Johann Karl Wezel

Wezel, Johann Karl (Sondershausen, 1747-1819, Sondershausen), grew up as the son of a cook at the princely court of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (though he may have been of illegitimate princely origin), had employment as tutor, but in the mid-1770s decided to live by his pen in Leipzig, where he had studied. Later attempts to find a foothold in Vienna (at the theatre) and in Dessau were of short duration, and in 1789 he returned to Sondershausen, where his worsening melancholia forced him into increasing dependence on others. A prolific writer of novels and stories, he owed something to C. F. Gellert, whom he knew personally in his youth, and also to Sterne and Fielding; he became well known to the public, but also to the censors. He then fell into virtual obscurity until his rediscovery (attributed to Arno Schmidt). His criticism is directed against petty social and political hypocrisy as well as excessive surrender to either reason (Vernunft) or sentiment (Empfindsamkeit).

The following titles deserve mention: Lebensgeschichte Tobias Knauts des Weisen, sonst der Stammler genannt (4 vols., 1773-6, repr. 1971), Belphegor, oder die wahrscheinlichste Geschichte unter der Sonne (2 vols., 1776, repr. 1965 and 1984), Ehestandsgeschichte des Herrn Philipp Peter Marks (1776), Robinson Krusoe (1779-80), Herrmann und Ulrike, ein komischer Roman (4 vols., 1780, repr. 1971), and Wilhelmine Arend, oder die Gefahren der Empfindsamkeit (1782). His stories, Satirische Erzählungen, appeared 1777-8, his plays, Lustspiele, 1778-80; he also published Versuch über die Kenntnis des Menschen (2 vols., 1784-5, repr. 1971). Critical writings, which included Über Sprache, Wissenschaften und Geschmack der Deutschen (1781), appeared as Kritische Schriften (3 vols.), ed. A. R. Schmitt, 1971-5.