Christoph Martin Wieland was the son of the theologist Thomas
Adam Wieland (1704-1772) and his second wife Marie Christine
Rauth (1689-1765). Christoph was educated in Biberach and wrote
verses in Latin and German when he was twelve years old. He
read numerous classical works and from 1747 he continued his
education at the Pietist boarding school at Kloster Berge. There
he was influenced by the work F.G. Klopstock. He studied at
the University of Erfurt from 1749, but he left Efurt in 1750
and returned to Biberach.
In Biberach he had a love
affair with his cousin Sophie Gutermann (the future Sophie von
La Roche) and they became engaged. She inspired him to his first
major work "Die Natur der Dinge oder die vollkommenste Welt.
Ein Lehrgedicht" (1752). In the fall of he entered the University
of Tübingen too study law. But he spent most if his time on
his poetic work. He abandoned his studies again and in 1752
Johann Jakob Bodmer invited him to Zurich, whose student he
became. In 1753 Sophie ended their engagement and married Georg
Michael Anton La Roche (1720-1788), who was court councilor
in Mainz. Wieland stayed in Switzerland for eight years. In
Bern he worked as a private tutor and there met Julie Bondeli,
a future friend of Jean Jacques Rousseau. After some hesitation
she agreed to become his fiancee in 1759 but soon afterwards
he fled from Bern and returned to Biberach.
In 1760
he was elected senator in Biberach an der Riss and he also became
a chancellery administrator. In 1761 he started a relationship
with Christine Hogel. In 1764 a child was born but marrying
a Catholic was unacceptabel to his family and they ended their
relationship. In 1765 he married Anna Dorothea von Hillenbrand
(1746-1801), the daughter of a merchant from Augsburg. They
had seven surviving children.
From 1762 to 1766 Wieland's
translations of works by Shakespeare were published and they
were very influential to theatre life in Germany. His novel
"Geschichte des Agathon" (1766/1767) was a great success. Further
novels and poems followed. In 1769 he accepted a teaching position
at the University of Erfurt. In 1772 his novel ""Der goldene
Spiegel oder die Könige von Scheschian" was published.
In
1772 Duchess Anna Amalia von Sachsen-Weimar called him to Weima
for the education of her sons. In 1773 he was slandered by several
Sturm und Drang poets including Johann Heinrich Voss and Ernst
Theodor Johann Brückner. He was also attacked by Goethe, but
after Goethe came to live in Weimar they soon developed a good
relationship. As court councilor he enjoyed a fixed salary and
when Anna Amalia's son Karl August became the new Duke in 1775
he received a pension. From that time he dedicated himself to
his literary activities. From 1773 to 1789 he was the editor
of his own literary magazine "Der Teutsche Merkur". In 1780
his romantic poem "Oberon" was published.
He bought
the Ossmannstedt estate near Weimar and lived their with his
family from 1798. He was visited in 1799 by Sophie von La Roche
and her granddaughter Sophie Brentano became a close friend.
Sophie Brentano died in 1800 during another visit to Ossmanstedt
and was buried there. Another visitor at Ossmannstedt was Heinrich
von Kleist, who read him his manuscript of Robert Guiscard.
After his wife died in 1801 and the estate had become a financial
burden, he sold it in 1803 and returned to Weimar. He continued
his literary work and met Napoleon twice. After his death in
1813 he was buried at Ossmanstedt next to his wife and Sophie
Brentano.
Related persons
• met Bode, Johann Joachim Christoph
• was a friend of Brentano, Sophie
• has a connection with Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
• had as physician Hufeland, Christoph Wilhelm
• had as physician Huschke, Wilhelm Ernst Christian
• was painted by Jagemann, Ferdinand Karl Christian
• was visited by Kleist, Heinrich von
• admired Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb
• was painted by Kügelgen, Gerhard von
• had work illustrated by Ramberg, Johann Heinrich
• met Robinson, Henry Crabb
• was insulted by Voss, Johann Heinrich
• knew Weber, Carl Maria von
|
Events
| |
