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Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. His literary achievements, though few in number, are generally held in great esteem in Germany and it is widely believed that, had it not been for his early death, he might have joined such central German literary figures as
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
and
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...
at the summit of their profession.


Life and career

Born in Goddelau (now part of
Riedstadt Riedstadt (), with its municipal area of 73.76 km2 is Groß-Gerau (district), Groß-Gerau district's biggest town by land area. It lies in Hesse, Germany, about 12 km southwest of Darmstadt. Geography Location Riedstadt is shaped not ...
) in the
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
as the son of a physician, Büchner attended the
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
gymnasium, a
humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
secondary school."Büchner, Georg." Garland, Henry and Mary (Eds.). ''The Oxford Companion to German Literature''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. p. 121. In 1828, he became interested in politics and joined a circle of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
aficionados, which later on probably became the
Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
and Darmstadt section of the Society for Human Rights (). In 1831, at age 18, he began to study medicine in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. In Strasbourg, he immersed himself in
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
and political thought. He was influenced by the utopian communist theories of
François-Noël Babeuf François-Noël Babeuf (; 23 November 1760 – 27 May 1797), also known as Gracchus Babeuf, was a French proto-communist, revolutionary, and journalist of the French Revolutionary period. His newspaper ''Le tribun du peuple'' (''The Tribune of ...
and Claude Henri de Saint-Simon. In 1833 he moved to Giessen and continued his studies at the local
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
. While Büchner continued his studies in Giessen, he established a secret society dedicated to the revolutionary cause. In July 1834, with the help of evangelical theologian Friedrich Ludwig Weidig, he published the leaflet '' Der Hessische Landbote'', a revolutionary pamphlet critical of social injustice in the
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
. The authorities charged them with treason and issued a warrant for their arrest. Weidig was arrested, tortured and later died in prison in Darmstadt; Büchner managed to flee across the border to Strasbourg where he wrote most of his literary work and translated two French plays by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
, '' Lucrèce Borgia'' and '' Marie Tudor''. Two years later, his medical dissertation, "Mémoire sur le Système Nerveux du Barbeaux (Cyprinus barbus L.)" was published in Paris and Strasbourg. In October 1836, after receiving his M.D. and being appointed by the
University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
as a lecturer in anatomy, Büchner relocated to
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
where he spent his final months writing and teaching until his death from
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
at the age of twenty-three. His first play, ''Dantons Tod'' (''
Danton's Death ''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution. History Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Literary realism, Realism in the so-called Vormär ...
''), about the French Revolution, was published in 1835, followed by '' Lenz'' (first partly published in Karl Gutzkow's and Wienberg's ''Deutsche Revue'', which was quickly banned). ''Lenz'' is a novella based on the life of the
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
poet Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. In 1836 his second play, '' Leonce and Lena'', satirized the nobility. His unfinished and most famous play, '' Woyzeck'', exists only in fragments and was published posthumously.


Legacy

By the 1870s, Büchner was nearly forgotten in Germany when Karl Emil Franzos edited his works; these later became a major influence on the
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
and expressionist movements. Arnold Zweig described ''Lenz'', Büchner's only work of prose fiction, as "the beginning of modern European prose". The play ''Woyzeck'' became the basis for many adaptations including
Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
's landmark
atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...
opera '' Wozzeck'' which premiered in 1925, and
Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...
's 1979 film '' Woyzeck'' (see main article, '' Woyzeck'', for a full list). ''Woyzeck'' has been included in the
curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...
for students in grade 12 in Germany. A German literary Georg Büchner Prize is awarded annually. It was created in 1923.


Works

* '' The Hessian Courier'', 1834 – in cooperation with Friedrich Ludwig Weidig (Flugschrift) * ''
Danton's Death ''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution. History Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Literary realism, Realism in the so-called Vormär ...
'', 1835 (Drama) * '' Lenz'', 1835 (Short story) * '' Leonce and Lena'', 1836 (Comedy) * '' Woyzeck'', 1837 (Drama – fragment) * ''Pietro Aretino'', his drama about
Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satire, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his ti ...
, has been lost. * Translations: ** ''Lucrezia Borgia'', 1835 (Of the play by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
) ** ''Maria Tudor'', 1835 (Of the play by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
)


Editions

*Georg Büchner, ''Werke und Briefe. Münchner Ausgabe'' (dtv, 1997). . *Georg Büchner, ''Dichtungen, Schriften, Briefe und Dokumente'' (Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, 2006). ISBN 978-3-618-68013-0. The most complete, authoritative edition.


Translations


Red Yucca – German Poetry in Translation
(trans. Eric Plattner) *Georg Büchner, ''Complete Plays and Prose'', trans. Carl Richard Mueller (Hill and Wang, 1963) *Georg Büchner, ''The Complete Plays: Danton's Death; Leonce and Lena; Woyzeck; Lenz; the Hessian Messenger; on Cranial Nerves; Selected Letters'' trans. John Reddick (Penguin Classics, 1993) . *Georg Büchner, ''Danton's Death, Leonce and Lena and Woyzeck'', trans. Victor Price, (Oxford World's Classics, 1998). .


Notes


References

* Garland, Henry and Mary (Eds.). ''The Oxford Companion to German Literature''. 2nd ed. by Mary Garland. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. "Büchner, Georg", p. 121. * Heiner Boehncke, Peter Brunner, Hans Sarkowicz. ''Die Büchners oder der Wunsch, die Welt zu verändern''. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2008.


External links

* * * * * Series on life of Georg Büchner, by Sybille Fuchs, reviewing ''Georg Büchner: Revolutionary with pen and scalpel'', an exhibition from 13 October 2013 to 16 February 2014 at the Darmstadium Conference Centre, Darmstadt:











{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchner, Georg 1813 births 1837 deaths People from Groß-Gerau (district) People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse German non-fiction writers German medical writers German Expressionist writers Writers from Hesse 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights People associated with the University of Zurich University of Strasbourg alumni Deaths from typhus Infectious disease deaths in Switzerland German male dramatists and playwrights German-language poets 19th-century German poets German male poets 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers