Gottfried August Bürger

Gottfried August Bürger (January 1, 1748 - June 8, 1794), German poet, was born at Molmerswende near Halberstadt, of which village his father was the Lutheran pastor. Download high resolution version (2136x2848, 300 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2136x2848, 300 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... Halberstadt is a city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ...

He was a backward child, and at the age of twelve was practically adopted by his maternal grandfather, Bauer, at Aschersleben, who sent him to the Padagogium at Halle. Hence in 1764 he passed to the university, as a student of theology, which, however, he soon abandoned for the study of jurisprudence. here he fell under the influence of CA Klotz (1738-1771), who directed Bürger's attention to literature, but encouraged rather than discouraged his natural disposition to a wild and unregulated life. In consequence of his dissipated habits, he was in 1767 recalled by his grandfather, but on promising to reform was in 1768 allowed to enter the university of Göttingen as a law student. Map of Germany showing Halle Halle (also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the largest town in the German Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow...

As he continued his wild career, however, his grandfather withdrew his support and he was left to his own devices. Meanwhile he had made fair progress with his legal studies, and had the good fortune to form a close friendship with a number of young men of literary tastes. In the Göttingen Musenalmanach, edited by H Boie and FW Gotter, Burger's first poems were published, and by 1771 he had already become widely known as a poet. In 1772, through Boie's influence, Bürger obtained the post of "Amtmann" or district magistrate at Altengleichen near Göttingen. His grandfather was now reconciled to him, paid his debts and established him in his new sphere of activity. 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Map of Germany showing Göttingen 1 External links Coat of Arms University of Göttingen Top: The old Auditorium Maximum (1862-65) Bottom: New library building Göttingen is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Meanwhile he kept in touch with his Göttingen friends, and when the "Göttinger Bund" or "Ham" was formed, Bürger, though not himself a member, kept in close touch with it. In 1773 the ballad Lenore was published in the Musenalmanach. This poem, which in dramatic force and in its vivid realization of the weird and supernatural remains without a rival, made his name a household word in Göttingen. In 1774 he married Dorette Leonhart, the daughter of a Hanoverian official; but his passion for his wife's younger sister Auguste (the "Molly" of his poems and elegies) rendered the union unhappy and unsettled his life. In 1778 Bürger became editor of the Musenalmanach, and in the same year published the first collection of his poems. In 1780 he took a farm at Appenrode, but in three years lost so much money that he had to abandon the venture. Pecuniary troubles oppressed him, and being accused of neglecting his official duties, and feeling his honour attacked, he gave up his official position and removed in 1784 to Göttingen, where he established himself as Privatdozent. 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1785 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Shortly before his removal thither his wife died (July 30, 1784), and on June 29 in the next year he married his sister-in-law "Molly." Her death in childbirth on January 9, 1786 affected him deeply. He appeared to lose at once all courage and all bodily and mental vigour. He still continued to teach in Gottingen; at the jubilee of the foundation of the university in 1787 he was made an honorary doctor of philosophy, and in 1789 was appointed extraordinary professor in that faculty, though without a stipend. In the following year he married a third time, his wife being a certain Elise Hahn, who, enchanted with his poems, had offered him her heart and hand. Only a few weeks of married life with his "Schwabenmadchen" sufficed to prove his mistake, and after two and a half years he divorced her. Deeply wounded by Schiller's criticism, in the 14th and 15th part of the Allgemeine Literaturzeitung of 1791, of the 2nd edition of his poems, disappointed, wrecked in fortune and health, Bürger eked out a precarious existence as a teacher in Göttingen until, ill with tuberculosis, he died there on the 8th of June 1794. July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805), usually known as Friedrich Schiller, was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. ... 1791 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Bürger's character, in spite of his utter want of moral balance, was not lacking in noble and lovable qualities. He was honest in purpose, generous to a fault, tender-hearted and modest. His talent for popular poetry was very considerable, and his ballads are among the finest in the German language. Besides Lenore, Das Lied vom braven Manne, Die Kuh, Der Kaiser und der Abt and Der wilde Jäger are famous. Among his purely lyrical poems, but few have earned a lasting reputation; but mention may be made of Das Blumchen Wunderhold, Lied an den lieben Mend, and a few love songs. His sonnets, particularly the elegies, are of great beauty.

Editions of Bürger's Samtliche Schriften appeared at Göttingen, 1817 (incomplete); 1829—1833 (8 vols.), and 1835 (One vol.); also a selection by E Grisebach (5th ed, 1894). The Gedichte have been published in innumerable editions, the best being that by A Sauer (2 vols., 1884). Briefe von und an Bürger were edited by A Strodtmann in 4 vols. (1874). On Bürger's life see the biography by H PrPble (1856), the introduction to Sauer's edition of the poems, and W. von Wurzbach, G. A. Bürger (1900).

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica and modified/corrected by later edition. (Redirected from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...