Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft
Encyclopedia
The Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft ("[Secret] Berlin Wednesday Society") was a small group of German liberal thinkers in Berlin.
As early as 1783 (with Johann Erich Biester as secretary), intellectuals associated with the Late Enlightenment had gathered in a Gesellschaft der Freunde der Aufklärung, or Society of Friends of the Enlightenment. It was established by Wilhelm Abraham Teller
. Members included the Prussian finance minister Carl August von Struensee, the finance councillor Johann Heinrich Wloemer (1726–1797), the poet Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk
, Christian Konrad Wilhelm von Dohm, the theatre director and writer Johann Jacob Engel, the Supreme Court councillor Friedrich Wilhelm von Beneke, Friedrich Gedike, Karl Franz von Irwing, the jurist Ernst Ferdinand Klein
, Franz Michael Leuchsenring, the physician Johann Carl Wilhelm Moehsen und Christian Gottlieb Selle, the preachers Johann Joachim Spalding
and Johann Friedrich Zöllner, and Karl Gottlieb Suarez. Moses Mendelssohn
was an honorary member.
It was through this scholarly semi-secret society, as well as through the longer-lived Montagsclub, which had a more social character, that the Berlin Enlightenment spread its ideas, using the Berlinische Monatsschrift as an outlet. Nearly every member wrote in this paper, and Werner Krauss, in his studies of the period, called it the movement's most important forum.
In 1798, Frederick William III of Prussia
closed down the society as a threat to public order.
With the short-lived Berliner Blätter and Neue Berlinische Monatsschrift (which lasted until 1811), Biester continued to promote their ideas, the enthusiasm for which philosophical Idealism had threatened to quench; but the standards of previous years (when Kant had made contributions) were never quite matched, and Biester died in 1816, with no-one left to replace him.
As early as 1783 (with Johann Erich Biester as secretary), intellectuals associated with the Late Enlightenment had gathered in a Gesellschaft der Freunde der Aufklärung, or Society of Friends of the Enlightenment. It was established by Wilhelm Abraham Teller
Wilhelm Abraham Teller
Wilhelm Abraham Teller was a German Protestant theologian who championed a rational approach to Christianity.-Biography:...
. Members included the Prussian finance minister Carl August von Struensee, the finance councillor Johann Heinrich Wloemer (1726–1797), the poet Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk
Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk
Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk, also Göckingk was a German lyric poet, journalist, and Prussian official.- Life :...
, Christian Konrad Wilhelm von Dohm, the theatre director and writer Johann Jacob Engel, the Supreme Court councillor Friedrich Wilhelm von Beneke, Friedrich Gedike, Karl Franz von Irwing, the jurist Ernst Ferdinand Klein
Ernst Ferdinand Klein
Ernst Ferdinand Klein was a German jurist and prominent representative of the Berlin Enlightenment.-Career:...
, Franz Michael Leuchsenring, the physician Johann Carl Wilhelm Moehsen und Christian Gottlieb Selle, the preachers Johann Joachim Spalding
Johann Joachim Spalding
Johann Joachim Spalding was a German Protestant theologian and philosopher of Scottish ancestry who was born in Tribsees, Swedish Pomerania...
and Johann Friedrich Zöllner, and Karl Gottlieb Suarez. Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
was an honorary member.
It was through this scholarly semi-secret society, as well as through the longer-lived Montagsclub, which had a more social character, that the Berlin Enlightenment spread its ideas, using the Berlinische Monatsschrift as an outlet. Nearly every member wrote in this paper, and Werner Krauss, in his studies of the period, called it the movement's most important forum.
In 1798, Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
closed down the society as a threat to public order.
With the short-lived Berliner Blätter and Neue Berlinische Monatsschrift (which lasted until 1811), Biester continued to promote their ideas, the enthusiasm for which philosophical Idealism had threatened to quench; but the standards of previous years (when Kant had made contributions) were never quite matched, and Biester died in 1816, with no-one left to replace him.
External links
- Article by Sebastian Panwitz