Werner, Zacharias |
| POET, DRAMATIST, PREACHER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 18 Nov 1768, Königsberg (now: Kaliningrad, Russia) - DIED 17 Jan 1823, Wien GRAVE LOCATION Maria Enzersdorf, Niederösterreich: Romantikerfriedhof, Grenzgasse 7 |
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Zacharia Werner studied at the University in Königsberg where he attended colleges by Immanuel Kant. In 1793 he became chamber secretary in South Prussia. During his time in Warshaw he knew E.T.A. Hoffmann. He married three times and the first two ended quickly. In 1803-1804 he wrote his first play "Die Söhne des Thals". In Warshaw he joined a Masonic lodge and he also met J.E. Hitzig, his future biographer. With his third wife he travelled back to Köningsberg to attend his mentally ill mother. Afther that he went to Berlin where his patron F.L. von Schröter helped him to a job that allowed him to pursue his poetical activities simultaneously. On 11 June 1806 his play "Martin Luther oder die Weihe der Kraft" was succesfully staged as "Die Weihe der Kraft. Ein Ritterschauspiel". Luther was played by August Wilhelm Iffland who performed the part 26 times until 1814. In 1807 the public in Berlin didn't like "Die Söhne des Thals" and it was performed only five times. After his marriage ended he travelled along the Rhine in 1807 and he went on to Weimar where he associated with Goethe. The next year he met Madame de Staël in Switzerland. His next station was Rome, where he converted to Catholicism in 1811 and stayed until 1813. In 1814 he was ordained a priest in Aschaffenburg and he settled in Vienna. During the congress of Vienna his preaching attracted many listeners. After living in Podolia for a year he returned to Vienna in 1819. His health detoriated in 1821 but he continued his preaching. He died in 1823 and according to his own wishes at the cemetery in Maria Enzersdorf. Related persons • knew Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von • knew Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus • was painted by Kügelgen, Gerhard von |
| Images |
 The grave of Zacharias Werner at the Romantikerfriedhof in Maria Enzersdorf. Picture by Androom (11 Aug 2018) |
Sources • Aubert, Joachim, Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmter Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 1975 • Zacharias Werner – Wikipedia |
