Johann August Apel (17 September 1771 – 9 August 1816) was a German writer and jurist. Apel was born and died in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Influence

''Die Jägerbraut'' was his version of "Der Freischütz", and it was published as the first story of the first volume of his and

Friedrich Laun Friedrich August Schulze (1 June 1770 – 4 September 1849) was a German novelist, who wrote under the pen name Friedrich Laun. Schulze was born in Dresden. His first novel, '' Der Mann, auf Freiersfüssen'' (1801), was favorably received. He wro ...

's ''

Gespensterbuch The (literally 'Ghost Book' or 'Book of Spectres') is a collection of German ghost stories written by August Apel and Friedrich Laun and published in five volumes between 1810–1815. The fifth volume was also published as the first volume of A ...

'' horror anthology (1810). Friedrich Kind and

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

drew on this version as the main source for the story of their opera ''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 18 ...

'' (1821). On recommendation of Carl von Brühl they abandoned their

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''The Hunter's Bride'' to the better known title of Apel's tale. Two of his other short stories ("Die Bilder der Ahnen" and "Die schwarze Kammer") were included in

Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès (; 24 June 176713 June 1846) was a French geographer, author and translator, best remembered in the English speaking world for his translation of German ghost stories '' Fantasmagoriana'', published anonymously in 18 ...

' ''

Fantasmagoriana ''Fantasmagoriana'' is a French anthology of German ghost stories, translated anonymously by Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès and published in 1812. Most of the stories are from the first two volumes of Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun's (1 ...

'' (1812), which was read by

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John William Polidori and

Claire Clairmont Clara Mary Jane Clairmont (27 April 1798 – 19 March 1879), or Claire Clairmont as she was commonly known, was the stepsister of the writer Mary Shelley and the mother of Lord Byron's daughter Allegra. She is thought to be the subject of a poe ...

at the

Villa Diodati The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, notable because Lord Byron rented it and stayed there with John Polidori in the summer of 1816. Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who had rented a house ...

in Cologny, Switzerland during the

Year Without a Summer The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by . Summer temperatures in Europe were the coldest on record between the years of 1766–2000. This ...

, inspiring them to write their own ghost stories, including "

The Vampyre "The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori taken from the story Lord Byron told as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the novel '' ...

" (1819), and ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

'' (1823), which went on to shape the

Gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

genre. "Die Bilder der Ahnen" (translated by

Sarah Elizabeth Utterson Sarah Elizabeth Utterson (3 November 1781 – 22 September 1851) was a British translator and author. She anonymously translated most of ''Fantasmagoriana'' (1812) as ''Tales of the Dead'' (1813), which also included her own short story " The St ...

in ''

Tales of the Dead ''Tales of the Dead'' was an English anthology of horror fiction, abridged from the French book ''Fantasmagoriana'' and translated anonymously by Sarah Elizabeth Utterson, who also added one story of her own. It was published in 1813 by White, ...

'' (1813) as "The Family Portraits") especially influenced Mary Shelley, who described it in her introduction to the 1831 edition of ''Frankenstein'':

Works

* ''Die Aitolier'' (1806) * ''

'' (1810–1815) with

* ''Wunderbuch'' volumes 1–2 (1815–1816) with Friedrich Laun * ''Kalliroe'' (1806) * ''Metrik'' (1814–1816) * ''Polyidos'' (1805)

References

External links

* * * 1771 births 1816 deaths People from the Electorate of Saxony Jurists from Saxony 19th-century German novelists Writers from Leipzig German male novelists 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German jurists People educated at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig {{Germany-law-bio-stub