Johann Peter Eckermann (21 September 1792 – 3 December 1854), German poet and author, is best known for his work ''
Conversations with Goethe
Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'', the fruit of his association with
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
during the last years of Goethe's life.
Biography
Eckermann was born at
Winsen (Luhe)
Winsen (Luhe) () is the capital of the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Luhe, near its confluence with the Elbe, approx. 25 km southeast of Hamburg, and 20 km northwest of Lüneburg.
Hi ...
in
Harburg, of humble parentage, and was brought up in penury and privation.
After serving as a volunteer in the
War of Liberation
Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...
(1813–1814), he obtained a secretarial appointment under the war department at Hanover. In 1817, although twenty-five years of age, he was enabled to attend the gymnasium of Hanover and afterwards the
university of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, which, however, after one year's residence as a student of law, he left in 1822.
His acquaintance with Goethe
Goethe's Theory of Colours, Part II: Physical Colours, Eastlake's Note L
/ref> began in the following year, when Eckermann sent to Goethe the manuscript of ''Beiträge zur Poesie'' (1823). Soon afterwards he went to Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, where he supported himself as a private tutor. For several years he also instructed the son of the grand duke. In 1830 he travelled in Italy with Goethe's son. In 1838 he was given the title of grand-ducal councillor and appointed librarian to the grand-duchess.
Writings
Eckermann is chiefly remembered for his important contributions to the knowledge of the great poet contained in his ''Conversations with Goethe
Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'' (1836–1848). To Eckermann Goethe entrusted the publication of his ''Nachgelassene Schriften'' (posthumous works) (1832–1833). He was also joint-editor with Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer
Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer (19 April 1774 – 19 December 1845) was a German scholar and literary historian. He worked in the households of Wilhelm von Humboldt and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Biography
Riemer was born at Glatz. He studied th ...
(1774–1845) of the complete edition of Goethe's works in 40 vols (1839–1840). He died at Weimar on 3 December 1854.
Eckermann's ''Gespräche mit Goethe
''Gespräche mit Goethe'' (translation: ''Conversations with Goethe'', ''Conversations with Eckermann'') is a book by Johann Peter Eckermann recording his conversations with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last nine years of the latter's li ...
'' (vols: i. and ii. 1836; vol. iii. 1848; 7th ed., Leipzig, 1899; best edition by Ludwig Geiger
Ludwig Geiger (born ''Lazarus Abraham Geiger'', also called ''Ludwig Moritz Philipp Geiger''; 5 June 1848 – 9 February 1919) was a German author and historian.
Life
Ludwig Geiger was born at Breslau, Silesia, a son of Abraham Geiger. After st ...
, Leipzig, 1902) have been translated into almost all the European languages, (English translations by Margaret Fuller
Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...
, Boston, 1839, and John Oxenford
John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator.
Life
Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. Whilst he was privately educated, it is reported that he was m ...
, London, 1850).
Besides this work and the ''Beiträge zur Poesie'', Eckermann published a volume of poems (Gedichte, 1838. See ''J. P. Eckermanns Nachlaß'' edited by Friedrich Tewes, vol. i. (1905), and an article by RM Meyer in the ''Goethe-Jahrbuch'', xvii. (1896)).
Notes
References
*
Attribution
*
External links
*
1792 births
1854 deaths
19th-century German poets
19th-century German male writers
German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
People from the Electorate of Hanover
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German Lutherans
German male poets
{{Germany-poet-stub