In 1740 Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, came to power in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. Under the rule of the philosophically-oriented Frederick II, Berlin gave birth to an intellectual renaissance in which it became one of the most important centers of the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

in Europe. The city was an important printing press location, as well as the new home of many drama groups. Later, it hosted a National Theater, the Academy of the Arts and the Academy of Sciences. Central to the Berlin Enlightenment was a learned society of friends known as the ''Aufklärer'' (en-lighteners), including the publisher and bookseller

Friedrich Nicolai Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (18 March 1733 – 11 January 1811) was a German writer and bookseller. Life Nicolai was born in Berlin, where his father, Christoph Gottlieb Nicolai (d. 1752), was the founder of the bookseller ''Nicolaisch ...

, the poet and philosopher

Karl Wilhelm Ramler Karl Wilhelm Ramler (25 February 1725 – 11 April 1798) was a German poet, Berlin Cadet School master. Ramler was born in Kolberg. After graduating from the University of Halle, he went to Berlin, where, in 1748, he was appointed professo ...

, the philosopher

Johann Georg Sulzer Johann Georg Sulzer (; 16 October 1720 in Winterthur – 27 February 1779 in Berlin) was a Swiss professor of Mathematics, who later on moved on to the field of electricity. He was a Wolffian philosopher and director of the philosophical section o ...

Thomas Abbt Thomas Abbt (; 25 November 1738 – 3 November 1766) was a German mathematician and writer. Biography Born in Ulm as the son of a wig-maker, Abbt visited a secondary school in Ulm, then moved in 1756 to study theology, philosophy and mathematics ...

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...

, and

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

. They pursued literary and literary interests, often linked with the goal of civil

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...

; at the same time, they were loyal and patriotic to the State of Prussia. The union of the civil enlightenment and the state of Prussia and its King bespoke their underlying national goals, and the advancement of German language and literature. This was also hindered by Frederick II's preference for the French language.

People

(1725–1798) *

(1720–1779) *

(1738–1766) *

Hartwig Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely ( yi, נפתלי הירץ וויזעל, translit=Naftali Hirtz Vizel; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was an 18th-century German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, J ...

(1725–1805) *

Salomon Maimon Salomon Maimon (; ; lt, Salomonas Maimonas; he, שלמה בן יהושע מימון‎; 1753 – 22 November 1800) was a philosopher born of Lithuanian Jewish parentage in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, present-day Belarus. Some of his work w ...

(1753–1800) *

Johann Jakob Engel Johann Jakob Engel (11 September 1741 – 28 June 1802) was a German author. Life Engel was born and died in Parchim, in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He studied theology at Rostock and Bützow, and philosophy at Leipzig, where he took ...

(1741–1802) *

Ernst Ferdinand Klein Ernst Ferdinand Klein (3 September 1744 in Breslau – 18 March 1810 in Berlin) was a German jurist and prominent representative of the Berlin Enlightenment. Career Klein studied law at Halle under Daniel Nettelbladt, a follower of Christian ...

(1743–1810) * Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1741–1796) *

Julien Offray de La Mettrie Julien Offray de La Mettrie (; November 23, 1709 – November 11, 1751) was a French physician and philosopher, and one of the earliest of the French materialists of the Enlightenment. He is best known for his 1747 work '' L'homme machine'' ('' ...

(1709–1751) *

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

(1694–1778) *

Karl Philipp Moritz Karl Philipp Moritz (Hameln, 15 September 1756 – Berlin, 26 June 1793) was a German author, editor and essayist of the ''Sturm und Drang'', late Enlightenment, and classicist periods, influencing early German Romanticism as well. He led a li ...

(1756–1793) * Philipp Buttmann (1764–1829) *

Christoph Friedrich Nicolai Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (18 March 1733 – 11 January 1811) was a German writer and bookseller. Life Nicolai was born in Berlin, where his father, Christoph Gottlieb Nicolai (d. 1752), was the founder of the bookseller ''Nicolaisch ...

(1733-1811) *

Johann Erich Biester Johann Erich Biester (17 November 1749, in Lübeck – 20 February 1816, in Berlin) was a German philosopher. With Friedrich Nicolai and Friedrich Gedike, he formed what was known as the 'Triumvirate' of late Enlightenment Berlin. Life From 176 ...

(1749-1816) *

Friedrich Gedike Friedrich Gedike (15 January 1754, Boberow bei Karstädt (Prignitz) (Margraviate of Brandenburg, Mark Brandenburg) – 2 May 1803, Berlin) was a German theologian, teacher and educational reformer of the late Age of Enlightenment. He was the recip ...

(1754-1803)

References

*di Giovanni, George,
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi
, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) *Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, George Di Giovanni (1994).
The Main Philosophical Writings and the Novel "Allwill"
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, . {{ISBN, 0-7735-1018-4. Enlightenment philosophy

People

See also

References