Garlieb Helwig Merkel ( in Lēdurga Parish (now

Sigulda Municipality Sigulda Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2003 by merging Sigulda town, Sigulda Parish and More Parish. In 2009 it absorbed Allaži parish, too; the administrative centre being Sigulda. The po ...

), Kreis Riga – in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and an early Estophile and Lettophile. Merkel was born into the family of a rural priest in what is today Latvia. From the age of 17 he worked as a tutor for upper-class German families. In 1790, he joined the circle of

intellectuals. Influenced by the ideas he found there, he published the book ''Die Letten'' ("Latvians", full title: ''Die Letten vorzüglich in Liefland am Ende des philosophischen Jahrhunderts, Ein Beytrag zur Völker- und Menschenkunde'' ("The Admirable Latvians of Livonia at the end of the Century of Philosophy, with an Addendum on Peoples and Anthropology")) in 1796, which described in the darkest terms the life of the Latvian peasantry and the atrocities of the Baltic German landowners and called upon the Imperial Russian government to intervene and ameliorate the lot of the

Latvians Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language ...

. The book gained considerable popularity in the German society and was translated into French, Danish and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. In 1800, the original

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

version of the book was re-published. Finally, in the 20th century it was translated also into Latvian. Merkel's book caused a storm of anger among the landowners of

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

, and Merkel was forced into exile. He moved to

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 ...

, then in 1800 to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he was the co-editor with

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

of the weekly ''Der Freimutige'' (1803–1806). In 1816, Merkel returned to Livonia. He published the book ''My Ten Years in Germany'' (1818) and ''Images and Characters from My Life'' (two volumes, 1839–1840). He also wrote the pamphlet ''Free Latvians and Estonians'' (1820), which was published in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. A street is named in his honor in downtown Riga.

References

* Raun, Toivo U. (2003)
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Estonian nationalism revisited
'' Nations and Nationalism'' 9.1, 129–147. * Merkel, Garlieb. ''Die Vorzeit Lieflands: Ein Denkmahl des Pfaffen- und Rittergeistes''. 2 vols., Berlin: Vossische Buchhandlung, 1807.

References

Further reading