Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich (1759 - 1805)

German poet, playwright and aesthetic philosopher.

Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach. A native of the lower classes of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-innkeeper, his father is a regimental paramedic. After studying at primary school and studies with the Protestant pastor Schiller in 1773, on the orders of the Duke of Württemberg, entered the newly established military academy and began to study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest; in 1775 the academy was transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study was extended, and Schiller, leaving law, took up medicine. After completing the course in 1780, he received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

While still at the academy, Schiller moved away from the religious and sentimental exaltation of his early literary experiments, turned to drama, and in 1781 completed and published The Robbers. At the beginning of the following year the play was staged in Mannheim; Schiller was present at the premiere For unauthorized absence from the regiment for the performance of The Robbers, he was arrested and banned from writing anything other than medical essays, which forced Schiller to flee the Duchy of Württemberg. The quartermaster of the Mannheim theater, Dalyörg, appoints Schiller a "theatrical poet", concluding a contract with him to write plays for staging on stage.

Tormented by the pangs of unrequited love, Schiller willingly accepted the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, Privatdozent G. Kerner, and stayed with him in Leipzig and Dresden for more than two years.

In 1789, he received a position as professor of world history at the University of Jena, and thanks to his marriage to Charlotte von Lengefeld, he found family happiness.

The Crown Prince von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E. von Schimmelmann paid him a scholarship for three years (1791-1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I. Fr. Cotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ory.

Schiller was interested in philosophy, especially aesthetics. As a result, "Philosophical Letters" and a whole series of essays (1792-1796) appeared - "On the Tragic in Art", "On Grace and Dignity", "On the Sublime" and "On Naive and Sentimental Poetry". The philosophical views of Schiller were strongly influenced by I. Kant.

In addition to philosophical poetry, he also creates purely lyrical poems - short, song-like, expressing personal experiences. In 1796, Schiller founded another periodical, the annual Almanac of the Muses, where many of his works were published.

In search of materials, Schiller turned to J. W. Goethe, whom he met after Goethe returned from Italy, but then things did not go beyond a superficial acquaintance; now the poets have become close friends. The so-called "ballad year" (1797) was marked by Schiller and Goethe with excellent ballads, incl. Schiller - "Cup", "Glove", "Polycrates ring", which came to the Russian reader in the magnificent translations of V.A. Zhukovsky.

In 1799, the duke doubled Schiller's maintenance, which, in fact, became a pension, because. teaching activities the poet was no longer engaged and moved from Jena to Weimar. In 1802, Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, granted Schiller the nobility.

Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich - the most popular and most famous German poet, b. 11/10/1759, d. May 9, 1805. His father, a military doctor, was distinguished by deep honesty and strict devotion to Lutheranism. The boy received his first lessons from a local pastor, then attended a Latin school, until 1773 Duke Karl of Württemberg enrolled him as a pupil in the military school he founded, which was later transformed into a military academy (“Karlsschule”). Schiller owes his broad, comprehensive education to this institution. At first he thought to study theology, but then he became interested in legal sciences and medicine. Attraction to poetry awakened in him Klopstock his "Messiah", but the strongest influence on its development and direction came from Plutarch and J. J. Rousseau.

Beginning in 1776, the first samples of his lyrics began to appear in the Schwäbisches Magazin. Wanting to be free to engage in literature and the development of the conceived tragedy The Robbers (Die Räuber), Schiller decided to leave the academy, but he succeeded only after he submitted two essays: on the topics of medical and natural sciences. Released as a physician in a grenadier regiment, he lovingly took up his first truly brilliant work, and in 1782 The Robbers were staged on the stage of the court theater in Mannheim with great, hitherto unseen success. Then Schiller decided to devote himself to dramaturgy and began working on the tragedy The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa.

But while the talent of the young poet began to develop more and more widely, he suffered the misfortune in the form of a ban on writing "comedy" by the duke, who did not like his unauthorized absences in Mannheim. Not foreseeing the end of such a ban and unable to withstand this oppression, Schiller decided to flee to Mannheim. The escape was successful, but disappointment awaited in Mannheim. "Fiesco" was not accepted on stage and only a year later published by Schwan (Mannheim, 1783).

Friedrich Schiller. romantic rebel

In the same year, the tragedy "Cunning and Love" ("Kabale und Liebe") was completed and "Don Carlos" began. In July 1783, Schiller managed to settle down with Dahlberg, director of the Mannheim theater. The play "Cunning and Love" staged on his stage caused general delight and raised the writer's fallen spirit. This tragedy is the best youthful work of Schiller. sad phenomena modern life outlined in it very vividly, with a truly poetic passion, combined with a strong characterization. However, material hardships continued to depress the poet, this was joined by an even stronger fever. As soon as he recovered, he began to publish the magazine "Rhine Thalia" (1785), where he placed the first act of "Don Carlos". This tragedy was completed by him far from as quickly as the first ones. Here he first began to use speech in verse, observing iambic pentameter everywhere.

By this time, Schiller's acquaintance and the beginning of friendship with Madame Charlotte von Kalb, which had a great influence on his entire life, dates back to this time. later life. In 1789, his friends in Leipzig, Koerner and Huber, persuaded him to leave Mannheim and come to them in order to develop his talent in silence, among friends. Indeed, Schiller's life in Leipzig turned out so well and calmly that he vividly expressed his sense of satisfaction and happiness in the dithyramb "Ode to Joy." He graduated from Don Carlos, sketched out the story "Criminal for Lost Honor" and the novel "The Spiritualist" (published in 1789), continued to publish his journal "Thalia", where he placed all his writings. At the same time, a desire arose in him to study history. Already in Don Carlos one could see how far the poet had stepped forward in his development. A lofty main idea runs through everything, a work rich in maxims, beautiful in language, and most importantly actor him, the Marquis of Pose, is, as it were, the personification of the noble nature of Schiller himself.

In 1787 he left his friends and went to Weimar, where Mrs. von Kalb had long called him. Here, in this city of muses, he met with the most cordial welcome from the great talents that surrounded Duke Charles August. After settling in the countryside, he began to write The History of the Fall of the Netherlands, published in 1788. Unfortunately, material need forced him to work hastily, which could not but affect his work, although he studied all the sources very carefully. At the same time he wrote several poems, among others "Gods of Greece" and "Letters on Don Carlos". Some, albeit a slight, relief from material need was for him to receive a chair in history at Jena. The poet prepared for his professorship very diligently, and the first lecture - "What is world history and for what purpose is it studied" - was a resounding success. Since 1790, Schiller published a collection of historical memoirs and wrote the History of the Thirty Years' War for the Goshen calendar. In this work, the attention of the author himself was attracted by majestic figures Wallenstein and king Gustav Adolf, outlined by him therefore with special force.

Marriage to Charlotte Langenfeld gave the poet long-sought happiness and peace of mind. His life flowed briskly and happily among friends, but the disease that began in him (tuberculosis) immediately and forever destroyed his health. Somehow recovered from good care and treatment, he was forced to work hard to improve his finances. The outbreak of the French Revolution found in him an ardent supporter and defender, until the execution of the king dealt a deep and sensitive blow to his sympathies for this popular movement. To improve his health and exhausted nerves, he went to his homeland in Swabia and in Tübingen entered into relations with the then well-known book publisher Kotta.

In subsequent years, after his illness, a new turn was noticed in the development of Schiller - an attraction to philosophy and aesthetics. Already in the summer of 1790, he lectured on tragedy, and a year later he delved into the study of Kant's newly published Critique of Pure Reason, being carried away by his theory of aesthetics. The influence of the great philosopher was not slow to affect the works The Pleasure of the Tragic and On the Tragic Art (1792). The culminating point in this direction is the essay "Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man", in which he indicates what a huge influence beauty (beautiful) has on the development and ennoblement of not only an individual, but the entire state and society. These letters were published in 1795 in the journal Ory. In a whole series of works by Schiller, published in 1800 under the title On Naive and Sentimental Poetry, the philosopher again comes into contact with the poet. Acquired theoretical knowledge causes judgments about outstanding works of poetry, and Schiller begins to group poets according to their different moods and positions in the world. In this era of the development of an ideal view of the vocation of the poet, he writes many reviews, among other things, about Burger's poems, pointing out their aesthetic shortcomings.

Other important event in the life of the poet there was a close acquaintance and inseparable friendship with Goethe. Under her influence, Schiller again turned to pure poetry. Together with Goethe, Schiller published the Ory magazine, having managed to attract the best literary forces to this cause, prepared the publication of the Almanac of the Muses, wrote the poem Ideal and Life, The Power of Chanting, The Virtues of a Woman, the elegy Walk and etc. From the end of 1795, both great poets compiled the famous collection of epigrams "Xenia", which appeared in the "Almanac of the Muses" (1797) and directed against the literary philistines of that time. The success of the epigrams was extraordinary. They caused a lot of objections, but they only proved that the arrows fired by the poets hit the target. Now they only had to prove to the nation with their creations how seriously they understood true art. Having stopped reading university lectures, seized with the heat of creativity, Schiller devoted himself entirely to writing and created during this period his best ballads: "The Cup", "The Ring of Polycrates", "Ivikov Cranes", etc., as well as "Wallenstein", this great trilogy, undoubtedly the greatest best work great poet (1799). The success of the trilogy reached the point of enthusiasm. Schiller finally decided to devote himself to dramaturgy alone, he even stopped publishing the Almanac of the Muses, publishing there the Song of the Bell in the last year. He began to write "Mary Stuart", which he completed in 1800. This play is the most scenic of all the tragedies of Schiller.

Settling again in Weimar, he, together with Goethe, set about creating a new exemplary repertoire for the German theater and in 1801 released the tragedy The Maid of Orleans, and specially processed Gozzi's fairy tale Turandot for the Weimar theater. In 1802, the Duke of Weimar granted the poet a nobility. A year later, he published the tragedy The Bride of Messina, where he made his first attempt to introduce the ancient choir into modern drama. Schiller's next major creation was William Tell, for which he zealously studied the history and geography of Switzerland (1804). It was already like the poet's swan song. His illness progressed rapidly. He still found the strength to write, at the request of Goethe, to greet the Weimar Crown Princess, the play "Glorification of the Arts", but this was already given to him with great difficulty. In the spring of 1805, the poet died quietly, surrounded by friends.

For more complete characteristics the great Schiller, it should be noted that, along with a strong talent for realistic narration, he always coexisted with a feature of subjective reflection and abstract expression of ideas. The persistent idea that poetry should serve as a moral example was, in fact, alien to him, but with Schiller's characteristic pathos, ideal dreams of the welfare of mankind constantly prevailed in him, and therefore his works easily grew beyond the bounds of pure aesthetics, and the poet became a philosopher. . What others came out with only abstraction and pure didactics - under the pen of Schiller became poetry. The loftiness and nobility of the poet's nature were combined with that special charm that always distinguishes idealists. Schiller rightly remains the favorite poet of youth.

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach am Neckar - died May 9, 1805 in Weimar. German poet, philosopher, art theorist and playwright, professor of history and military doctor, representative of Sturm und Drang and romanticism in literature, author of Ode to Joy, a modified version of which became the text of the anthem European Union. He entered the history of world literature as a defender of the human personality.

During the last seventeen years of his life (1788-1805) he was friends with Johann Goethe, whom he inspired to complete his works, which remained in draft form. This period of friendship between the two poets and their literary controversy entered German literature under the name "Weimar classicism".

The surname Schiller has been found in Southwestern Germany since the 16th century. The ancestors of Friedrich Schiller, who lived for two centuries in the Duchy of Württemberg, were winemakers, peasants and artisans.

His father - Johann Kaspar Schiller (1723-1796) - was a regimental paramedic, an officer in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, his mother - Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweis (1732-1802) - from the family of a provincial baker-tavern owner. The young Schiller was brought up in a religious-pietistic atmosphere, echoed in his early poems. His childhood and youth were spent in relative poverty.

In 1764, Schiller's father was appointed recruiter and moved with his family to the town of Lorch. In Lorch the boy got elementary education with the local pastor Moser. The training lasted three years and mainly included the study of reading and writing in their native language, as well as familiarity with Latin. The sincere and good-natured pastor was later immortalized in the writer's first drama. "Robbers".

When the Schiller family returned to Ludwigsburg in 1766, Friedrich was sent to the local Latin school. The curriculum at the school was not difficult: Latin was studied five days a week, on Fridays - native language, on Sundays - catechism. Schiller's interest in studies increased in high school, where he studied the Latin classics -, and. After graduating from the Latin school, having passed all four exams with excellent marks, in April 1772 Schiller was presented for confirmation.

In 1770, the Schiller family moved from Ludwigsburg to Solitude Castle, where the Duke of Württemberg, Karl-Eugene, established an orphanage for the education of soldiers' children. In 1771 this institute was reformed into a military academy.

In 1772, looking through the list of graduates of the Latin school, the duke drew attention to the young Schiller, and soon, in January 1773, his family received a summons, according to which they were to send their son to the military academy " graduate School St. Charles, where Friedrich began to study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest.

Upon entering the Academy, Schiller was enrolled in the burgher department of the Faculty of Law. Due to a hostile attitude towards jurisprudence at the end of 1774, the future writer turned out to be one of the last, and at the end of the 1775 academic year, the very last of the eighteen students of his department.

In 1775, the academy was transferred to Stuttgart and the course of study was extended.

In 1776, Schiller moved to the medical faculty. Here he attends lectures by talented teachers, in particular, a course of lectures on philosophy by Professor Abel, a favorite teacher of academic youth. During this period, Schiller finally decides to devote himself to poetic art.

Already from the first years of study at the Academy, Friedrich was carried away by the poetic works of Friedrich Klopstock and poets "Storm and Stress", began to write small poetic works. Several times he was even offered to write congratulatory odes in honor of the duke and his mistress, Countess Franziska von Hohengey.

In 1779, Schiller's dissertation "Philosophy of Physiology" was rejected by the leadership of the academy, and he was forced to stay for a second year. Duke Charles Eugene imposes his resolution: “I must agree that the dissertation of Schiller's pupil is not without merit, that there is a lot of fire in it. But it is precisely the latter circumstance that compels me not to publish his dissertation and to keep another year at the Academy so that the heat of it cools down. If he is as diligent, then by the end of this time a great man will probably come out of him..

While studying at the Academy, Schiller wrote his first works. Influenced by the drama "Julius of Tarentum" (1776) by Johann Anton Leisewitz, Friedrich writes "Cosmus von Medici"- a drama in which he tried to develop a favorite theme of the Sturm und Drang literary movement: the hatred between brothers and the love of a father. At the same time, his great interest in the work and writing style of Friedrich Klopstock prompted Schiller to write the ode "The Conqueror", published in March 1777 in the journal "German Chronicle" (Das schwebige Magazin) and which was an imitation of the idol.

Friedrich Schiller - The Triumph of a Genius

Finally, in 1780, he graduated from the course of the Academy and received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart, without assigning him an officer rank and without the right to wear civilian clothes - evidence of ducal dislike.

In 1781 he completes the drama "Robbers"(Die Räuber), written by him during his stay at the Academy. After editing the Robbers' manuscript, it turned out that not a single Stuttgart publisher wanted to print it, and Schiller had to publish the drama at his own expense.

The bookseller Schwan in Mannheim, to whom Schiller also sent the manuscript, introduced him to the director of the Mannheim theater, Baron von Dahlberg. He was delighted with the drama and decided to stage it in his theater. But Dahlberg asks to make some adjustments - to remove some scenes and the most revolutionary phrases, the time of action is transferred from the present, from the era of the Seven Years' War to the 17th century.

Schiller opposed such changes, in a letter to Dahlberg dated December 12, 1781, he wrote: “Many tirades, features, both large and small, even characters are taken from our time; transferred to the age of Maximilian, they will cost absolutely nothing ... To correct a mistake against the era of Frederick II, I would have to commit a crime against the era of Maximilian ”, but nevertheless, he made concessions, and The Robbers were first staged in Mannheim January 13, 1782. This production was a huge success with the public.

After the premiere in Mannheim on January 13, 1782, it became clear that a talented playwright had come into literature. The central conflict of the "Robbers" is the conflict between two brothers: the elder, Karl Moor, who, at the head of a band of robbers, goes into the Bohemian forests to punish tyrants, and the younger, Franz Moor, who at this time seeks to take over his father's estate.

Karl Moor personifies the best, brave, free beginnings, while Franz Moor is an example of meanness, deceit and treachery. In The Robbers, as in no other work of the German Enlightenment, the ideal of republicanism and democracy sung by Rousseau is shown. It is no coincidence that it was for this drama that Schiller was awarded the honorary title of citizen of the French Republic during the years of the French Revolution.

Simultaneously with the Robbers, Schiller prepared for publication a collection of poems, which was published in February 1782 under the title "Anthology for 1782"(Anthologie auf das Jahr 1782). The creation of this anthology is based on Schiller's conflict with the young Stuttgart poet Gotthald Steidlin, who, claiming to be the head of the Swabian school, published "Swabian Almanac of Muses for 1782".

Schiller sent Steidlin several poems for this edition, but he agreed to print only one of them, and then in an abbreviated form. Then Schiller collected the poems rejected by Gotthald, wrote a number of new ones and, thus, created the "Anthology for 1782", contrasting it with the "almanac of the muses" of his literary opponent. For the sake of greater mystification and raising interest in the collection, the city of Tobolsk in Siberia was indicated as the place of publication of the anthology.

For an unauthorized absence from the regiment to Mannheim for the performance of The Robbers, Schiller was placed in a guardhouse for 14 days and was banned from writing anything other than medical writings, which forced him, along with his friend, the musician Streicher, to flee the duke's possessions on September 22, 1782 year to the Margraviate of the Palatinate.

Having crossed the border of Württemberg, Schiller went to the Mannheim theater with a prepared manuscript of his play. "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa"(German: Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua), which he dedicated to his professor of philosophy at the Academy, Jacob Abel.

The theater management, fearing the discontent of the Duke of Württemberg, was in no hurry to start negotiations on staging the play. Schiller was advised not to stay in Mannheim, but to leave for the nearest village of Oggersheim. There, together with his friend Streicher, the playwright lived under the assumed name of Schmidt in the village tavern "Hunting Yard". It was here in the autumn of 1782 that Friedrich Schiller made the first draft of a version of the tragedy. "Cunning and Love"(German: Kabale und Liebe), which is still called "Louise Miller".

At this time, Schiller is typing "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" for a meager fee, which he instantly spent. Being in a hopeless situation, the playwright wrote a letter to his old acquaintance Henriette von Walzogen, who soon offered the writer her empty estate in Bauerbach.

In Bauerbach, under the surname "Doctor Ritter", he lived from December 8, 1782. Here Schiller began to finish the drama "Cunning and Love", which he completed in February 1783. Immediately he sketched a new historical drama "Don Carlos"(German: Don Karlos). He studied the history of the Spanish Infanta using books from the library of the Mannheim ducal court, which were supplied to him by a familiar librarian. Along with the history of Don Carlos, Schiller then began to study the history of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart. For some time he hesitated on which of them he should choose, but the choice was made in favor of "Don Carlos".

January 1783 became a significant date in the private life of Friedrich Schiller. In Bauerbach, the mistress of the estate came to visit the hermit with her sixteen-year-old daughter Charlotte. Friedrich fell in love with the girl at first sight and asked her mother for permission to marry, but she did not give consent, since the aspiring writer did not have a penny in his pocket.

At this time, his friend Andrei Shtreikher did everything possible to win the favor of the administration of the Mannheim Theater in favor of Schiller. The director of the theater, Baron von Dahlberg, knowing that Duke Karl Eugene had already abandoned the search for his missing regimental medic, writes a letter to Schiller in which he is interested literary activity playwright.

Schiller replied rather coldly and only briefly recounted the content of the drama "Louise Miller". Dahlberg agreed to stage both dramas - The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa and Louise Miller - after which Friedrich returned to Mannheim in July 1783 to participate in the preparation of plays for production.

Despite the excellent performance of the actors, The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa was generally not a great success. The Mannheim theater audience found this play too abstruse. Schiller undertook a remake of his third drama, Louise Miller. During one rehearsal, theater actor August Iffland suggested changing the name of the drama to "Deceit and Love". Under this title, the play was staged on April 15, 1784 and was a huge success. "Cunning and Love", no less than "Robbers", glorified the name of the author as the first playwright in Germany.

In February 1784 he joined "Elector German Society", which was led by the director of the Mannheim theater Wolfgang von Dahlberg, which gave him the rights of a Palatinate citizen and legalized his stay in Mannheim. During the official acceptance of the poet into society on July 20, 1784, he read a report entitled "The Theater as a Moral Institution." The moral significance of the theater, designed to denounce vices and approve of virtue, Schiller diligently propagated in the magazine he founded "Rhine Thalia"(German Rheinische Thalia), the first issue of which was published in 1785.

In Mannheim, Friedrich Schiller met Charlotte von Kalb, a young woman with outstanding mental abilities, whose admiration brought the writer much suffering. She introduced Schiller to the Weimar Duke Karl August when he was visiting Darmstadt. The playwright read in a select circle, in the presence of the duke, the first act of his new drama Don Carlos. The drama made a big impression on those present.

Karl August granted the author the position of Weimar councilor, which, however, did not alleviate the plight in which Schiller was. The writer had to repay a debt of two hundred guilders, which he had borrowed from a friend for the publication of The Robbers, but he had no money. In addition, his relationship with the director of the Mannheim Theater deteriorated, as a result of which Schiller broke his contract with him.

At the same time, Schiller became interested in the 17-year-old daughter of the court bookseller Margarita Schwan, but the young coquette did not show unequivocal favor for the beginning poet, and her father hardly wanted to see his daughter married to a man without money and influence in society. In the autumn of 1784, the poet remembered a letter that he received six months earlier from the Leipzig community of admirers of his work, headed by Gottfried Koerner.

On February 22, 1785, Schiller sent them a letter in which he frankly described his plight and asked to be received in Leipzig. Already on March 30, a benevolent response came from Koerner. At the same time, he sent the poet a promissory note for a significant amount of money so that the playwright could pay off his debts. Thus began a close friendship between Gottfried Koerner and Friedrich Schiller, which lasted until the death of the poet.

When Schiller arrived in Leipzig on April 17, 1785, he was met by Ferdinand Huber and sisters Dora and Minna Stock. Koerner was at that time on official business in Dresden. From the first days in Leipzig, Schiller yearned for Margarita Schwan, who remained in Mannheim. He addressed her parents with a letter in which he asked for the hand of his daughter. The publisher Schwan gave Margarita the opportunity to resolve this issue herself, but she refused Schiller, who was very upset by this new loss. Soon Gottfried Körner arrived from Dresden and decided to celebrate his marriage to Minna Stock. Warmed by the friendship of Koerner, Huber and their girlfriends, Schiller recovered. It was at this time that he created his anthem "Ode to Joy".

On September 11, 1785, at the invitation of Gottfried Koerner, Schiller moved to the village of Loschwitz near Dresden. Here Don Carlos was completely remade and completed, a new drama The Misanthrope was begun, a plan was drawn up and the first chapters of the novel The Spirit Seer were written. It was also finished here "Philosophical Letters"(German Philosophische Briefe) is the most significant philosophical essay of the young Schiller, written in epistolary form.

In 1786-87 Friedrich Schiller was introduced into Dresden secular society through Gottfried Körner. At the same time, he received an offer from the famous German actor and theater director Friedrich Schroeder to stage Don Carlos at the Hamburg National Theatre.

Schroeder's offer was pretty good, but Schiller, remembering the past unsuccessful experience of cooperation with the Mannheim Theater, refuses the invitation and goes to Weimar - the center German literature, where he is zealously invited by Christoph Martin Wieland to collaborate in his literary magazine "German Mercury" (German: Der Deutsche Merkur).

Schiller arrived in Weimar on August 21, 1787. The playwright's companion in a series of official visits was Charlotte von Kalb, with whose assistance Schiller quickly became acquainted with the greatest writers of the time - Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried Herder. Wieland highly appreciated Schiller's talent and especially admired his latest drama, Don Carlos. Between the two poets, from the first meeting, close friendly relations were established, which have been preserved for long years. For several days, Friedrich Schiller went to the university town of Jena, where he was warmly received in local literary circles.

In 1787-88, Schiller published the journal Thalia (German: Thalia) and at the same time collaborated on Wieland's Deutsche Mercury. Some works of these years were begun in Leipzig and Dresden. In the fourth issue of Thalia, his novel was published chapter by chapter. "Ghost Seer".

With the move to Weimar and after meeting with major poets and scientists, Schiller became even more critical of his abilities. Realizing the lack of his knowledge, the playwright moved away from artistic creativity to thoroughly study history, philosophy and aesthetics.

Publication of the first volume of the work "History of the Fall of the Netherlands" in the summer of 1788 brought Schiller the fame of an outstanding researcher of history. The poet's friends in Jena and Weimar (including J. W. Goethe, whom Schiller met in 1788) used all their connections to help him get a position as an extraordinary professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena, who during the poet's stay in this city experienced a period of prosperity.

Friedrich Schiller moved to Jena on 11 May 1789. When he began lecturing, the university had about 800 students. The introductory lecture entitled "What is world history and for what purpose is it studied" (German: Was heißt und zu welchem ​​Ende studiert man Universalgeschichte?) was a great success. Schiller's listeners gave him an ovation.

Despite the fact that the work of a university teacher did not provide him with sufficient material resources, Schiller decided to end his single life. Upon learning of this, Duke Karl August appointed him in December 1789 a modest salary of two hundred thalers a year, after which Schiller made an official proposal to Charlotte von Lengefeld, and in February 1790 a marriage was concluded in a village church near Rudolstadt.

After the engagement, Schiller began work on his new book "History of the Thirty Years' War", began work on a number of articles on world history and again began to publish the journal Rhine Thalia, in which he published his translations of the third and fourth books of Virgil's Aeneid. Later, his articles on history and aesthetics were published in this journal.

In May 1790, Schiller continued his lectures at the university: in this academic year he publicly lectured on tragic poetry and privately on world history.

In early 1791, Schiller fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Now he only occasionally had intervals of a few months or weeks when the poet would be able to work quietly. Especially strong were the first bouts of illness in the winter of 1792, because of which he was forced to suspend teaching at the university. This forced rest was used by Schiller for a deeper acquaintance with philosophical works.

Being unable to work, the playwright was in an extremely poor financial situation - there was no money even for a cheap lunch and the necessary medicines. At this difficult moment, at the initiative of the Danish writer Jens Baggesen, Crown Prince Friedrich Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Count Ernst von Schimmelmann appointed Schiller an annual subsidy of a thousand thalers so that the poet could restore his health. Danish subsidies continued in 1792-94. Then Schiller was supported by the publisher Johann Friedrich Kotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ores.

In the summer of 1793, Schiller received a letter from his parents' home in Ludwigsburg informing him of his father's illness. Schiller decided to go home with his wife to see his father before his death, to visit his mother and three sisters, whom he had separated from eleven years ago.

With the tacit permission of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugene, Schiller arrived in Ludwigsburg, where his parents lived not far from the ducal residence. Here, on September 14, 1793, the first son of the poet was born. In Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart, Schiller met with old teachers and former friends from the Academy. After the death of Duke Karl Eugen Schiller visited the military academy of the deceased, where he was enthusiastically received by the younger generation of students.

During his stay at home in 1793-94, Schiller completed his most significant philosophical and aesthetic work. "Letters on the aesthetic education of man"(German: Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen).

Soon after returning to Jena, the poet set to work energetically and invited all the most prominent writers and thinkers of the then Germany to collaborate in the new journal Ores (German: Die Horen). Schiller planned to unite the best German writers to the literary community.

In 1795 Schiller wrote a cycle of poems in philosophical themes, close in meaning to his articles on aesthetics: "Poetry of Life", "Dance", "Division of the Earth", "Genius", "Hope", etc. The leitmotif through these poems is the thought of the death of everything beautiful and truthful in a dirty, prosaic world . According to the poet, the fulfillment of virtuous aspirations is possible only in an ideal world. The cycle of philosophical poems was Schiller's first poetic experience after almost a ten-year creative break.

The unity of Schiller also contributed to the rapprochement of the two poets in their views on French Revolution and socio-political situation in Germany. When Schiller, after a trip to his homeland and returning to Jena in 1794, in the journal Ory, outlined his political program and invited Goethe to participate in a literary society, he agreed.

A closer acquaintance between the writers took place in July 1794 in Jena. At the end of the meeting of naturalists, going out into the street, the poets began to discuss the content of the report they heard, and talking, they reached Schiller's apartment. Goethe was invited to the house. There he began expounding his theory of plant metamorphosis with great enthusiasm. After this conversation, a friendly correspondence began between Schiller and Goethe, which was not interrupted until the death of Schiller and made up one of the best epistolary monuments of world literature.

joint creative activity Goethe and Schiller had, first of all, as its goal the theoretical understanding and practical solution of the problems that arose before literature in the new, post-revolutionary period. In search of the ideal form, the poets turned to ancient art. In him they saw the highest example of human beauty.

When new works by Goethe and Schiller, which reflected their cult of antiquity, high civic and moral pathos, religious indifference, appeared in the "Orah" and "Almanac of the Muses", a campaign was launched against them by a number of newspapers and magazines. Critics condemned the interpretation of issues of religion, politics, philosophy, aesthetics.

Goethe and Schiller decided to give their opponents a sharp rebuff, mercilessly scourging all the vulgarity and mediocrity of contemporary German literature in the form suggested to Schiller by Goethe - in the form of couplets, like Martial's Xenius.

Beginning in December 1795, for eight months, both poets competed in writing epigrams: each response from Jena and Weimar was accompanied by "Xenia" for review, review and addition. Thus, by joint efforts in the period from December 1795 to August 1796, about eight hundred epigrams were created, of which four hundred and fourteen were selected as the most successful and published in the Almanac of the Muses for 1797. The theme of "Kseny" was very versatile. It included questions of politics, philosophy, history, religion, literature and art.

They touched on over two hundred writers and literary works. "Xenia" is the most militant of the compositions created by both classics.

In 1799 he returned to Weimar, where he began to publish several literary magazines with the money of patrons. Becoming a close friend of Goethe, Schiller founded the Weimar Theater with him, which became the leading theater in Germany. The poet remained in Weimar until his death.

In 1799-1800. Schiller finally writes a play "Mary Stuart", the plot of which occupied him for almost two decades. He gave the brightest political tragedy, capturing the image of a distant era, torn apart by the strongest political contradictions. The play was a great success among contemporaries. Schiller finished it with the feeling that he now "mastered the playwright's craft".

In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II granted Schiller the nobility. But he himself was skeptical about this, in his letter of February 17, 1803, writing to Humboldt: “You probably laughed when you heard about the elevation of us to a higher rank. That was our duke's idea, and since everything has already happened, I agree to accept this title because of Lolo and the children. Lolo is now in his element, as he twirls his train at court.

Last years Schiller's life was overshadowed by severe protracted illnesses. After a severe cold, all the old ailments became aggravated. The poet suffered from chronic pneumonia. He died on May 9, 1805 at the age of 45 from tuberculosis.

Schiller's main works:

Schiller's plays:

1781 - "Robbers"
1783 - "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa"
1784 - "Deceit and love"
1787 - "Don Carlos, Infante of Spain"
1799 - dramatic trilogy "Wallenstein"
1800 - "Mary Stuart"
1801 - "Maid of Orleans"
1803 - "Messinian bride"
1804 - "William Tell"
"Dimitri" (was not completed due to the death of the playwright)

Schiller's prose:

Article "Criminal for Lost Honor" (1786)
"Ghostseer" (unfinished novel)
Eine grossmütige Handlung

Philosophical works of Schiller:

Philosophie der Physiologie (1779)
On the relationship between the animal nature of man and his spiritual nature / Über den Zusammenhang der tierischen Natur des Menschen mit seiner geistigen (1780)
Die Schaubühne als eine moralische Anstalt betrachtet (1784)
Über den Grund des Vergnügens an tragischen Gegenständen (1792)
Augustenburger Briefe (1793)
On Grace and Dignity / Über Anmut und Würde (1793)
Kallias Briefe (1793)
Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man / Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen (1795)
On Naive and Sentimental Poetry / Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung (1795)
On Dilettantism / Über den Dilettantismus (1799; co-authored with Goethe)
On the Sublime / Über das Erhabene (1801)

Historical works of Schiller's work:

History of the Fall of the United Netherlands from Spanish Rule (1788)
History of the Thirty Years' War (1791)

Friedrich Schiller is a German poet, philosopher, art theorist and playwright, history professor and military doctor. entered the history of literature as one of the the brightest representatives humanism.

Schiller's mother, in contrast to her father, was gentle, compassionate and kind. She loved to gather children near her and read poetry and various Christian literature to them.

In 1764 the Schiller family moved to the city of Lorch. AT given period The boy became seriously interested in biographies. His teacher was a local priest, who had a serious influence on the formation of Schiller's personality. There was a moment when the future poet even wanted to become a clergyman.

A few years later, the head of the family received a position as a gardener in the ducal castle. Thanks to this, Friedrich could freely attend the court theater, where various productions were staged.

The theater made an indelible impression on Schiller, as a result of which he, along with his sisters, often staged performances at home, speaking to his parents.

Having reached the age of 14, Friedrich was sent to a military school. Stay in this educational institution became one of the most difficult periods in his biography.

The school had the strictest discipline, the violation of which could result in serious consequences for the student. For the slightest mistake, the young men could be flogged with rods or fined.

Nevertheless, the years spent at school did not break Schiller, but on the contrary, they tempered his character. They kindled a rebellious spirit in him, which will manifest itself in the future works of the playwright.

In 1776, Friedrich Schiller transferred to the medical department. In the same year he published his first poem, "Evening". At this time of the biography, he became seriously interested in creativity.

The works of the English playwright inspired him to create the tragedy The Robbers, which brought him great popularity.

After completing his studies in 1780, Schiller worked as a doctor in Stuttgart. However, it was difficult to call him a good specialist, since he never had an interest in.

Works by Schiller

The following year after the publication of The Robbers, Schiller published a collection of poems called An Anthology for 1782. Soon he published the tragedy "Cunning and Love".

During this period of his biography, the poet experienced financial difficulties, which is why he agreed to print the drama The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa for a very modest fee.

In the mid-1790s, Schiller wrote the philosophical work Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man, and also published the ballads Ivikov Cranes, Polycrates' Ring, and The Diver.

Friedrich Schiller is most famous for the following works:

• Wallenstein (trilogy);
• "Mary Stuart";
• "Maid of Orleans";
• "Ode to Joy";
• "William Tell".

Personal life

During his biography, Schiller repeatedly fell in love with women, making marriage proposals to them. However, every time he heard refusals due to his financial insolvency.

When Friedrich was 31 years old, he met Charlotte von Lengefeld. The guy was fascinated by his beloved and soon decided to propose to her, to which she agreed. Young people got married in 1790.

Portrait of Charlotte von Lengefeld

Interestingly, Schiller repeatedly spoke of his wife as a very smart and wise woman. However, the poet's friends, on the contrary, noted that Charlotte was a simple and very narrow-minded girl.

Death

3 years before his death, Friedrich was awarded title of nobility which came as a complete surprise to him. He was skeptical about this title, but nevertheless accepted it solely so that his wife and children could live comfortably after his death.

Soon, Schiller was diagnosed with tuberculosis, in connection with which his state of health worsened more and more every day.

Monument to Goethe and Schiller in Weimar

Initially, the poet was buried in the Kassengevelbe crypt, but after 20 years they decided to rebury him. It is worth noting that it was very difficult to identify the ashes of Schiller.

For this reason, archaeologists randomly chose one of the remains that were in the crypt, declaring that they belonged to the playwright. Then they were buried again in the princely tomb next to the grave of his friend Johann Goethe.

The story with the burial of Friedrich Schiller did not end there. Later, biographers began to argue about the authenticity of the writer's body. As a result, in 2008, scientists conducted an exhumation, which showed that the remains of Schiller belonged to three different people.

To date, it is almost impossible to find the true ashes of the poet, so his grave remains empty.

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