Karl Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav von Alvensleben (1800–1868) was a German writer.

Life

Ludwig von Alvensleben was born on 3 May 1800 in Berlin. He came from the Low German noble family of Alvensleben. At the age of thirteen, he took part in the German War of Liberation and began his career as an officer. In 1821, he was punished with two years of fortress arrest for a threatening letter written to

Prince Augustus of Prussia Prince Frederick William Henry Augustus of Prussia (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich August; 19 September 1779 – 19 July 1843) was a Prussian royal and general. Born on Friedrichsfelde Palace, he was the youngest son of Prince Augustus Ferd ...

. From 1825 to 1828, he completed a law degree in Leipzig, but could not take the final exam due to a lack of knowledge of Latin. However, he was able to make a living as a freelance writer, translator and journalist. In 1830, he was imprisoned for a short time because of a text "shadow and no light" (''Schatten und kein Licht'') printed in Halle and directed against the Leipzig police. In 1836, he temporarily directed the

Meiningen Court Theatre The Staatstheater Meiningen (State Theatre Meiningen), also called the Meiningen Theatre, is a four-division theater in the Thuringian town of Meiningen, Germany. The theater was founded in 1831 and was called ″Meininger Hoftheater″ (Meiningen ...

. In 1841, he moved to Vienna. There he took an active part in the revolutionary uprisings in October 1848 and was initially sentenced to death after being arrested, but then pardoned to one year in prison and expelled from Vienna after serving his sentence. His literary work was often impaired by frequent illnesses, so that he was in need and had to be supported by his family.

Works

Alvensleben was a versatile writer in the fields of entertainment, games and the theatre. Under his

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s Gustav Sellen and Chlodwig he wrote a number of his own novellas and novels, was successful as a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

from English and French and was the editor of various magazines. The journal ''Allgemeine Theater-Chronik'', founded by him in 1832, is still significant in terms of theatre history. It appeared until 1873 and he edited it until 1837. He also published the Journal for the German Aristocracy with

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (); (12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in ...

from 1840 to 1844. His translations included '' ''Napoleons Werke'' (6 volumes, Chemnitz 1840),

Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated ''The Mysteries of Paris'', whic ...

's ''Sämmtliche Werke'' (Leipzig 1838–46) in 24 volumes and the works of Balzac,

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

, Dumas,

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

('' Gulliver's Travels''),

Defoe Defoe may refer to: People *Defoe (surname), most notably English author Daniel Defoe Places *Defoe, Webster County, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Other uses *Defoe (comics), a zombie story *Defoe Shipbuilding Company, a former ship ...

(''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

''),

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

( Memoirs in 13 books). In total, he translated over 140 novels and plays and alongside Georg Nikolaus Bärmann (1785-1850), was the most important German translator of his time. Among his own works is ''The Lying Emperor - Destinies of the Lord of Münchhausen jun.'' (Meissen and Pesth 1833) - a time-critical satire that was reprinted in 1966 and 1968 (as a paperback) - together with the original Münchhausen from 1768 - and characterized as follows: "Alvensleben was a revolutionary spirit who had the courage to show the breaks he recognized in the state and social order as well as in the way people live and work together. This remarkable attitude, which did not stop at his own, still privileged social class, makes him particularly likeable. " (Wackermann, 1966). His other works included: ''Erzählungen'', ''Der strafende Burggeist'' (historical novel), '' Novellas and Narratives '' (Nuremberg 1831), '' The Debunked Jesuit '' '(Meißen 1831 - several editions),' 'Life and travel pictures and novellas'' (Leipzig 1841), '' Encyclopedia of board games' '(Leipzig 1853, nine editions until 1893),' 'Polterabend-Scherze' '(Quedlinburg 1858, nine editions until 1888), '' Garibaldi '' (biography, Weimar 1859), '' Prince Lobkowitz or: Revenge to the grave ''. (Historical novel, 3 volumes, Vienna 1862/63), '' General world history for the people '' (3 volumes, Vienna 1865-1872).

Family

He was a son of the Prussian hussar major, August von Alvensleben (1775–1819), from the House of

Redekin Redekin is a village and a former municipality in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Jerichow Jerichow () is a town on the east side of the river Elbe, in the District of Jeric ...

, and Countess Charlotte von Schlippenbach a.d.H. Schönermark (1777-1831). In 1828, he married Florentine Herzog (1807-1833); in 1834, Elvire Böhn (1818-1853) and in his third marriage in 1853, Emma Greiffeld (1831-1909). These marriages resulted in nine children, five of whom died in childhood. His grandmother was the actress,

Friederike von Alvensleben Friederike von Alvensleben (1749-1799), was a German actor and theater director. She was the managing director of a notable theater company, which was famous in Northern Germany during the second half of the 18th-century. She was first married to ...

, born née von Klinglin (1749-1799). This line expired with Bodo von Alvensleben (1903-1954) in the male line. Ludwig von Alvensleben died on 3 August 1868 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

References

Literature

* * * *

External links