Schlegel, August Wilhelm von

CRITIC, TRANSLATOR, POET (HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE)
BORN 8 Sep 1767, Hannover, Niedersachsen - DIED 12 May 1845, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen
BIRTH NAME Schlegel, August Wilhelm von
GRAVE LOCATION Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Alter Friedhof (Abteilung I, Grabnummer 550-551)

Wilhelm von Schlegel was the son of the Lutheran pastor Johann Adolf Schlegel (1721-1793). He was educated in Hanover and at the University of Göttingen. After working as a private teacher in Amsterdan he went to Jena, where he married the widow of the physician Böhmer, Caroline, in 1796. In 1798 he became a professor in Jena. His translations of the works of Shakespeare were published between 1797 and 1810 and became the standard translations in Germany. They were later supplemented by supplemented by Dorothea Tieck and Wolf Heinrich Graf von Baudissin.

He also wrote for Schiller's "Musenalmanach". At the time there was a controversy between him and August von Kotzebue, who published the journal "Der Freimüthige", in which he attacked Goethe and the Schlegels. In 1801, together with his brother Friedrich, he published "Charakteristiken und Kritiken", a volume of essays. In 1802 he moved to Berlin and in 1803 his tragedy "Ion" was published. He divorced Caroline and from 1804 onwards he travelled with Madame de Staël in Europe. He educated her children and often behaved like a father for them. In 1807 he attacked French classicism from a romantic point of view in his essay "Comparaison entre la Phèdre de Racine et celle d'Euripide".

In 1813 he became the secretary of the Swedish crown prince. After Madame de Stael's death in 1817 he married a daughter of Professor Paulus of Heidelberg in 1818, but she didn't follow him to Bonn when he was appointed professor of Literature at the new university there. His work as a translator and as a critic is regarded as much more important than his work as a poet.

Related persons
• quarreled with Kotzebue, August von
• is son-in-law/daughter-in-law of Paulus, Heinrich
• visited Pichler, Karoline
• is brother/sister of Schlegel, Friedrich von
• was detested by Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard de

Events
5/7/1796Wilhelm and Caroline Schlegel arrive in Gotha on their way to Jena. They had married four days earlier in Braunschweig. 
9/7/1796Wilhelm and Caroline Schlegel visit Friedrich and Charlotte Schiller in Jena [Lengefeld, Charlotte von][Schiller, Friedrich von]
17/7/1796Goethe visits Caroline Schlegel at her home in Jena. Later that afternoon Caroline and her husband visited Friedrich and Charlotte Schiller. [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von][Lengefeld, Charlotte von][Schiller, Friedrich von]
17/12/1796Caroline Schlegel meets Corona Schröter at the theatre in Weimar. Caroline and her husband wilhelm Schlegel attended a performance of Cimarosa's "Die heimliche Heirath". [Schröter, Corona]
18/12/1796Wilhelm and Caroline Schlegel visit Johann Gottfried Herder in Weimar. Christoph Martin Wieland was there as well. [Wieland, Christoph Martin]
19/12/1796Caroline and Wilhelm Schlegel dine at Goethe's house in Weimar. It was a midday meal and they returned to Jena later that afternoon. [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von]
19/12/1796Wilhelm and Caroline Schlegel visit Corona Schröter in Weimar. During the morning. [Schröter, Corona]
11/8/1798Wilhelm Schlegel is appointed professor extraordinarius in Jena 
21/7/1799Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich von Hardenberg and Wilhelm Schlegel dine with Goethe in Weimar [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von]
31/8/1799First meeting between Wilhelm von Schlegel and Minna van Nuys in Jena 
3/9/1799Johann Diederich Gries arrives in Jena. He visited Jena for a month and took his midday meals with Wilhelm and Caroline schlegel. 
1/11/1801Wilhelm Schlegel reads his play "Ion" to Goethe in Jena. At the same time Friedrich Tieck worked on Goethe's bust. He would finish it on 8 November. [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von]
2/5/1804Wilhelm Schlegel leavees Weimar with Madam de Staël 
8/5/1804Wilhelm Schlegel and Madam de Staël arrive in Würzburg 

Images

The grave of August Wilhelm von Schlegel at the Alter Friedhof, Bonn.
Picture by Androom (17 Mar 2022)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
August Wilhelm Schlegel - Wikipedia (DE)


Schlegel, Dorothea von

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 15 Nov 2023