Hamann, Johann Georg |
| PHILOSOPHER, THEOLOGIAN (GERMANY) |
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BORN 27 Aug 1730, Königsberg (now: Kaliningrad) - DIED 21 Jun 1788, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen GRAVE LOCATION Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Überwasser-Friedhof, Wilhelmstrasse 21 |
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Johann Georg Hamann came from Köningsberg, where he studied at the university. He studied philosophy, theology, mathematics and law without preparing himself for a certain type of career. In 1752 he became a house teacher in Livland and he held the same position at the home of General von Witten in Kurland. In 1756 his friend J.C. Berens invited him to Riga where he entered the latter's commercial enterprise. This adventure failed and he returned to Königsberg, where he studied the bible and Luther's writings. He failed to find steady employment until Kant helped hm to a position as a translator in Königsberg in 1767. By then his father had died and he fathered four children with Anna Regina Schumacher, the woman who had nursed him. His writings were never popular although von Mose called him the magician of the North and F.H. Jacobi was a friend and Goethe and Herder were pleased with his writings. He was always poor until he was able to retire in 1787. He travelled with his son to Westfalen where he stayed with Jacobi. But he was seriously ill and he died in Münster in 1788 in the arms of his friend the Fürstin of Gallitzin (she was the daughter of general von Schmettau). He was buried in the garden of the Fürstin von Gallitzin. In later years his remains were transferred to the Überwasser-Friedhof in Münster. |
| Images | |
 The grave of Johann Georg Hamann at the Überwasserfriedhof, Münster. Picture by Androom (23 Nov 2013) |
 The grave of Johann Georg Hamann at the Überwasserfriedhof, Münster. Picture by Androom (23 Nov 2013) |
Sources • Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909 |
