Ernst von Wildenbruch

Wildenbruch, Ernst von (Beirut, 1845-1909, Berlin), whose father, an illegitimate son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, was in the Prussian consular service, was born within the Turkish Empire and spent his early years in south-east Europe (Constantinople, 1851, and Athens, 1852-7) as well as in Berlin.

In 1859 Wildenbruch was sent to the Cadet House at Potsdam, transferring in 1860 to the Cadet School at Berlin-Lichterfelde. Commissioned in 1863 in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, he disliked Potsdam garrison life and resigned his commission in 1865, but rejoined in 1866 and 1870. He served with his regiment in Bohemia in 1866, but in 1870 his retention in a home battalion of another regiment caused him bitter resentment. Between the wars (see Deutscher Krieg and Deutsch-Französischer Krieg) he studied law in Berlin and was appointed to the judicial branch of the civil service in 1871, serving first in Frankfurt and then for a short time as magistrate in Eberswalde.

From 1877 to 1900 he was attached to the German Foreign Ministry, retiring with the rank of Counsellor of Legation (Geheimer Legationsrat).

Wildenbruch began to write poetry during his brief career as a regular officer, but his first publication was the satire Die Philologen am Parnaß (1868). A play, Spartakus (1873), was not performed. The short epic poems Vionville (3 cantos, 1874) and Sedan (3 cantos, 1875) were successful with the nationalistically minded public of the seventies. The once popular story Der Meister von Tanagra reflected the interest in the objets d'art (Tanagrafiguren) unearthed in the excavations at Tanagra in Boeotia in 1873. In the 1880s Wildenbruch turned his hand to play-writing. His dramas not only attracted attention, but were taken up by the Meiningen company (see Meininger), which in 1881 performed his historical tragedy Die Karolinger (1882); it was followed by Väter und Söhne (1882), Der Menonit (1882), Christoph Marlow, (1885), Das neue Gebot (1886), and Die Quitzows (1888), the contemporary stage success of which is reflected in Th. Fontane's Die Poggenpuhls. Der Generalfeldoberst (1889) and Der neue Herr (1891), plays about the Hohenzollerns, continued this trend. Wildenbruch turned to Naturalism with Die Haubenlerche (1891) and Meister Balzer (1893), but reverted to historical plays, achieving another great theatrical success with a trilogy on the subject of the Emperor Heinrich IV, Heinrich und Heinrichs Geschlecht (1896). His last plays were Die Tochter des Erasmus (1899) and Die Rabensteinerin (1907).

Wildenbruch's Novellen include the collection Kindertränen (1884, Der Letzte and Die Landpartei), Das edle Blut (1892), Claudias Garten (1895), Neid (1900), and Vize-Mama (1902). They retain more vitality than his plays and reveal a sensitiveness which is obscured in many of the plays by his nationalistic zeal. Wildenbruch's poetry appeared in Dichtungen und Balladen (1884, which in 1892 appeared as Lieder und Balladen) and in 1909 in Letzte Gedichte.

Gesammelte Werke (16 vols.), ed. B. Litzmann, were published 1911-24, and Ausgewählte Werke (4 vols.), ed. E. Elster, 1919.

Ernst von Wildenbruch

Ernst von Wildenbruch (February 3, 1845 – January 15, 1909) was a German poet and dramatist.

Biography

Wildenbruch was born at Beirut in Lebanon, the son of the Prussian consul-general, Ludwig von Wildenbruch. Having passed his early years at Athens and Constantinople, where his father was attached to the Prussian legation, he came in 1857 to the Kingdom of Prussia, received his early schooling at the Padagogium at Halle and the Französische Gymnasium in Berlin, and, after passing through the cadet school, became, in 1863, an officer in the Prussian Army.

Two years later Wildenbruch abandoned his military career, but was recalled to the colors in 1866 for the Austro-Prussian War. He next studied law at the University of Berlin, and again served in the army during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).

In 1876 Wildenbruch was attached to the foreign office, which he finally quit in 1900 with the title of counsellor of legation. He achieved his first literary successes with the epics Vionville (1874) and Sedan (1875). After publishing a volume of poems, Lieder und Balladen (1877), he produced, in 1882, the tragedy Die Karolinger.

Among Wildenbruch's chief dramas may be mentioned the tragedy Harold (1882); Die Quitzows (1888); Der Generalfeldoberst (1889); Die Haubenlerche (1891); Heinrich und Heinrichs Geschlecht (1895); Die Tochter des Erasmus (1900); and König Laurin (1902).

Wildenbruch was twice (in 1884 and 1896) awarded the Schiller prize, and was, in 1892, created a doctor of philosophy honoris causa by the university of Jena. He also wrote several volumes of short stories (Novellen, 1883; Neue Novellen, 1885; Tiefe Wasser, 1897, and others).

References

•  "Wildenbruch, Ernst von". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

This article about a poet from Germany is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)