Christian Felix Weiße (1726–1804) was a German writer and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. Weiße was among the leading representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany and is regarded as the founder of German

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

Life

Weiße was born as twin on 28 January 1726 in Annaberg in the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

as the son of Christian Heinrich Weiße and his wife, Christian Elisabeth. His father was rector at a Latin school and teacher for oriental and modern European languages. When Weiße was one year old, the family moved to

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, 45 km south of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, where he then attended the Gymnasium and made his first attempts at writing poetry. His father had died in 1730. His family moved then to Leipzig, where he studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from 1745 until 1750 at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. During this time, he became acquainted with Christian Fürchtegott Gellert,

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

, Friederike Caroline Neuber, Gottlieb Rabener and Ewald Christian von Kleist. After he finished his studies, Weiße became a private tutor to the Count Geyersberg, also a student in Leipzig. Friedrich Nicolai asked Weiße in 1759 to become editor of the magazine ''Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften'' (''Library of the Beautiful Sciences'') which Nicolai had founded two years before; Weiße published this magazine and its successor until 1788. The same year, 1759, Weiße travelled to Paris; on his return, he relinquished the tutor position and became social companion to Count Schulenburg on in Burgscheidungen. Weiße became district tax collector in Leipzig in 1762 and married in the following year Christiane Platner, the daughter of a renowned Leipzig surgeon and sister of Ernst Platner. In 1790, the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of Count Schulenburg allowed him to acquire the castle in (today part of Leipzig). He redesigned it completely and established an English garden. The property changed from an estate to a summerhouse and garden where a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

sees guests like Christian Garve, Christoph Martin Wieland, Moritz August von Thümmel and

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

. Apart from his poetry and plays, Weiße had great success with his magazine ''Der Kinderfreund'' (''The Children's Friend'') which he published from 1775 until 1782 in 24 volumes; it is regarded as the first magazine for children in Germany. Four of his poems were set to music by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

set Weiße's poem "Der Kuß" () to music in 1822. Weiße was not appreciated by the literary representatives of the then new movement, . His most lasting success were the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

s to

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conducting, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet ...

's . Weiße died on 16 December 1804 in Stötteritz; he is buried in the Alter Johannisfriedhof in Leipzig. He was survived by his wife who died in 1813. A notable child from this marriage was the historian and jurist .

Works

Librettos Almost all of the works by Johann Adam Hiller are set to librettos by Weiße, in particular: * '' Die verwandelten Weiber'' (1766) * '' Lottchen am Hofe'' (1767) * '' Die Jagd'', (1770) Works by other composers include: * ''Der Dorfbarbier'', music (1771) by Christian Gottlob Neefe and Johann Adam Hiller * '' Romeo und Julie'' by Georg Benda is based on Weiße's translation of Shakespeare's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' Comedies * ''Die Freundschaft auf der Probe'' (1768) (''Friendship Tested'') * Collection in 3 volumes (1783) Daniel Chodowiecki Briefwechsel

Tragedies * ''Die Befreyung von Theben'' (1764) (''The Liberation of Thebes'') * Collection in 5 volumes (1776–1780) Children's books and non-fiction * ''Beytrag zum deutschen Theater'' (5 volumes, 1759–1768) (''Contribution to the German Theatre'') * ''Kleine Lieder für Kinder'' (1766) (''Little Songs for Children'') * ''Neues ABC-Buch'' (1772) (''New Alphabet Book'') * ''Der Kinderfreund'' (24 volumes, 1775–1782) (''The Children's Friend'') * ''Briefwechsel der Familie des Kinderfreundes'' (12 volumes, 1784–1792) (''Letters from the Family of the Children's Friend'') * ''Achthundert neue noch nie gedruckte Räthsel'' (1791) (''Eight hundred Never-Before Printed Riddles'') * ''Christian Felix Weißens Selbstbiographie'' (1806) (Autobiography)

References

External links

*
Christian Felix Weisse
at zeno.org
Poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisse, Christian Felix 1726 births 1804 deaths People from Annaberg-Buchholz Writers from Leipzig German children's writers 18th-century German poets German opera librettists German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German male writers