence on the development of Schiller's personality. There was a moment when the future poet even wanted to become a clergyman.

A few years later, the head of the family received the position of gardener at the ducal castle. Thanks to this, Frederick was able to freely visit the court theater, where various productions were staged.

The theater made an indelible impression on Schiller, as a result of which he and his sisters often staged plays at home, performing for their parents.

Having reached the age of 14, Friedrich was sent to military school. His stay at this educational institution became one of the most difficult periods in his biography.

The school had the strictest discipline, violation of which could result in serious consequences for the student. For the slightest mistake, the young men could be flogged or fined.

Nevertheless, the years spent at school did not break Schiller, but, on the contrary, strengthened his character. They ignited in him a rebellious spirit that would manifest itself in the playwright's future works.

In 1776, Friedrich Schiller transferred to the medical department. In the same year he published his first poem, “Evening.” At this time in his biography, he became seriously interested in creativity.

The works of the English playwright inspired him to create the tragedy “The Robbers,” which brought him great popularity.

After graduating in 1780, Schiller worked as a doctor in Stuttgart. However, it was difficult to call him a good specialist, since he never had any interest in.

Works of Schiller

The next year after the publication of “The Robbers,” a collection of poems, “Anthology for 1782,” was published from the pen of Schiller. Soon he published the tragedy “Cunning and Love.”

During this period of his biography, the poet experienced financial difficulties, for which reason he agreed to publish the drama “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” for a very modest fee.

In the mid-1790s, Schiller wrote the philosophical work “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man,” and also published the ballads “The Cranes of Ivik,” “The Ring of Polycrates,” and “The Diver.”

The following works brought Friedrich Schiller the greatest fame:

• "Wallenstein" (trilogy);
• "Mary Stuart";
• "Maid of Orleans"
• "Ode to Joy";
• "William Tell".

Personal life

During his biography, Schiller repeatedly fell in love with women, making marriage proposals to them. However, every time he heard refusals due to his financial insolvency.

When Friedrich was 31 years old, he met Charlotte von Lengefeld. The guy was fascinated by his beloved and soon decided to propose to her, to which she agreed. The young people got married in 1790.

It is interesting that Schiller repeatedly spoke of his wife as a very smart and wise woman. However, the poet’s friends, on the contrary, noted that Charlotte was a simple and very narrow-minded girl.

Death

3 years before his death, Frederick was awarded the title of nobility, which came as a complete surprise to him. He was skeptical about this title, but nevertheless accepted it solely so that his wife and children could exist comfortably after his death.

Soon, Schiller was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and therefore his health deteriorated more and more every day.

Initially, the poet was buried in the Kassengevelbe crypt, but after 20 years they decided to rebury him. It is worth noting that identifying Schiller's ashes was very difficult.

For this reason, archaeologists randomly selected one of the remains located in the crypt, declaring that they belonged to the playwright. Then they were buried again in the princely tomb next to the grave of his friend Johann Goethe.

The story with the burial of Friedrich Schiller did not end there. Later, biographers began to argue about the authenticity of the writer's body. As a result, in 2008, scientists carried out an exhumation, which showed that Schiller's remains belonged to three different people.

Today, it is almost impossible to find the poet’s authentic ashes, so his grave remains empty.

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Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach am Neckar - died May 9, 1805 in Weimar. German poet, philosopher, art theorist and playwright, professor of history and military doctor, representative of the Sturm und Drang and Romanticism movements in literature, author of “Ode to Joy”, a modified version of which became the text of the anthem of the European Union. He entered the history of world literature as a defender of the human personality.

During the last seventeen years of his life (1788-1805) he was friends with Johann Goethe, whom he inspired to complete his works, which remained in draft form. This period of friendship between the two poets and their literary polemics entered German literature under the name “Weimar classicism.”

The surname Schiller has been found in Southwestern Germany since the 16th century. Friedrich Schiller's ancestors, who lived for two centuries in the Duchy of Württemberg, were winemakers, peasants and artisans.

His father - Johann Caspar Schiller (1723-1796) - was a regimental paramedic, an officer in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, his mother - Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweis (1732-1802) - from the family of a provincial baker-innkeeper. Young Schiller was brought up in a religious-pietistic atmosphere, which was echoed in his early poems. His childhood and youth were spent in relative poverty.

In 1764, Schiller's father was appointed recruiter and moved with his family to the town of Lorch. In Lorge, the boy received his primary education from the local pastor Moser. The training lasted three years and mainly included learning to read and write in their native language, as well as familiarity with Latin. The sincere and good-natured pastor was later immortalized in the writer’s first drama "Robbers".

When the Schiller family returned to Ludwigsburg in 1766, Friedrich was sent to the local Latin school. The curriculum at school was not difficult: Latin was studied five days a week, the native language on Fridays, and catechism on Sundays. Schiller's interest in studies increased in high school, where he studied the Latin classics -, and. After graduating from the Latin school, having passed all four exams with excellent marks, in April 1772 Schiller was presented for confirmation.

In 1770, the Schiller family moved from Ludwigsburg to Solitude Castle, where Duke Karl Eugene of Württemberg established an orphanage institute for the education of soldiers' children. In 1771, this institute was reformed into a military academy.

In 1772, looking through the list of graduates of the Latin school, the Duke drew attention to the young Schiller, and soon, in January 1773, his family received a summons, according to which they had to send their son to the military academy “Higher School of Charles Saint”, where Frederick began study law, although since childhood I dreamed of becoming a priest.

Upon entering the academy, Schiller was enrolled in the burgher department of the Faculty of Law. Due to a hostile attitude towards jurisprudence, at the end of 1774 the future writer found himself one of the last, and at the end of the 1775 academic year - the very last of eighteen students in his department.

In 1775, the academy was moved to Stuttgart and the course of study was extended.

In 1776, Schiller transferred to the medical faculty. Here he attends lectures by talented teachers, in particular, a course of lectures on philosophy by Professor Abel, a favorite teacher of academic youth. During this period, Schiller finally decides to devote himself to poetic art.

From the first years of study at the Academy, Friedrich became interested in the poetic works of Friedrich Klopstock and the poets "Sturm and Drang", began to write short poetic works. Several times he was even offered to write congratulatory odes in honor of the Duke and his mistress, Countess Franziska von Hohenhey.

In 1779, Schiller's dissertation "Philosophy of Physiology" was rejected by the leadership of the academy, and he was forced to stay for a second year. Duke Karl Eugene imposes his resolution: “I must agree that the dissertation of Schiller’s student is not without merit, that there is a lot of fire in it. But it is precisely this last circumstance that forces me not to publish his dissertation and to hold on for another year at the Academy so that his heat will cool down. If he is just as diligent, then by the end of this time he will probably turn out to be a great man.”.

While studying at the Academy, Schiller wrote his first works. Influenced by the drama “Julius of Tarentum” (1776) by Johann Anton Leisewitz, Friedrich writes "Cosmus von Medici"- a drama in which he tried to develop a favorite theme of the literary movement "Sturm und Drang": hatred between brothers and the love of a father. At the same time, his enormous interest in the work and style of writing of Friedrich Klopstock prompted Schiller to write the ode “The Conqueror,” published in March 1777 in the journal “German Chronicle” (Das schwebige Magazin) and which was an imitation of his idol.

Friedrich Schiller - Triumph of Genius

Finally, in 1780, he graduated from the Academy course and received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart, without being awarded an officer rank and without the right to wear civilian dress - evidence of the duke's disfavor.

In 1781 he completed the drama "Robbers"(Die Räuber), written by him during his stay at the Academy. After editing the manuscript of the Robbers, it turned out that not a single Stuttgart publisher wanted to publish it, and Schiller had to publish the drama at his own expense.

The bookseller Schwan in Mannheim, to whom Schiller also sent the manuscript, introduced him to the director of the Mannheim Theater, Baron von Dahlberg. He was delighted with the drama and decided to stage it in his theater. But Dahlberg asks to make some adjustments - to remove some scenes and the most revolutionary phrases, the time of action is transferred from modern times, from the era of the Seven Years' War to the 17th century.

Schiller opposed such changes; in a letter to Dahlberg dated December 12, 1781, he wrote: “Many tirades, features, both large and small, even characters, are taken from our time; transferred to the age of Maximilian, they will cost absolutely nothing... To correct the mistake against the era of Frederick II, I would have to commit a crime against the era of Maximilian,” but nevertheless, he made concessions, and “The Robbers” was first staged in Mannheim January 13, 1782. This production was a huge success with the public.

After the premiere in Mannheim on January 13, 1782, it became clear that a talented playwright had come to literature. The central conflict of "The Robbers" is the conflict between two brothers: the elder, Karl Moor, who, at the head of a gang of robbers, goes into the Bohemian forests to punish tyrants, and the younger, Franz Moor, who at this time seeks to take possession of his father's estate.

Karl Moor personifies the best, brave, free principles, while Franz Moor is an example of meanness, deceit and treachery. In “The Robbers,” like no other work of the German Enlightenment, the ideal of republicanism and democracy extolled by Rousseau is shown. It is no coincidence that it was for this drama that Schiller was awarded the honorary title of citizen of the French Republic during the French Revolution.

At the same time as The Robbers, Schiller prepared for publication a collection of poems, which was published in February 1782 under the title "Anthology for 1782"(Anthologie auf das Jahr 1782). The creation of this anthology is based on Schiller’s conflict with the young Stuttgart poet Gotthald Steidlin, who, claiming to be the head of the Swabian school, published "Swabian Almanac of the Muses for 1782".

Schiller sent Steidlin several poems for this edition, but he agreed to publish only one of them, and then in an abridged form. Then Schiller collected the poems rejected by Gotthald, wrote a number of new ones, and thus created the “Anthology for 1782,” contrasting it with the “almanac of the muses” of his literary opponent. For the sake of greater mystification and raising interest in the collection, the city of Tobolsk in Siberia was indicated as the place of publication of the anthology.

For his unauthorized absence from the regiment in Mannheim for a performance of The Robbers, Schiller was put in a guardhouse for 14 days and was prohibited from writing anything other than medical essays, which forced him, along with his friend, the musician Streicher, to flee from the Duke’s possessions on September 22, 1782 years in the Margraviate of the Palatinate.

Having crossed the border of Württemberg, Schiller headed to the Mannheim theater with the prepared manuscript of his play "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa"(German: Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua), which he dedicated to his philosophy teacher at the Academy, Jacob Abel.

The theater management, fearing the displeasure of the Duke of Württemberg, was in no hurry to begin negotiations on staging the play. Schiller was advised not to stay in Mannheim, but to go to the nearby village of Oggersheim. There, together with his friend Streicher, the playwright lived under the false name Schmidt in the village tavern "Hunting Yard". It was here in the fall of 1782 that Friedrich Schiller made the first sketch of a version of the tragedy "Cunning and Love"(German: Kabale und Liebe), which is still called “Louise Miller”.

At this time Schiller is typing "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" for a meager fee, which he spent instantly. Finding himself in a hopeless situation, the playwright wrote a letter to his old acquaintance Henriette von Walzogen, who soon offered the writer her empty estate in Bauerbach.

He lived in Bauerbach under the name "Dr. Ritter" from December 8, 1782. Here Schiller began finishing the drama “Cunning and Love,” which he completed in February 1783. He immediately made a sketch of a new historical drama "Don Carlos"(German: Don Karlos). He studied the history of the Spanish infanta from books from the library of the Mannheim ducal court, which were supplied to him by a librarian he knew. Along with the history of “Don Carlos,” Schiller then began to study the history of the Scottish queen Mary Stuart. For some time he hesitated which of them he should choose, but the choice was made in favor of “Don Carlos”.

January 1783 became a significant date in the private life of Friedrich Schiller. The mistress of the estate came to Bauerbach to visit the hermit with her sixteen-year-old daughter Charlotte. Friedrich fell in love with the girl at first sight and asked her mother for permission to marry, but she did not give consent, since the aspiring writer did not have a penny in his pocket.

At this time, his friend Andrei Streicher did everything possible to arouse the favor of the administration of the Mannheim Theater in favor of Schiller. The director of the theater, Baron von Dahlberg, knowing that Duke Karl Eugene has already given up the search for his missing regimental medic, writes a letter to Schiller in which he is interested in the literary activities of the playwright.

Schiller responded rather coldly and only briefly recounted the content of the drama “Louise Miller.” Dahlberg agreed to stage both dramas - “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” and “Louise Miller” - after which Friedrich returned to Mannheim in July 1783 to participate in the preparation of the plays for production.

Despite the excellent acting, The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa was overall not a great success. The Mannheim theater audience found this play too abstruse. Schiller took on the reworking of his third drama, Louise Miller. During one rehearsal, theater actor August Iffland suggested changing the title of the drama to “Cunning and Love.” Under this title, the play was staged on April 15, 1784 and was a huge success. “Cunning and Love,” no less than “The Robbers,” glorified the author’s name as the first playwright in Germany.

In February 1784 he joined "Kurpfalz German Society", led by the director of the Mannheim theater Wolfgang von Dahlberg, which gave him the rights of a Palatinate subject and legalized his stay in Mannheim. During the poet’s official admission into society on July 20, 1784, he read a report entitled “The Theater as a Moral Institution.” The moral significance of theater, designed to expose vices and approve of virtue, was diligently promoted by Schiller in the magazine he founded "Rhine Waist"(German: Rheinische Thalia), the first issue of which was published in 1785.

In Mannheim, Friedrich Schiller met Charlotte von Kalb, a young woman with outstanding mental abilities, whose admiration brought the writer much suffering. She introduced Schiller to the Weimar Duke Karl August when he was visiting Darmstadt. The playwright read to a select circle, in the presence of the Duke, the first act of his new drama Don Carlos. The drama had a great impact on those present.

Karl August granted the author the position of Weimar adviser, which, however, did not alleviate the disastrous state in which Schiller was. The writer had to repay a debt of two hundred guilders, which he borrowed from a friend to publish The Robbers, but he did not have the money. In addition, his relationship with the director of the Mannheim Theater deteriorated, as a result of which Schiller broke his contract with him.

At the same time, Schiller became interested in the 17-year-old daughter of a court bookseller, Margarita Schwan, but the young coquette did not show clear favor to the aspiring poet, and her father hardly wanted to see his daughter married to a man without money and influence in society. In the fall of 1784, the poet remembered a letter that he had received six months before from the Leipzig community of fans of his work, led by Gottfried Körner.

On February 22, 1785, Schiller sent them a letter in which he frankly described his plight and asked to be received in Leipzig. Already on March 30, a friendly response came from Körner. At the same time, he sent the poet a promissory note for a significant amount of money so that the playwright could pay off his debts. Thus began a close friendship between Gottfried Körner and Friedrich Schiller, which lasted until the poet’s death.

When Schiller arrived in Leipzig on April 17, 1785, he was greeted by Ferdinand Huber and sisters Dora and Minna Stock. Körner was in Dresden on official business at that time. From the first days in Leipzig, Schiller yearned for Margaret Schwan, who remained in Mannheim. He addressed her parents with a letter in which he asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Publisher Schwan gave Margarita the opportunity to resolve this issue herself, but she refused Schiller, who was grieving this new loss. Soon Gottfried Körner arrived from Dresden and decided to celebrate his marriage to Minna Stock. Warmed by the friendship of Körner, Huber and their friends, Schiller recovered. It was at this time that he created his anthem "Ode to Joy" (Ode An die Freude).

On September 11, 1785, at the invitation of Gottfried Körner, Schiller moved to the village of Loschwitz near Dresden. Here “Don Carlos” was completely reworked and completed, a new drama “The Misanthrope” was begun, a plan was drawn up and the first chapters of the novel “The Spiritualist” were written. This is where his "Philosophical Letters"(German: Philosophische Briefe) is the most significant philosophical essay of the young Schiller, written in epistolary form.

In 1786-87, through Gottfried Körner, Friedrich Schiller was introduced into Dresden secular society. At the same time, he received an offer from the famous German actor and theater director Friedrich Schröder to stage Don Carlos at the Hamburg National Theater.

Schröder's proposal was quite good, but Schiller, remembering the past unsuccessful experience of cooperation with the Mannheim Theater, refuses the invitation and goes to Weimar - the center of German literature, where Christoph Martin Wieland earnestly invites him to collaborate in his literary magazine "German Mercury" (German. Der Deutsche Merkur).

Schiller arrived in Weimar on August 21, 1787. The playwright's companion on a series of official visits was Charlotte von Kalb, with whose assistance Schiller quickly met the greatest writers of the time - Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried Herder. Wieland highly appreciated Schiller's talent and especially admired his last drama, Don Carlos. From the first acquaintance, the two poets established close friendly relations that lasted for many years. Friedrich Schiller went to the university town of Jena for several days, where he was warmly welcomed in the literary circles there.

In 1787-88, Schiller published the magazine "Thalia" (German: Thalia) and at the same time collaborated in Wieland's "German Mercury". Some works of these years were begun in Leipzig and Dresden. In the fourth issue of “Talia” his novel was published chapter by chapter. "Spirit Seer".

With the move to Weimar and after meeting major poets and scientists, Schiller became even more critical of his abilities. Realizing the lack of knowledge, the playwright withdrew from artistic creativity for almost a whole decade in order to thoroughly study history, philosophy and aesthetics.

Publication of the first volume of the work "The History of the Fall of the Netherlands" in the summer of 1788 brought Schiller fame as an outstanding researcher of history. The poet's friends in Jena and Weimar (including J. W. Goethe, whom Schiller met in 1788) used all their connections to help him obtain the position of extraordinary professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena, which during the poet's stay in that city was experiencing period of prosperity.

Friedrich Schiller moved to Jena on May 11, 1789. When he began lecturing, the university had about 800 students. The introductory lecture entitled “What is world history and for what purpose is it studied” (German: Was heißt und zu welchem ​​Ende studiert man Universalgeschichte?) was a great success. Schiller's listeners gave him a standing ovation.

Despite the fact that his job as a university teacher did not provide him with sufficient financial resources, Schiller decided to end his single life. Having learned about this, Duke Karl August assigned him a modest salary of two hundred thalers a year in December 1789, after which Schiller made an official proposal to Charlotte von Lengefeld, and in February 1790 a marriage took place in a village church near Rudolstadt.

After the engagement, Schiller began work on his new book "History of the Thirty Years' War", began working on a number of articles on world history and again began publishing the magazine “Rhenish Waist”, in which he published his translations of the third and fourth books of Virgil’s Aeneid. Later, his articles on history and aesthetics were published in this magazine.

In May 1790, Schiller continued his lectures at the university: in this academic year he publicly lectured on tragic poetry, and privately on world history.

At the beginning of 1791, Schiller fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Now he only occasionally had intervals of several months or weeks when the poet would be able to work calmly. The first attacks of the disease in the winter of 1792 were especially severe, because of which he was forced to suspend teaching at the university. This forced rest was used by Schiller to become more familiar with philosophical works.

Unable to work, the playwright was in an extremely bad financial situation - there was no money even for a cheap lunch and the necessary medicine. At this difficult moment, on the initiative of the Danish writer Jens Baggesen, Crown Prince Friedrich Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Count Ernst von Schimmelmann assigned Schiller an annual subsidy of a thousand thalers so that the poet could restore his health. Danish subsidies continued from 1792-94. Schiller was then supported by the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ory.

In the summer of 1793, Schiller received a letter from his parents' home in Ludwigsburg, informing him of his father's illness. Schiller decided to go with his wife to his homeland to see his father before his death, to visit his mother and three sisters, with whom he separated eleven years ago.

With the tacit permission of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugen, Schiller came to Ludwigsburg, where his parents lived not far from the ducal residence. Here, on September 14, 1793, the poet’s first son was born. In Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart, Schiller met with old teachers and past friends from the Academy. After the death of Duke Karl Eugene, Schiller visited the military academy of the deceased, where he was enthusiastically greeted by the younger generation of students.

During his stay in his homeland in 1793-94, Schiller completed his most significant philosophical and aesthetic work “Letters on the aesthetic education of man”(German: Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen).

Soon after returning to Jena, the poet energetically set to work and invited all the most prominent writers and thinkers of the then Germany to collaborate in the new magazine “Ory” (German: Die Horen). Schiller planned to unite the best German writers into a literary society.

In 1795, Schiller wrote a series of poems on philosophical topics, similar in meaning to his articles on aesthetics: “The Poetry of Life”, “Dance”, “Division of the Earth”, “Genius”, “Hope”, etc. The leitmotif through these poems is the idea of the death of everything beautiful and true in a dirty, prosaic world. According to the poet, the fulfillment of virtuous aspirations is possible only in an ideal world. The cycle of philosophical poems became Schiller's first poetic experience after almost a ten-year creative break.

The rapprochement of the two poets was facilitated by Schiller's unity in his views on the French Revolution and the socio-political situation in Germany. When Schiller, after a trip to his homeland and return to Jena in 1794, outlined his political program in the journal Ory and invited Goethe to participate in the literary society, he agreed.

A closer acquaintance between the writers occurred in July 1794 in Jena. At the end of the meeting of natural scientists, going out into the street, the poets began to discuss the contents of the report they had heard, and while talking, they reached Schiller’s apartment. Goethe was invited to the house. There he began to expound with great enthusiasm his theory of plant metamorphosis. After this conversation, a friendly correspondence began between Schiller and Goethe, which was not interrupted until Schiller’s death and constituted one of the best epistolary monuments of world literature.

The joint creative activity of Goethe and Schiller was, first of all, aimed at theoretical understanding and practical solution of the problems that arose for literature in the new, post-revolutionary period. In search of an ideal form, poets turned to ancient art. In him they saw the highest example of human beauty.

When new works by Goethe and Schiller appeared in the “Ors” and “Almanac of the Muses,” which reflected their cult of antiquity, high civic and moral pathos, and religious indifference, a campaign began against them from a number of newspapers and magazines. Critics condemned the interpretation of issues of religion, politics, philosophy, and aesthetics.

Goethe and Schiller decided to give a sharp rebuff to their opponents, subjecting to merciless flagellation all the vulgarity and mediocrity of contemporary German literature in the form suggested to Schiller by Goethe - in the form of couplets, like Martial’s “Xenias”.

Beginning in December 1795, for eight months, both poets competed in creating epigrams: each answer from Jena and Weimar was accompanied by "Ksenia" for viewing, review and addition. Thus, through joint efforts, between December 1795 and August 1796, about eight hundred epigrams were created, of which four hundred and fourteen were selected as the most successful and published in the Almanac of the Muses for 1797. The theme of “Xenia” was very diverse. It included issues of politics, philosophy, history, religion, literature and art.

They covered over two hundred writers and literary works. “Xenia” is the most militant of the works created by both classics.

In 1799 he returned to Weimar, where he began publishing several literary magazines with money from patrons. Having become a close friend of Goethe, Schiller together with him founded the Weimar Theater, which became the leading theater in Germany. The poet remained in Weimar until his death.

In 1799-1800 Schiller finally writes a play "Mary Stuart", the plot of which occupied him for almost two decades. He gave the most vivid political tragedy, capturing the image of a distant era, torn apart by the strongest political contradictions. The play was a great success among its contemporaries. Schiller finished it with the feeling that he had now “mastered the craft of a playwright.”

In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II granted Schiller nobility. But he himself was skeptical about this, in his letter dated February 17, 1803, writing to Humboldt: “You probably laughed when you heard about our elevation to a higher rank. It was our Duke’s idea, and since everything has already been accomplished, I agree to accept this title because of Lolo and the children. Lolo is now in her element as she twirls her train at court.”

The last years of Schiller's life were overshadowed by serious, protracted illnesses. After a severe cold, all the old ailments worsened. The poet suffered from chronic pneumonia. He died on May 9, 1805 at the age of 45 from tuberculosis.

Schiller's main works:

Schiller's plays:

1781 - "Robbers"
1783 - “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa”
1784 - “Cunning and Love”
1787 - “Don Carlos, Infante of Spain”
1799 - dramatic trilogy “Wallenstein”
1800 - “Mary Stuart”
1801 - “The Maid of Orleans”
1803 - “The Bride of Messina”
1804 - “William Tell”
"Dimitri" (was not finished due to the death of the playwright)

Schiller's prose:

Article "Criminal for Lost Honor" (1786)
"The Spirit Seer" (unfinished novel)
Eine großmütige Handlung

Philosophical works of Schiller:

Philosophie der Physiologie (1779)
On the relationship between man's animal nature and his spiritual nature / Über den Zusammenhang der tierischen Natur des Menschen mit seiner geistigen (1780)
Die Schaubühne als eine moralische Anstalt betrachtet (1784)
Über den Grund des Vergnügens an tragischen Gegenständen (1792)
Augustenburger Briefe (1793)
On grace and dignity / Über Anmut und Würde (1793)
Kallias-Briefe (1793)
Letters on the aesthetic education of man / Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen (1795)
On naive and sentimental poetry / Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung (1795)
On amateurism / Über den Dilettantismus (1799; co-authored with Goethe)
On the sublime / Über das Erhabene (1801)

Historical works of Schiller:

History of the Fall of the United Netherlands from Spanish Rule (1788)
History of the Thirty Years' War (1791)

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was born in Marbach am Neckar, Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire. His parents were Johann Kaspar Schiller, a military paramedic, and Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweis.

In 1763, his father was appointed as a recruiter in the German city of Schwäbisch Gmünd, which is why Schiller's entire family moved to Germany, settling in the small town of Lorch.

In Lorch, Schiller attended primary school, but due to dissatisfaction with the quality of education, he often played truant. Since his parents wanted him to become a priest, they hired a local priest, who taught Schiller Latin and Greek.

In 1766, Schiller's family returned to Ludwigsburg, where his father was transferred. In Ludwigsburg, Karl Eugene of Württemberg drew attention to Schiller. A few years later, Schiller graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Academy established by Karl of Württemberg - the “Higher School of Karl”.

His first work, the drama "Robbers", was written while he was studying at the academy. It was published in 1781, and the very next year a play based on it was staged in Germany. The drama was about the conflict between two brothers.

Career

In 1780, Schiller was appointed to the position of regimental physician in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was not happy with this appointment, and therefore one day left the service without permission to watch the first production of his play “The Robbers”.

Since he left the location of the unit without permission, Schiller was arrested and sentenced to 14 days of arrest. He was also banned from publishing his work in the future.

In 1782, Schiller fled to Weimar via Frankfurt, Mannheim, Leipzig and Dresden. And in 1783, Schiller's next production, entitled “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa,” was presented in Bonn, Germany.

In 1784, the five-part play “Cunning and Love” was presented at the Schauspiel Frankfurt theater. A few years later the play was translated into French and English.

In 1785, Schiller presented the play Ode to Joy.

In 1786, he presented the novella "Crime of Lost Honor", which was written in the form of a crime report.

In 1787, his dramatic play in five parts, Don Carlos, was presented in Hamburg. The play deals with the conflict between Don Carlos and his father, the Spanish King Philip II.

In 1789, Schiller began working as a teacher of history and philosophy in Jena. There he begins to write his historical works, one of which is “The History of the Fall of the Netherlands.”

In 1794, his work “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man” was published. The work was written based on events during the French Revolution.

In 1797, Schiller wrote the ballad "Polycrates' Ring", which was published the following year. In the same year, he also presented the following ballads: “Ivikov Cranes” and “Diver”.

In 1799, Schiller completed the Wallenstein trilogy, which consisted of the plays Wallenstein's Camp, Piccolomini and The Death of Wallenstein.

In 1800, Schiller presented the following works: Mary Stuart and The Maid of Orleans.

In 1801, Schiller presented his translated plays Carlo Gotzi, Turandot and Turandot, Princess of China.

In 1803, Schiller presented his dramatic work, The Bride of Messina, which was first shown in Weimar, Germany.

In 1804, he presented a dramatic work, William Tell, based on the Swiss legend of a skilled marksman named William Tell.

Main works

Schiller's play entitled "The Robbers" is considered one of the first European melodramas. The play gives the viewer a perspective on the depravity of society and offers a look at the class, religious and economic differences between people.

Awards and achievements

In 1802, Schiller was granted the noble status of Duke of Weimar, who added the prefix “von” to his name, indicating his noble status.

Personal life and legacy

In 1790, Schiller married Charlotte von Lengefeld. The couple had four children.

At the age of 45, Schiller died of tuberculosis.

In 1839, a monument was erected in his honor in Stuttgart. The area where it was installed was named after Schiller.
There is an opinion that Friedrich Schiller was a Freemason.

In 2008, scientists conducted a DNA test that showed that the skull in Friedrich Schiller’s coffin did not belong to him and therefore his grave is now empty.

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>Biographies of writers and poets

Brief biography of Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller (Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller) is an outstanding German poet and thinker, a representative of romanticism in literature, best known for his ode “To Joy.” The writer was born on November 10, 1759 in Germany in the city of Marbach am Neckar. Schiller's father was a regimental paramedic, and his mother came from a baker's family. From childhood, the boy was raised in a religious atmosphere, which can be seen in his early poems. The future writer grew up in relative poverty.

In 1773, he entered the military academy, where he first studied law and then medicine. His first works were written during his studies. Thus, under the influence of Leisewitz’s drama, he wrote the drama “Cosmus von Medici”. The writing of the ode “Conqueror” dates back to the same period. After graduating from the academy, Schiller was appointed to the post of regimental doctor. In 1781, he completed the drama “The Robbers,” which no publishing house accepted. As a result, he published it with his own money. Subsequently, the drama was appreciated by the director of the Mannheim Theater and, after some adjustments, was staged.

The premiere of "The Robbers" took place in January 1782 and was a great success with the public. After this, people started talking about Schiller as a talented playwright. For this drama, the writer was even awarded the title of honorary citizen of France. However, in his homeland he had to serve 14 days in the guardhouse for unauthorized absence from the regiment for the performance of “The Robbers.” Moreover, from now on he was forbidden to write anything other than medical essays. This situation forced Schiller to leave Stuttgart in 1783. This is how he managed to finish two plays that he had begun before his escape: “Cunning and Love” and “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa.” These plays were subsequently staged at the same Mannheim theater.

From 1787 to 1789 he lived in Weimar, where he met Johann Goethe. It is believed that it was Schiller who inspired his friend to complete many of his works. In 1790 he married Charlotte von Lengefeld, with whom he subsequently had two sons and two daughters. He returned to Weimar in 1799 and there, with money from patrons, he published literary magazines. Then he, together with Goethe, founded the Weimar Theater, which became one of the best in the country. Until the end of his days the writer lived in this city. He died on May 9, 1805 from tuberculosis.