Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer
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Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer, in later life von Hackländer (1 November 1816 – 6 July 1877), was a German author.


Life

Hackländer was born in
Burtscheid Burtscheid () is a district of the city of Aachen, part of the Aachen-Mitte Stadtbezirk. It is a health resort. History It was inhabited since ancient times by Celts and Romans, who were attracted by the presence of hot springs. Burtscheid ...
, now part of the city of
Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...
, Germany. He was orphaned at the age of 12 and brought up in impoverished circumstances by various relatives. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed in
Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...
(now
Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...
) to a shopkeeper, which was highly uncongenial to his own aspirations. He was attracted to military service and therefore entered the
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n artillery at the age of 16, but found himself unable to make much of a career in that milieu either and therefore returned to the commercial world. In 1840 he moved to
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
in a complete break from his previous life in the hope of establishing a literary career. The beginnings were unpromising, and when his dramas failed to meet with approval, he was obliged to resort to translating the works of
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...
. However, success came at once when he began to write of his own experiences: his first major published work was ''Bilder aus dem Soldatenleben im Frieden'', of 1841, which drew on his time in military service, and from then onwards, by dint of writing at length about absolutely everything that happened to him, he maintained a successful and prolific writing career. After a journey to the Near East in 1840 (written up as "Journey to the Orient", or ''Reise in den Orient'', and published 1842), Hackländer was appointed counsellor (''Hofrat''), secretary and travelling companion to the Crown Prince of
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
, which made him familiar with court life. He resigned from court service in 1849 to become a
war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...
in Italy for the newspapers of the important German publisher Cotta, which also resulted in the book ''Bilder aus dem Soldatenleben im Kriege'' (1849-1850). In 1859 Hackländer founded, together with Eduard Hallberger, the illustrated weekly, '' Über Land und Meer'', and he edited the magazine. In 1859 he re-entered the service of the state of Württemberg as director of royal parks and public gardens at Stuttgart. In the same year he was attached to the headquarters staff of the Austrian army during the Italian war. In the following year for his services he was raised to the hereditary nobility as ''Ritter von Hackländer'' by the Austrian Emperor and retired into private life in 1864. Hackländer died at his villa in
Leoni Leoni is an Italian surname, literally meaning " lions". Notable people with this surname include: People * Pier Leoni (died 1128), son of the Jewish convert Leo de Benedicto and founder of the Roman family of the Pierleoni * Jacob Jehudah Leo ...
on the
Starnberger See Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm or ''Würmsee'' until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest Lake, lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three differen ...
in
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
. He is buried in the Pragfriedhof in Stuttgart.


Works

Hackländer's humorous and realistic style made him very popular and in the mid 19th century he was one of the most widely read writers of Germany. Many of his works centred on important topical issues, such as the working conditions of the poor, and he has sometimes been compared to
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, his writing is lively, adventurous and even romantic on occasion, but his range is narrow and the character-drawing feeble and superficial. He was a voluminous writer: the most complete edition of his works is the third, published at Stuttgart in 1876, in 60 volumes.


Selected publications

* 1841 ''Bilder aus dem Soldatenleben im Frieden'' * 1843 ''Märchen'' * 1845 ''Wachstubenabenteuer'' * 1847 ''Humoristische Erzählungen'' * 1850 ''Handel und Wandel'' * 1851 ''Namenlose Geschichten'' * 1854 ''Europäisches Sklavenleben'' * 1857 ''Der Augenblick des Glücks'' * 1866 ''Künstlerroman'' * 1868 ''Das Geheimnis der Stadt'' * 1870 ''Der letzte Bombardier'' * 1872 ''Freiwillige vor! Kriegsbilder aus den Feldzügen 1870'' * 1874 ''Nullen''


Recent editions

Most of Hackländer's very numerous works have remained unreprinted, but a handful have lasted into, or been revived in, more recent times, including: two collections of fairy stories, ''Der Leibschneider der Zwerge'' and ''Weihnachtsmärchen''; the travel book ''Reise in den Orient'', as well as some pieces on the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
included with works by other authors in ''Rheinfahrt''; and two of the many autobiographical works, ''Handel und Wandel'', which describes in lightly fictionalised form his dissatisfied early life as cheap labour in a small shop, and ''Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer, ein Preusse in Schwaben'', which deals with his experiences in Württemberg.


References

*''This article draws on that in the German Wikipedia.'' *


External links

*
Literature by and about Hackländer in the GBV union catalogue

Hackländer Website incl many online texts

Hackländer bibliography and further sources

www.fw-hacklaender.de


{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacklander, Friedrich Wilhelm 1816 births 1877 deaths Writers from Aachen People from the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine German travel writers German male journalists 19th-century German journalists German male novelists German male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German novelists 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers German magazine editors