Karl Leberecht Immermann (24 April 1796 – 25 August 1840) was a German

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 ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

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 ...

Biography

He was born at

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, the son of a government official. In 1813 he went to study law at Halle, where he remained, after the suppression of the university by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in the same year, until

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

's "Summons to my people" on 17 March. Immermann responded quickly, but was prevented by illness from taking part in the earlier campaign; he fought, however, in 1815 at

Ligny Ligny (; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Sombreffe, located in the province of Namur, Belgium. Previously its own municipality, a 1977 fusion of the Belgian municipalities made it an '' ancienne commune'' of So ...

and

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, and marched into

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with Blücher. At the conclusion of the war, he resumed his studies at Halle, and after being ''Referendar'' in

, was appointed in 1819 ''Assessor'' at

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. Here he made the acquaintance of Elise von Lützow, Countess von Ahlefeldt, wife of

Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützow Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...

. She inspired him to begin writing, and their relationship is reflected in several dramas written about this time. In 1823, Immermann was appointed judge at Magdeburg, and in 1827 was transferred to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

as ''Landgerichtsrat'' or district judge. The countess, whose marriage had in the meantime been dissolved, followed him, and, though refusing marriage, shared his home until 1839, when he married a granddaughter of August Hermann Niemeyer (1754–1828), chancellor and ''rector perpetuus'' of Halle University. In 1834 Immermann undertook the management of the Düsseldorf theatre, and, although his resources were small, succeeded for two years in raising it to a high level of excellence. The theatre, however, was insufficiently endowed to allow of him carrying on the work, and In 1836 he returned to his official duties and literary pursuits. He died at Düsseldorf. Immermann had considerable aptitude for the drama, but it was long before he found a congenial field for his talents. His early plays are imitations, partly of

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing ...

's, partly of the Romantic dramas of

Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romanticism, Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck w ...

and Müller, and are now forgotten. In 1826, however, appeared ''Cardenio und Celinde'', a love tragedy of more promise; this, as well as the earlier productions, awakened the ill-will of Count

Platen A platen (or platten) is a platform with a variety of roles in printing or manufacturing. It can be a flat metal (or earlier, wooden) plate pressed against a medium (such as paper) to cause an impression in letterpress printing. Platen may al ...

, who made Immermann the subject of his wittiest satire, ''Der romantische Oedipus''. Between 1827 and 1832 Immermann redeemed his good name by a series of historical tragedies, ''Das Trauerspiel in Tirol'' (1827), ''Kaiser Friedrich II.'' (1828) and a trilogy from Russian history, ''Alexis'' (1832). His masterpiece is the poetic mystery, ''Merlin'' (1831), a noble poem, which, like its model, ''Faust'', deals with the deeper problems of modern spiritual life. Immermann's important dramaturgic experiments in Düsseldorf are described in detail in ''Düsseldorfer Anfänge'' (1840). More significant is his position as a novelist. Here he clearly stands on the boundary line between

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and modern literature; his ''Epigonen'' (1836) might be described as one of the last Romantic imitations of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' () is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The novel is in eight books. The main character Wilhelm Meister undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers ...

'', while the

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

and realism of his second novel, ''Münchhausen'' (1838), form a complete break with the older literature. As a prose-writer Immermann is perhaps best remembered to-day by his story of village life, ''Der Oberhof'', which is embedded in the formless mass of ''Münchhausen''. His last work was an unfinished epic, ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'' (1840). Immermann's ''Gesammelte Schriften'' were published in 14 volumes in 1835–1843; a new edition, with biography and introduction by R. Boxberger, in 20 volumes (Berlin, 1883); selected works, edited by M. Koch, (4 volumes, 1887–1888) and Franz Muncker (6 volumes, 1897). See G. zu Putlitz, ''Karl Immermann, sein Leben und seine Werke'' (2 volumes, 1870);

Ferdinand Freiligrath Ferdinand Freiligrath (17 June 1810 – 18 March 1876) was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Life Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher ...

, ''Karl Immermann, Blätter der Erinnerung an ihn'' (1842);

Wilhelm Müller Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Müller (7 October 1794 – 30 September 1827) was a German lyric poet, best known as the author of ''Die schöne Müllerin'' (1821) and ''Winterreise'' (1823). These would later be the source of inspiration for two song cy ...

, ''K. Immermann und sein Kreis'' (1860); R. Fellner, ''Geschichte einer deutschen Musterbühne'' (1888); ''K. Immermann: eine Gedächtnisschrift'' (1896).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Immermann, Karl 1796 births 1840 deaths Dramatists and playwrights from the Kingdom of Prussia Novelists from the Kingdom of Prussia Poets from the Kingdom of Prussia Writers from Magdeburg German male novelists 19th-century German novelists German-language poets German male poets German satirists German satirical novelists 19th-century German male writers