Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger (17 February 1752 – 9 March 1831) was a German dramatist and novelist. His play ''
Sturm und Drang'' (1776) gave its name to the
Sturm und Drang artistic epoch. He was a childhood friend of
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 ...
and is often closely associated with
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. Klinger worked as a playwright for the ''
Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft
The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzerl ...
'' for two years, but eventually left 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 ...
to become a General in the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
.
Biography
One of the few eighteenth-century authors from the lower
social class
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
, Klinger was born in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
. His father, Johannes Klinger (1719–1760), was a town constable in Frankfurt who came from Pfaffen-Beerfurth in the
Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
where he was born as the son of the
mill owner,
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
and
schoolmaster Johannes Klinger (1671–1743), who was married to Anna Barabra
Boßler (1674–1747) since January 17, 1695. His father died when Klinger was eight years old, forcing his mother Cornelia Fuchs Klinger, a sergeant's daughter, to support her son and two daughters by washing laundry from the Frankfurt eliteincluding, perhaps, Klinger's future friends and patrons, the Goethes of Hirschgrabenallee.
In spite of this misfortune, Klinger excelled in his studies and win a scholarship to study at the
gymnasium, where he also worked as a tutor to earn money for his family.
Klinger was the cousin of
Heinrich Philipp Boßler, who is known as the original publisher of
Haydn,
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
and
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
.
Though there is little documentation of Klinger's earliest interactions with
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 treat ...
during their Frankfurt years, they appear to have made acquaintance by 1773, as Klinger had begun work on his first dramas, ''Otto'' and ''Das leidende Weib'' (''The Suffering Wife'') which, according to his Leipzig publisher, owe a great debt to Goethe's then-unpublished ''
Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand''. Weygand released the collection at its Easter book fair of 1775, calling them "plays in the Goethean/Lenzian Manner."
Additionally, it was only with Goethe's financial assistance that Klinger was able to enroll at the
University of Gießen in 1774 where he briefly studied to be a legal clerk.
In 1776, Klinger submitted his tragedy ''Die Zwillinge'' (''The Twins'') to a contest hosted by the Hamburg theatre under the auspices of the actress
Sophie Charlotte Ackermann
Sophie Charlotte Ackermann (''née'' Bierreichel) (10 May 1714 – 14 October 1792) was a German actress from Berlin.
Biography
She first married an organist named Schröder, who was unable to support his family. She entered the stage in 1740 i ...
and her son, the famous actor and playwright
Friedrich Ludwig Schröder
Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (3 November 1744 – 3 September 1816) was a German actor, manager, dramatist and prominent masonic leader.
He was born in Schwerin. Shortly after his birth, his mother, Sophie Charlotte Bierreichel (1714&nda ...
. The play took first prize, earning Klinger enough critical acclaim to be appointed Theaterdichter to the ''
Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft
The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzerl ...
'' headed by
Abel Seyler
Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the deve ...
and held this post for two years.
In 1778, he joined the Austrian military and fought in the
War of the Bavarian Succession. In 1780, he went to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, became an officer in the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, was ennobled and attached to the Grand Duke Paul, whom he accompanied on a journey to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In 1785, he was appointed director of the corps of cadets, and after marrying Elizaveta Alekseyeva (rumored to be a natural daughter of
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
and Prince
Grigory Orlov), was made praeses of the Academy of Knights in 1799. In 1803, Klinger was nominated by Emperor Alexander curator of the
Universität Dorpat, an office he held until 1817. In 1811, he became lieutenant-general. He then gradually gave up his official posts, and after living for many years in retirement, died in the imperial city of
Dorpat in present-day
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.
Klinger was a man of vigorous moral character and full of fine feeling, though the bitter experiences and deprivations of his youth are largely reflected in his dramas. It was one of his earliest works, ''Sturm und Drang'' (1776), which gave its name to
this artistic epoch. In addition to this tragedy and ''Die Zwillinge'' (1776), the chief plays of his early period of passionate fervour and restless "storm and stress" are ''Die neue Arria'' (1776), ''Simsone Grisaldo'' (1776) and ''Stilpo und seine Kinder'' (1780). To a later period belongs the fine double tragedy of ''Medea in Korinth'' and ''Medea auf dem Kaukasos'' (1791). In Russia, he devoted himself mainly to the writing of philosophical romances, of which the best known are ''Fausts Leben, Taten und Höllenfahrt'' (1791), ''Geschichte Giafars des Barmeciden'' (1792) and ''Geschichte Raphaeis de Aquillas'' (1793). This series was closed in 1803 with ''Betrachtungen und Gedanken über verschiedene Gegenstände der Welt und der Literatur''. In these works, Klinger gives calm and dignified expression to the leading ideas which the period of Sturm und Drang had bequeathed to German classical literature.
Works
*''Faustus''
*Review of Klinger's Faust
1890
*''
Sturm und Drang''
Bibliography
Klingers works were published in twelve volumes (1809–1815), also 1832–1833 and 1842. The most recent edition is in eight volumes (1878–1880); but none of these is complete. A selection will be found in A. Sauer, ''Stürmer und Dränger'', vol. 1. (1883). See E. Schmidt, ''Lenz und Klinger'' (1878); M. Rieger, ''Klinger in der Sturm-und Drangperiode'' (1880); and ''Klinger in seiner Reife'' (1896).
Notes
References
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinger, Friedrich Maximilian
1752 births
1831 deaths
Writers from Frankfurt
Sturm und Drang
Seyler theatrical company
Austrian military personnel
Imperial Russian Army generals
18th-century military personnel
18th-century German dramatists and playwrights
German male dramatists and playwrights