Karl Philipp Moritz
Encyclopedia
Karl Philipp Moritz was a German author
, editor
and essayist of the Sturm und Drang
, late enlightenment
, and classicist periods, influencing early German Romanticism
as well. He led a life as a hatter's apprentice, teacher, journalist, literary critic, professor of art and linguistics, and member of both of Berlin's academies.
in 1756. After receiving a scanty schooling, he was apprenticed to a hat maker. After distressful attempts to gain a living, he caught the attention of a patron in Hanover
and entered a gymnasium
; however, he soon accepted an engagement as actor under Ekhof
at Gotha
, failing in which he returned to study (1776) at Erfurt
; but tiring again be joined the Herrnhuter (Moravian Church) at Barby
, and studied theology at Wittenberg
(1777); then taught philanthropy at the Potsdam
military orphanage, soon again to take to wandering.
Teaching in Berlin
, he made a reputation as writer, preacher and poet, and went to England
. Then he became professor at the gymnasium at Cologne
. Next he tried editing the Vossische Zeitung to make it proletarian, but failed. Later he traveled to Italy
(1786) where he met Goethe, and on his return to Germany he took up residence as Goethe's guest at Weimar
. Duke Karl August helped him join the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and in 1789 Moritz became a professor of antiquities at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin
. Among his students were Ludwig Tieck
, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder
and Alexander von Humboldt
. He was an avid admirer of Jean Paul
, and befriended Moses Mendelssohn
, and Asmus Jakob Carstens.
. Moritz's Magazin zur Erfahrungsseelenkunde als ein Lesebuch für Gelehrte und Ungelehrte (Journal of Experiential Psychology, a reader for scholars and laymen) was one of the first Germanophone journals of psychology. His works include:
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and essayist of the Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s, in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism...
, late enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, and classicist periods, influencing early German Romanticism
German Romanticism
For the general context, see Romanticism.In the philosophy, art, and culture of German-speaking countries, German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to its English counterpart, coinciding in its...
as well. He led a life as a hatter's apprentice, teacher, journalist, literary critic, professor of art and linguistics, and member of both of Berlin's academies.
Biography
Moritz was born into impoverished circumstances in HamelinHamelin
Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of 58,696 ....
in 1756. After receiving a scanty schooling, he was apprenticed to a hat maker. After distressful attempts to gain a living, he caught the attention of a patron in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
and entered a gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
; however, he soon accepted an engagement as actor under Ekhof
Konrad Ekhof
Konrad Ekhof was a German actor.In 1739 he became a member of Johann Friedrich Schönemann's company in Lüneburg, and made his first appearance there on the 15th of January 1740 as Xiphares in Racine's Mithridate...
at Gotha
Gotha
-Places:* Gotha , a town in Thuringia, Germany* Gotha , in Thuringia, Germany* Gotha, Ethiopia* Gotha, Florida, a town in the United States* Saxe-Gotha, a former Thuringian duchy* Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, a former Thuringian duchy...
, failing in which he returned to study (1776) at Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
; but tiring again be joined the Herrnhuter (Moravian Church) at Barby
Barby, Germany
Barby is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe river, near the confluence with the Saale, approx. southeast of Magdeburg...
, and studied theology at Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
(1777); then taught philanthropy at the Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
military orphanage, soon again to take to wandering.
Teaching in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, he made a reputation as writer, preacher and poet, and went to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Then he became professor at the gymnasium at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Next he tried editing the Vossische Zeitung to make it proletarian, but failed. Later he traveled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(1786) where he met Goethe, and on his return to Germany he took up residence as Goethe's guest at Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. Duke Karl August helped him join the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and in 1789 Moritz became a professor of antiquities at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
. Among his students were Ludwig Tieck
Ludwig Tieck
Johann Ludwig Tieck was a German poet, translator, editor, novelist, writer of Novellen, and critic, who was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.-Early life:...
, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder
Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder
Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder was a German jurist and writer. With Ludwig Tieck, he was a co-founder of German Romanticism....
and Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
. He was an avid admirer of Jean Paul
Jean Paul
Jean Paul , born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.-Life and work:...
, and befriended Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
, and Asmus Jakob Carstens.
Works
Apart from a four-part autobiographical novel, Anton Reiser, and two fictional Andreas Hartknopf novels, he also wrote a number of theoretical writings on aesthetics, especially "Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen" (On the Formative Imitation of Beauty), which Goethe excerpted in his Italian JourneyItalian Journey
Italian Journey is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's report on his travels to Italy from 1786–7, published in 1816–7. The book is based on Goethe's diaries...
. Moritz's Magazin zur Erfahrungsseelenkunde als ein Lesebuch für Gelehrte und Ungelehrte (Journal of Experiential Psychology, a reader for scholars and laymen) was one of the first Germanophone journals of psychology. His works include:
External links
- http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A(texts)%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20(subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20K%2E%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20K%2E%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Karl%20Philipp%20Moritz%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Karl%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22K%2E%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%2C%20Sir%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20K%2E%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%2C%201756-1793%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20K%2E%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Karl%20Philipp%20Moritz%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Karl%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22K%2E%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Karl%20Philipp%20Moritz%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Karl%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20title%3A%22K%2E%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Karl%20Philipp%20Moritz%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Karl%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20description%3A%22K%2E%20P%2E%20Moritz%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20Philipp%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Moritz%2C%20K%2E%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Moritz%2C%20Karl%20P%2E%20%28Karl%20Philipp%29%22)Works by or about Karl Philipp Moritz] at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) (plain text and HTML) - Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences Moritz Critical Edition