Garlieb Helwig Merkel ( in

Lēdurga Parish Lēdurga Parish ( lv, Lēdurgas pagasts) is an administrative unit of Sigulda Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Repu ...

(now

Sigulda Municipality Sigulda Municipality ( lv, Siguldas novads) 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 bei ...

Kreis Riga Kreis is the German word for circle. Kreis may also refer to: Places * , or circles, various subdivisions roughly equivalent to counties, districts or municipalities ** Districts of Germany (including and ) ** Former districts of Prussia, a ...

– in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) 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 greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

and an early

Estophile Estophilia (from Greek: φίλος, ''filos'' - "dear, loving") refers to the ideas and activities of people not of Estonian descent who are sympathetic to or interested in Estonian language, Estonian literature or Estonian culture, the history ...

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 The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

government to intervene and ameliorate the lot of the

Latvians Latvians ( lv, latvieši) 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 La ...

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

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. In 1800, the original

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

, and Merkel was forced into exile. He moved to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

, then in 1800 to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, where he was the co-editor with

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...

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 German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. 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