Jens Immanuel Baggesen (15 February 1764 – 3 October 1826) was a major
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
,
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
,
critic, and comic writer.
Life
![Gravesite Jens Immanuel Baggesen Kiel Germany](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Gravesite_Jens_Immanuel_Baggesen_Kiel_Germany.jpg)
Baggesen was born at
Korsør
Korsør is a town on Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Korsør was the seat of Korsør Municipality. The town is located west of Slagelse, north-west of Skælskør and connects to Nyborg through the Great Bel ...
on the
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
of
Zealand
Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020.
It is the 1 ...
on February 15, 1764.
His parents were very poor, and he was sent to
copy documents at the office of the clerk of
Hornsherred
Hornsherred () is a peninsula between Roskilde Fjord and Isefjord on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark.
It falls within the expanded Frederikssund municipality and includes Jægerspris and Skibby and before 1 January 2007 a part of Bramsn ...
District
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
before he was twelve. He was a melancholy, feeble child, and he attempted
suicide more than once. By dint of indomitable perseverance, he managed to gain an education; in 1782, he entered the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...
.
His first work—a verse ''Comical Tales'' broadly similar to the later ''Broad Grins'' of
Colman the Younger—took the capital by storm and the struggling poet found himself a popular favorite at age 21.
He then tried more serious
lyric poetry
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
and his
tact, elegant manners, and versatility gained him a place in the best society.
In March 1789, his success collapsed when his
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
''
Holger Danske Holger may refer to:
People
* Holger (given name), includes name origin, plus people with the name
* Hilde Holger, stage name of dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Hilde Boman-Behram (née Hilde Sofer, 1905–2001)
Fictional characters
* Holg ...
'' was received with mockery of its many faults
and a heated
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
controversy over Baggesen's association with
Germans
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, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
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. He left Denmark in a rage and spent the next years in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, and
Switzerland.
In 1790, he married at
Bern and began to write in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
.
He published his next poem ' ("Alpine Song") in that language, but brought the
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
' ("
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...
") as a peace offering upon his return to
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
in the winter. It was received with unbounded homage.
Over the next twenty years, he published volumes alternately in Danish and German and wandered across northern Europe before settling principally in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
His most important German work during this period was the 1803 idyllic
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
epic called ''Parthenais''.
Upon his 1806 visit to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, he found the young
Oehlenschläger hailed as the great poet of the day and his own popularity on the wane.
He then stayed, engaging in one abusive
literary feud after another, most with the underlying issue that Baggesen was determined not to allow Oehlenschläger to be considered a greater poet than himself.
He finally left for Paris in 1820, where he lost his second wife and youngest child in 1822.
Suffering a period of
imprisonment for his debts, he fell at last into a hopeless melancholy madness.
Having slightly recovered, he determined to see Denmark once more, but died en route at the
Freemasons' hospital in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on October 3, 1826.
He was buried at
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
.
Legacy
Baggesen's many-sided talents achieved success in all forms of writing, but his
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
,
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, and
critical
Critical or Critically may refer to:
*Critical, or critical but stable, medical states
**Critical, or intensive care medicine
*Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences.
*Critical Software, a company specializing in ...
works fell out of favor by the mid-19th century.
His
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
is marred by his egotism and passions, but his comic poems are deathless.
His finished and elegant style was very influential on later
Danish literature
Danish literature () a subset of Scandinavian literature, stretches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest preserved texts from Denmark are runic inscriptions on memorial stones and other objects, some of which contain short poems in alliterative ...
, in which he is regarded as the major figure between
Holberg and
Oehlenschläger.
His greatest success, however, has proven to be the simple song ' ("There Was a Time when I Was Very Little")
which was known by heart among Danes a century after his death
and still remains popular. It has outlived all of his epics.
There is a statue of Baggesen on Havnepladsen in
Korsør
Korsør is a town on Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Korsør was the seat of Korsør Municipality. The town is located west of Slagelse, north-west of Skælskør and connects to Nyborg through the Great Bel ...
, unveiled on 6 May 1906 by Professor
Vilhelm Andersen
Vilhelm Rasmus Andreas Andersen (16 October 1864 – 3 April 1953) was a Danish author, literary historian and intellectual, who primarily focused on the study of Danish literature. He was one of the first to use the term " Golden Age of Culture" ...
. The local
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...
hotel is also named after him.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baggesen, Jens
1764 births
1826 deaths
People from Korsør
Danish male poets
People imprisoned for debt
18th-century Danish poets
19th-century Danish poets
19th-century male writers
German-language poets
Danish Freemasons
18th-century male writers