Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner (18 September 1786, in Ludwigsburg,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– 21 February 1862, in Weinsberg, Baden-Württemberg) was a German

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, practicing physician, and medical writer. He gave the first detailed description of

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, Fatigue (medical), feeling tired, and trouble speaking. ...

Life

He was born at Ludwigsburg in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. After attending the classical schools of Ludwigsburg and Maulbronn, he was apprenticed in a cloth factory, but, in 1804, owing to the good services of Professor Karl Philipp Conz, was able to enter the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. He studied medicine but also had time for literary pursuits in the company of Ludwig Uhland, Gustav Schwab and others. He took his doctor's degree in 1808, spent some time travelling, and then settled as a practising physician in Wildbad. Here he completed his ''Reiseschatten von dem Schattenspieler Luchs'' (1811), in which his own experiences are described with caustic humour. He next collaborated with Uhland and Schwab in the ''Poetischer Almanach'' for 1812, which was followed by the ''Deutscher Dichterwald'' (1813), and in these some of Kerner's best poems were published. In 1815 he obtained the official appointment of district medical officer (''Oberamtsarzt'') in Gaildorf, and in 1818 was transferred to Weinsberg, where he spent the rest of his life. His house, the site of which at the foot of the historical Schloss Weibertreu was presented to him by the townspeople, became a mecca for literary pilgrims, all of whom were made welcome. Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden came with a knapsack on his back. The poets, Christian Friedrich Alexander von Württemberg and Nikolaus Lenau were constant guests, and in 1826 Friederike Hauffe (1801–1829), the daughter of a forester in Prevorst, a somnambulist and

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...

e, arrived; she forms the subject of Kerner's famous work ''Die Seherin von Prevorst, Eröffnungen über das innere Leben des Menschen und über das Hineinragen einer Geisterwelt in die unsere'' (''The Seeress of Prevorst, revelations of the human inner life and about the penetrations of the spirit world into ours'', 1829; 6th ed., 1892). In 1826 he published a collection of ''Gedichte'' which were later supplemented by ''Der letzte Blütenstrauß'' (1852) and ''Winterblüten'' (1859). Among others of his well-known poems are the charming ballad ''Der reichste Fürst''; a drinking song, ''Wohlauf, noch getrunken'', and the pensive ''Wanderer in der Sägemühle''. In addition to his literary productions, Kerner wrote some popular medical books, dealing with

animal magnetism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, is a theory invented by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century. It posits the existence of an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all living things, including humans ...

, the first treatise on sebacic acid and

, ''Das Fettgift oder die Fettsäure und ihre Wirkung auf den tierischen Organismus'' (1822), and a description of Wildbad and its healing waters, ''Das Wildbad im Königreich Württemberg'' (1813). He also gave a vivid account of his youthful years in ''Bilderbuch aus meiner Knabenzeit'' (1859) and, in ''Die Bestürmung der württembergischen Stadt Weinsberg im Jahre 1525'' (1820), showed considerable skill in historical narrative. In 1851 he was compelled, owing to increasing blindness, to retire from his medical practice, but he lived, carefully tended by his daughters, at Weinsberg until his death. He was buried beside his wife, who had died in 1854, in the graveyard of Weinsberg, and the grave is marked by a stone slab with an inscription he himself had chosen: ''Friederike Kerner und ihr Justinus''.

Association with George Rapp and the Harmony Society

In ''Bilderbuch aus meiner Knabenzeit'', Kerner recalls George Rapp's visits to his father, the Oberamtmann at Maulbronn. Kerner's father had helped shield Rapp from religious prosecution by the authorities in Germany, and Kerner well remembered Rapp and his long black bear

George Rapp and his followers eventually left Germany in 1803, settled in the United States, and started the Harmony Society. ''Die Seherin von Prevorst'' and its tale about Kerner's relationship with Friederike Hauffe — the latter reputed to have visionary and healing powers, and who had produced a strange 'inner' language containing Hebrew-like elements — made quite an impression among the members of the Harmony Society in 1829, who saw it as confirmation of the approaching

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

and of their religious view

Evaluations

* "Kerner was one of the most inspired poets of the Swabian school. His poems, which largely deal with natural phenomena, are characterized by a deep melancholy and a leaning towards the supernatural, which, however, is balanced by a quaint humour, reminiscent of the ''Volkslied''." — 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' * "The poems and dramatic scenes of his ''Reiseschatten'' are characterized by a dreamy fancy and a peculiar fantastic humor." — '' New International Encyclopedia'' * "He was at times morbid, fanciful, dreamy, sensitive and poetic and endowed with a strange, fantastic humor . . ." — 1920 '' Encyclopedia Americana''

The Saw

''The Saw'' was translated by William Cullen Bryant and was included in Graham's Magazine in 1848. :In yonder mill I rested, :And sat me down to look :Upon the wheel's quick glimmer. :And on the flowing brook. :As in a dream, before me, :The saw, with restless play, :Was cleaving through a fir-tree :Its long and steady way. :The tree through all its fibres :With living motion stirred, :And, in a dirge-like murmur, :These solemn words I heard— :Oh, thou, who wanderest hither, :A timely guest thou art! :For thee this cruel engine :Is passing through my heart. :When soon, in earth's still bosom, :Thy hours of rest begin, :This wood shall form the chamber :Whose walls shall close thee in. :Four planks—I saw and shuddered— :Dropped in that busy mill; :Then, as I tried to answer, :At once the wheel was still.

Cultural references

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 ...

set Kerner's poems in his Opus 35, ''12 Gedichte von Justinus Kerner'', composed in 1840 and dedicated to “Dr. Friedrich Weber in London.” Schumann called the set a ''Liederreihe'', or "row of songs." * The poet Thomas Medwin stayed with him during 1848 to 1849 and later wrote a poem in his honour, ''To Justinus Kerner: With a Painted Wreath of Bay-Leaves'', published in London in 1854. * Composer Pauline Volkstein (1849-1925) used Kerner’s text for at least one of her lieder. * The grape variety Kerner, bred in 1929, was named in his honour. *

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

wrote in his journal on Kerner: ** “I cannot help being amazed that Justinus Kerner (in his ''Dichtungen'') is able to interpret so conciliatingly the phenomenon which has always shocked me since my very first experience of it — that someone says just exactly what I say. To me the phenomenon seemed to be the most confusing, almost Punch-and-Judy, disorder: the one would begin a sentence which the other would finish, and no one could be sure who was speaking.” July 11, 1837Journals 2539 ** “Justinus Kerner has interested me so much just now because, although he is far more gifted, I see in him the same artistic barrenness I see in myself. But I also see how something can be done even though essential continuity is lacking and can be fulfilled only by continuity of mood, of which every single little idea is a blossom, a kind of novelistic aphorism, a plastic study. While his own Dichtungen are full of excellent imaginative ideas, his reports aus dem Nachtgebiete der Natur are so dry that we could almost take that to be indirect proof of their truth.” July 13, 1837Journals 5240Søren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers 1829-1848 Hong translation 1978 p.102
/ref>

Notes

References

;Attribution * This work in turn cites: ** Strauss, “Justinus Kerner,” in ''Kleine Schriften'' (Berlin, 1866) ** A. Reinhard, ''Justinus Kerner und das Kernerhaus zu Weinsberg'' (Tübingen, 1862; 2nd ed. 1886) ** G. Rümelin, ''Reden und Aufsätze'', vol. iii. (1894) ** M. Niethammer (Kerner's daughter), ''Justinus Kerners Jugendliebe und mein Vaterhaus'' (1877; Stuttgart, 1887) ** A. Watts, ''Life and Work of Kerner'' (London, 1884) ** T. Kerner, ''Das Kernerhaus und seine Gäste'' (1894)

External links

* Robert Schumann's '' 12 Gedichte von Justinus Kerner'' – free score at IMSLP Petrucci Library * * * *
''Kleksographien''
(1890 edition)
"The Inner Language" of Friederike Hauffe
– at Internet Archive
''The Seeress of Prevorst''
transl. Catherine Crowe (Partridge & Brittan, 1855) – at Internet Archive
"Goldy", transl. from Justinus Kerner
in ''Fairy Tales from All Nations'', ed. Anthony R. Montalba (1849) – at Google Books as the 1850 US ed., pp. 332–37 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerner, Justinus 1786 births 1862 deaths People from Ludwigsburg 19th-century German physicians 19th-century Christian mystics German medical writers German poets People from the Duchy of Württemberg German male poets German-language poets German male non-fiction writers