The ''Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände'' ("Morning paper for the educated classes", renamed to ''Morgenblatt für gebildete Leser'', "Morning paper for educated readers" in 1837) was a German cultural and literary journal that existed from 1807 to 1865. It appeared daily (Monday to Saturday) until 1851, when it was changed to a weekly journal. The was published by Cotta in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

and later in Stuttgart, and was the most important German literary and cultural journal of its time.

Conception and history

Karl Jakob Theodor Leybold - Bildnis des Johann Friedrich von Cotta

The was founded by

Johann Friedrich Cotta Johann Friedrich, Freiherr Cotta von Cottendorf (April 27, 1764 – December 29, 1832) was a German publisher, industrial pioneer and politician. Ancestors Cotta is the name of a family of German publishers, intimately connected with the his ...

, who had in 1806 envisioned creating a South German equivalent of , a journal edited in Berlin by

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...

, but Cotta's letters to

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 tr ...

show that the idea of having a regional focus was soon dropped. The decision to use the name (morning paper) was decided in November 1806. The topic of the was supposed to be everything that could interest an educated reader, with the exception of politics, complementing Cotta's '' Allgemeine Zeitung''. The journal was not tied to any literary trends or programmes, but tried to cover the entire breadth of literary production. It covered a wide range of cultural topics including travelogues and literary criticism. The intended audience was an educated, but not scholarly, cultural elite, explicitly including women. Cotta discontinued several journals specialised on foreign literature (the , and ) and merged them into the . The journal first appeared on 1 January 1807, shortly after being announced in the , in an edition of 1100 copies costing 8 Saxon thalers per year. It was quite successful both with critics and with the general public. The circulation increased to 1810 copies by 1819, but the journal had many more readers via subscription libraries or other reading clubs, and its total readership has been estimated around 15,000. The journal appeared daily (Monday to Friday) until 1851, then weekly until 1865. Most famous authors of the era wrote or were featured in the , starting with

Jean Paul Jean Paul (; born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, 21 March 1763 – 14 November 1825) was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories. Life and work Jean Paul was born at Wunsiedel, in the Fichtelgebirge mountain ...

, who opened the first issue with a eulogy referencing the possible future end of the journal. Others included

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

Johann Gottfried Seume Johann Gottfried Seume (29 January 176313 June 1810) was a German author. Biography Seume was born in Poserna (now part of Lützen, Saxony-Anhalt). He was educated first at Borna, then at the Nikolai school and University of Leipzig. The study ...

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

and

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (11 October 1825 – 28 November 1898) was a Swiss poet and historical novelist, a master of literary realism who is mainly remembered for stirring narrative ballads like "Die Füße im Feuer" (The Feet in the Fire). Biog ...

. To discover more authors, the journal also used competitions, starting with one in 1807 where Goethe was a judge. The journal was published in

until 1820, in Stuttgart and Tübingen until 1855, when it was published in Stuttgart and

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

for a short time, and then in Stuttgart and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

until the end. The name was changed to in 1837. When the long-term editor died in 1865, the journal was discontinued at the end of the year, with readers preferring other products like .

Editors

The first editor was Karl Grüneisen, who led the journal 1807-1808, followed by from 1808-1811. Both quit after disagreements with Cotta. The main editors were then Friedrich Haug and . After criticism by

Karl Böttiger Karl August Böttiger (8 June 1760 – 17 November 1835) was a German archaeologist and classics, classicist, and a prominent member of the literary and artistic circles in Weimar and Jena. Biography Böttiger was born in Reichenbach im Vogtl ...

, Cotta replaced Weisser by

Friedrich Rückert Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasium'' ...

, who was an editor 1815-1817. Recommended by Böttiger,

Therese Huber Therese Huber (7 May 1764 – 15 June 1829) was a German author. She was one of the so-called , a group of five academically active women during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. The group consisted of daughters of academics at Göttingen Un ...

became an editor in 1816, after publishing various contributions, many of them anonymously, as was very common in the . Huber was the first woman supporting her family with a salaried editorial position at a journal and has been described as the first woman to hold an editorial position and even as the first journalist in Germany. Huber had full responsibility for the journal from 1817, when Rückert and Haug quit, to 1823. She was not only author and editor for the journal, but also contributed many of her own translations. The journal had its most successful period under her editorship, with more than 1800 copies sold in 1820, and somewhat declined after she left, but this decline has also been attributed to problems with censorship related to the Carlsbad Decrees. In 1823, Cotta installed his son as assistant editor and announced the move of the editorial office to Augsburg, and Huber moved there. However, Cotta eventually decided to leave the offices in Stuttgart (possibly for reasons of censorship) and Huber's editorial duties came to an end. The editorship was then taken over by Cotta himself and his son, but this was not publicly announced. The brothers

Wilhelm Hauff Wilhelm Hauff (29 November 180218 November 1827) was a Württembergian poet and novelist. Early life Hauff was born in Stuttgart, the son of August Friedrich Hauff, a secretary in the Württemberg ministry of foreign affairs, and Hedwig Wilhelmi ...

and, after his early death, Hermann Hauff became the editors from 1 January 1827. Adolf Müllner edited the , the literary supplement from 1820 to 1825. According to some reports, he used it extensively for self-promotion of his dramas. From 1825, it was edited by Wolfgang Menzel who used his influence to advance national liberalism and to attack more liberal intellectuals.

Selected contents and contributors

Goethe, whose works were published by Cotta, was regularly featured and also contributed some content, for example an essay about a new edition of his works. Heinrich Heine's reports of his journeys in Italy first appeared in the in 1828-29.

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Bremen in 1840-1841. In 1842, the novella by

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff Baroness Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff, known as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (; 10 January 179724 May 1848), was a 19th-century German poet, novelist, and composer of Classical music. She was ...

was first published in instalments in the , with the title chosen by the editor Hermann Hauff. In 1860, parts of what was to become

's were published in the . Some of the journal's female authors include

Fanny Lewald Fanny Lewald (21 March 1811 – 5 August 1889) was a German novelist and essayist and a women's rights activist. Life and career Fanny Lewald was born at Königsberg in East Prussia in 1811 to a bourgeois, Jewish family. She was taken out of sc ...

Helmina von Chézy Helmina von Chézy (26 January 178328 January 1856), née Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright. She is known for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera ''Euryanthe'' (1823) and the play ' ...

, who had been editor of the , Louise von Gall, and Fanny Tarnow, who often wrote anonymously or under pseudonyms.

Ottilie Assing Ottilie Davida Assing (11 February 1819 – 21 August 1884) was a 19th-century German-American feminist, freethinker, and abolitionist. Early life and education Born in Hamburg, she was the eldest daughter of poet Rosa Maria Varnhagen, raised ...

wrote for the journal both before and after her emigration to the United States, and her interpretation in more than 130 reports was highly influential on the views of the German intellectual public on the problem of slavery in 1860s America. With the list of authors also including Caroline Pichler,

, Friederike Brun and others, almost all notable female writers of the time were featured in the journal.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgenblatt fur gebildete Stande 1807 establishments in Germany Defunct literary magazines published in Germany Magazines established in 1807 Magazines disestablished in 1865 Magazines published in Stuttgart Mass media in Tübingen Weekly magazines published in Germany 1865 disestablishments in Europe