Knud Lyne Rahbek (18 December 1760 – 22 April 1830) was a

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 ...

literary historian, critic, writer, poet and magazine editor.

Biography

Knud Lyne Rahbek was the son of clergyman . He had always wanted to become an actor. In his youth he tried out as an actor at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

, but because of his appearance he was not selected. Instead he turned to the role of a writer. He started out as a playwright, writing a series of semi-successful plays most notably the play ''The Young Darcy'' (, 1780) was a success. But the work that ensured his breakthrough was the work on the theory of acting, ''Letters from an Old Actor to His Son'' (, 1782) which especially asserts

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's love of a mixture of moralizing and naturalism in plays. Rahbek quickly became one of the most prominent speakers on cultural matters, and with his work as publisher and editor of the journals ' and ''The Danish Spectator'' (), he was one of the main voices of the Danish moderate Enlightenment. Together with librarian and scholar Rasmus Nyerup he founded the Danish study of literary history with the work ''Contributions to a review of the art of poetry in Denmark'' ( (in five volumes, 1800–1828). As a prominent member of the most distinguished of the Danish clubs, most notably , he wrote a number of drinking songs. He also was one of the only Danish writers of novels and short stories at the turn of the 19th century. Together with his wife

Kamma Rahbek Karen Margrethe "Kamma" Rahbek, née ''Heger'' (19 October 1775 – 21 January 1829) was a Danish writer, salonist and lady of letters. Biography Karen Margrethe Rahbek was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the daughter of the official Han ...

, he held his own "court" at his home in the 17th-century inn turned private property called Bakkehuset in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

. Almost all of the Danish writers and prominent persons visited Bakkehuset on a regular basis.

Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, Hans Christian Andersen,

Bernhard Severin Ingemann Bernhard Severin Ingemann (28 May 1789 – 24 February 1862) was a Danish novelist and poet. Biography Ingemann was born in Torkilstrup, on the island of Falster, Denmark. The son of a vicar, he was left fatherless in his youth. While a st ...

, Steen Steensen Blicher all were personal friends of the Rahbeks.

Sources

*Conrad, Flemming, ''Rahbek og Nyerup'', Studier fra Sprog- og Oldtidsforskning, Museum Tusculanum, 1979. *Erslew, ''Almindeligt Forfatter-Lexicon for Kongeriget Danmark med tilhørende Bilande'', København, 1847, vol. 2, s. 603-619. *Anne E. Jensen, ''Rahbek og de danske Digtere'', in:''Frederiksberg gennem Tiderne'', VII, 1960. *Troels-Lund, ''Bakkehus og Solbjerg, volume 1'', Gyldendal, 1971. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahbek, Knud Lyne Danish literary critics 18th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights 1760 births 1830 deaths 19th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights Danish male dramatists and playwrights Rectors of the University of Copenhagen 18th-century male writers People educated at Herlufsholm School