Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and
dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just
reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
.
Biography
Hebbel was born at
Wesselburen in Dithmarschen,
Holstein
Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany.
Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...
, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the
Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a '' Gymnasium'', or grammar school, in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The sch ...
, a grammar school in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany. Despite his humble origins, he showed a talent for poetry,
[ resulting in the publication in the ''Hamburg Modezeitung'' of verses which he had sent to Amalie Schoppe (1791–1858), a popular journalist and author of nursery tales. Through her patronage, he was able to go to the ]University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
.
A year later he went to Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...
to study law, but gave it up and went on to the University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, where he devoted himself to philosophy, history and literature. In 1839, Hebbel left Munich and walked all the way back to Hamburg, where he resumed his friendship with Elise Lensing, whose self-sacrificing assistance had helped him over the darkest days in Munich. In the same year he wrote his first tragedy, ''Judith
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
'' (1840, published 1841), which was performed in Hamburg and Berlin the following year, making his name known throughout Germany.[
In 1840, he wrote the tragedy ''Genoveva,'' and the following year he completed a comedy, ''Der Diamant,'' which he had begun at Munich. In 1842 he visited Copenhagen, where he obtained from King Christian VIII a small traveling stipend, which enabled him to spend time in Paris and two years (1844–1846) in Italy. In Paris he wrote the "tragedy of common life," ''Maria Magdalena'' (1844). On his return from Italy, Hebbel met in Vienna two Prussian noblemen of the Zerboni di Sposetti family, who in their enthusiasm for his genius urged him to remain, providing financial support that allowed him to mingle in the best intellectual society of the Austrian capital.][
]
Hebbel's old precarious existence now became a horror to him, and he broke with the past by marrying (in 1846) the beautiful and wealthy actress Christine Enghaus. In choosing this path, he abandoned Elise Lensing (who remained faithful to him until her death), on the grounds that "a man's first duty is to the most powerful force within him, that which alone can give him happiness and be of service to the world" -- in his case the ability to write, which would have perished "in the miserable struggle for existence." This "deadly sin," which, "if peace of conscience be the test," was, he believed, the best decision of his life. Lensing, however, still provided inspiration for his art. As late as 1851, shortly after her death, he wrote the little epic ''Mutter und Kind,'' intended to show that the parent-child relationship is the essential factor for happiness, among all classes and under all conditions.[
Hebbel had already achieved fame long before this, with German sovereigns bestowing honors upon him. In foreign capitals he was fêted as the greatest of living German dramatists. From the grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar he received a flattering invitation to take up his residence at ]Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
, where several of his plays were first performed. He remained, however, at Vienna until his death.[
]
Works
Besides the works already mentioned, Hebbel's principal tragedies are:[
*''Herod and Mariamne'' (1850)][
*''Julia'' (1851)][
*''Michel Angelo'' (1851)][
*''Agnes Bernauer'' (1855)][
*''Gyges and His Ring'' (1856)][
*''Die Nibelungen'' (1862), his last work (a trilogy consisting of a prologue, ''Der gehörnte Siegfried'', and the tragedies, ''Siegfrieds Tod'' and ''Kriemhilds Rache''), which won for the author the Schiller Prize. ][
Of his comedies ''Der Diamant'' (1847), ''Der Rubin'' (1850) and the tragi-comedy ''Ein Trauerspiel in Sizilien'' (1845), are the more important, but they are heavy and hardly rise above mediocrity. All his dramatic productions, however, exhibit skill in characterization, great glow of passion, and a true feeling for dramatic situation; but their poetic effect is frequently marred by extravagances which border on the grotesque, and by the introduction of incidents the unpleasant character of which is not sufficiently relieved. In many of his lyric poems, and especially in ''Mutter und Kind'', published in 1859, Hebbel showed that his poetic gifts were not restricted to the drama.][
Hebbel's short stories are often wry and witty observations of society. His well-known story "The master tailor Nepomuk Schlägel in the search for joy" has been published in English.
His collected works were first published by E. Kuh in 12 volumes at Hamburg, 1866–1868.]
Music
Some of Hebbel's works were set to music, such as his poem ''Requiem'' by Peter Cornelius and in Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...
's '' Hebbel Requiem''. Reger set his poem "Die Weihe der Nacht" for voice, choir and orchestra. Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
's opera '' Genoveva'' is based on a play of Hebbel.
In 1872 Samuel de Lange used Hebbel's poem "Ein frühes Liebesleben" in an unusual instrumentation for voice, string quartet and harp. An arrangement with piano instead of harp was made during a centennial revival of Samuel and 's music.
Eduard Lassen wrote incidental music to ''Die Nibelungen'' in 1873. In 1878/79 Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
combined music from the ''Die Nibelungen'' setting with excerpts from Lassen's incidental music to Goethe's ''Faust
Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'', in a single piano transcription, ''Aus der Musik zu Hebbels Nibelungen und Goethes Faust'' (S.496).
In 1922 Emil von Reznicek composed an opera ''Holofernes'' after Hebbel's ''Judith und Holofernes''.
Anna Teichmüller
Anna Teichmüller (11 May 1861 – 6 September 1940) was a German composer and teacher who set the works of many poets, especially Carl Hauptmann, to music. She composed most of her works at the Schreiberhau artist colony.
Teichmüller was born i ...
used Hebbel's text for her composition ''Schlafen, Schlafen, opus 24''.
The poem "Dem Schmerz sein Recht" was set to music by Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
in 4 Gesänge, Op. 2, No 1.
Films
* ''Glutmensch'' (A man aglow, 1975), 90 minutes; writer and director: Jonatan Briel; production: SFB and Literarisches Berliner Kolloquium; plot: Hebbel is confined to his sickbed on his 50th birthday, and recalls his youth in his feverish dreams.
References
Notes
External links
*
*
*
The Complete Poems of Friedrich Hebbel (in German)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebbel, Christian Friedrich
1813 births
1863 deaths
People from Wesselburen
People from the Duchy of Holstein
19th-century German poets
German male poets
German male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century German dramatists and playwrights
German-language poets
University of Hamburg alumni
People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
19th-century German male writers
Allgemeine Zeitung people