Johann Georg Christian Kestner (28 August 174124 May 1800) was a German lawyer and archivist. He is also notable as the model for Lotte's husband Albert in ''

The Sorrows of Young Werther ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (; german: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the '' Sturm und Drang'' period in Ge ...

'' by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, with Kestner's fiancée

Charlotte Buff Charlotte Buff (11 January 1753, Wetzlar – 16 January 1828, Hanover) was a youthful acquaintance of the poet Goethe, who fell in love with her. She rejected him and instead married Johann Christian Kestner, vice-archivist and privy councillor ...

used as the model for Lotte herself.

Life

In the 18th and 19th centuries the Kestner family was one of the families at court (german: hübsche Familien). As a young Brunswick-Lüneburg legation secretary in the

imperial chamber court The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

() in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

from 1767 to 1773, he met and became engaged to Charlotte Buff, a daughter of the bailiff of the local .

also worked at the same court during 1772 and got to know both Kestner and Buff. Goethe fell in love with Buff, nicknaming her "Lotte", even though she was already engaged. This love and Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem's suicide using Kestner's borrowed pistols were both used by Goethe in ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'', which first appeared in 1774. Buff and Kestner married in 1773 in Wetzlar and then moved to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, where he became vice-archivist and privy councillor to the Hanoverian court. He and Buff had twelve children, with Goethe acting as godfather to the eldest son Georg, who followed his father as an archivist. Another son,

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

, was a diplomat and art collector. The family lived on the then on (now known as ). Kestner died on a business trip to Lüneburg and his grave no longer survives. His and his wife's documents are now in the Stadtarchiv Hannover.''Kestner, Johann Chr. (1741–1800).''
In: '' Zentrale Datenbank Nachlässe'', 2004/2005.

Works

* Alfred Schröcker (ed.): ''Die wahre Brunnenfreiheit. Das Kurtagebuch des Johann Christian Kestner vom 9. bis 30. Juli 1765 in Bad Rehburg.'' Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2005, . * Alfred Schröcker (ed.): ''„Du bist ein Sterblicher!“. Gedichte des jungen Johann Christian Kestner (1760/61).'' Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2006, . * Alfred Schröcker (ed.): ''„Reise auf den Harz“. Tagebuch vom 24. Dezember 1763 bis 3. Januar 1764.'' Mit einem Nachwort von Alfred Schröcker. Wehrhahn, Hannover 2013, . * Johann Christian Kestner: Die Brockenreise. Tagebuch vom 10. bis 16. August 1789. Herausgegeben und kommentiert von Alfred Schröcker. Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter NF 69 (2015) S. 162–177.

General references

* Anna Wendland: ''Die Handschriften des Kestnerschen Nachlasses in der Stadtbibliothek zu Hannover.'' In: '' Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter'' 11 (1908), S. 97–135. * Siegfried Rösch: ''Die Familie Buff. Einblick in eine mehr als vierhundertjährige Familiengeschichte.'' Degener & Co., Neustadt an der Aisch 1953. *

Hugo Thielen Hugo Thielen (born 1946) is a German freelance author and editor, who is focused on the history of Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, in a lexicon of the city, another one especially of its art and culture, and a third of biographies. He co-au ...

''Johann Georg Christian Kestner.''
In: '' Hannoversches biographisches Lexikon. Von den Anfängen bis in die Gegenwart.'' Schlüter, Hannover 2002, , S. 197. * Rüdiger R. E. Fock: ''Die Kestner. Eine deutsch-französisch-schweizerische Familie macht Geschichte(n)''. Schnell Buch und Druck, Warendorf 2009, . * Alfred Schröcker: ''Johann Christian Kestner. Der Eigendenker. Eine Jugend in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts.'' Wehrhahn, Laatzen 2011, .

References

External links

*
Familienverband Buff-Kestner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kestner, Johann Christian 1741 births 1800 deaths Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Sorrows of Young Werther German archivists