Johannes Scherr was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 novelist and intellectual

Intellectual

An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...

.

Biography

Scherr was born in Hohenrechberg, Württemberg

Württemberg

Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

. After studying philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen is a public university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of Germany's oldest universities, internationally noted in medicine, natural sciences and the humanities. In the area of German Studies it has been ranked first among...

 (1837-1840), he became master in a school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 conducted by his brother Thomas in Winterthur

Winterthur

Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...

. In 1843 he removed to Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, and, entering the political arena with a pamphlet Württemberg im Jahr 1843, was elected in 1848 a member of the Württemberg

Württemberg

Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

 House of Deputies; became leader of the democratic party

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 in south Germany and, in consequence of his agitation for parliamentary reform in 1849, was obliged, to take refuge in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to avoid arrest. Condemned in contumaciam to fifteen years hard labor, he established himself in Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

 as Privatdozent in 1850, but removed in 1852 to Winterthur. In 1860 he was appointed professor of history and Helvetian literature at the Polytechnicum in Zürich, in which city he died.

Work

Scherr was a voluminous writer in the field of historical investigation into the civilization, literature, and manners and customs of his country. His works have largely a political bias, but are characterized by clearness of exposition and careful research. Noteworthy among his books are the following:

• Deutsche Kultur-und Sitten-Geschichte (1852-1853, new ed. 1897)
• Schiller und seine Zeit (1859, new ed. 1876)
• Geschichte der deutschen Frauenwelt (1860, 4th ed. 1879)
• Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur (1851, 9th ed. 1895-1896)
• Geschichte der englischen Literatur (1854, 2nd ed. 1883)
• Blücher, seine Zeit und sein Leben (1862, 4th ed. 1887)
• Germania. Zwei Jahrtausende deutschen Lebens (1879, 6th ed. by Hans Prutz 1905)

Scherr also wrote the humorous Sommertagebuch des weiland Dr Gastrosophiae, Jeremia Sauerampfer (1873); as a novelist he published the historical novels, Schiller (1856), and Michel, Geschichte eines Deutschen unserer Zeit (1858) which have passed through several editions.

With the exception of some of his stories (Novellenbuch, 10 vols 1873-1877) Scherr's works have not appeared in a collected edition.
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