Ernst Philipp Karl Lange (21 December 181320 February 1899) was a German novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Philipp Galen.
Biography
He was born at
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, studied medicine at Berlin (1835–1840), and on taking his degree, in 1840, entered the
Prussian army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
as a surgeon. In this capacity, he saw service in the
Schleswig-Holstein campaign of 1849, where he was in charge of a field hospital. He settled at
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
as medical practitioner and here issued his first novel, ''Der Inselkonig'' ("King of the ISland", 1852, 3rd ed., 1858), which enjoyed considerable popularity. In Bielefeld he continued to work at his profession and to write, until his retirement, with the rank of ''Oberstabsarzt'' (surgeon-general), to Potsdam in 1878, where he died.
Literary production
During his lifetime, Lange was described as "a pleasing
realist with no special tendency." His novels are distinguished by local colouring and pretty, though not powerful, descriptions of manners and customs. He particularly favored scenes of English life, though he had never been in that country, and on the whole he succeeded well in his descriptions.
Chief among his novels are:
*''Der Irre von St James'', rated by some the best of his novels (written in 1844, published in 1853; 7th ed., 1883)
*''Walther Lund'', a semi-biographical romance (1855)
*''Emery Glandon'' (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1865)
*''Andreas Burns'', a sketch of life in Holstein; it commanded considerable attention (1856)
*''Die Tochter des Diplomaten'', dealing with the Schleswig-Holstein campaign; it commanded considerable attention (1865)
*''Der Alte vom Berg'' (1873)
*''Die Moselnixe'' (1877)
*''Die Fürstendiener'' (1880)
*''Der Meier von Monjardin'' (1891)
His ''Gesammelte Schriften'' appeared in 36 vols, 1857–1866. ''Der Irre von St James'' was reprinted as late as 2001.
Notes
References
Attribution:
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Ernst Philipp Karl
1813 births
1899 deaths
German military doctors
German medical writers
People from Potsdam
German male novelists
19th-century German novelists
19th-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers