Ludwig Tieck facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ludwig Tieck
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Pencil drawing of Tieck by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein
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| Born | Johann Ludwig Tieck May 31, 1773 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 28 April 1853 (aged 79) Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Resting place | Dreifaltigkeitskirchhof II, Berlin |
| Occupation | Poet, fiction writer, translator, critic |
| Language | German |
| Education | University of Halle University of Göttingen University of Erlangen |
| Genre | Romanticism |
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Johann Ludwig Tieck (born May 31, 1773 – died April 28, 1853) was an important German writer. He was a poet, wrote stories, translated books, and worked as a critic. Tieck was one of the main people who started the Romantic movement in Germany. This was a big change in art and literature in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Contents
Growing Up in Berlin
Ludwig Tieck was born in Berlin. His father made ropes for a living. Ludwig had two siblings who also became artists: his brother Christian Friedrich Tieck was a sculptor, and his sister Sophie Tieck was a poet.
Tieck went to a school called the Friedrichswerdersches Gymnasium. There, he learned important languages like Greek and Latin. He also started learning Italian when he was very young. He became friends with a soldier who showed him what life was like for poor people. This experience might have influenced his later writing as a Romantic artist.
After school, Tieck studied at several universities. These included the University of Halle, the University of Göttingen, and the University of Erlangen. At Göttingen, he spent time studying the famous English writer Shakespeare and plays from the Elizabethan era.
Starting His Writing Career
When Tieck returned to Berlin in 1794, he wanted to make a living by writing. He wrote many short stories between 1795 and 1798. These stories were part of a series called Straussfedern. He also wrote a story called Abdallah in 1796. Another early work was a novel told through letters, called William Lovell, which came out in three parts from 1795 to 1796.
Becoming a Romantic Writer
Tieck's writing style changed as he became more involved with Romanticism. This change can be seen in his collection of plays and stories called Volksmärchen von Peter Lebrecht (1797). This collection included the famous fairy tale Der blonde Eckbert. This story mixes ideas about a worried mind with magical, supernatural events. It also had a funny play called Der gestiefelte Kater, which made fun of Berlin's literary tastes.
Tieck worked with his friend Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder on a novel called Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen (1798). This book, along with Wackenroder's Herzensergiessungen (1796), showed the new Romantic excitement for old German art.
In 1798, Tieck got married. The next year, he moved to Jena. In Jena, he became a leader of the early Romantic school, also known as Jena Romanticism. He worked with other important writers like August Wilhelm von Schlegel, Friedrich von Schlegel, and Novalis.
Between 1798 and 1804, Tieck wrote many works. These included the funny play Prinz Zerbino (1799) and Romantische Dichtungen (1799–1800). The latter included his most important dramatic poems, Leben und Tod der heiligen Genoveva and Leben und Tod des kleinen Rotkäppchens. Later, in 1804, he wrote the "comedy" Kaiser Oktavianus. These plays are good examples of the first Romantic style. They showed the influence of writers like Calderón and Shakespeare. Kaiser Oktavianus praised the Middle Ages in a poetic way.
Later Life and Works
In 1801, Tieck moved to Dresden. He also lived near Frankfurt for a while and spent many months in Italy. In 1803, he published a translation of old German love songs called Minnelieder aus der schwäbischen Vorzeit. Between 1799 and 1804, he also created an excellent translation of Don Quixote. In 1811, he published two volumes of plays from the Elizabethan era, called Altenglisches Theater.
From 1812 to 1817, Tieck collected many of his earlier stories and plays into three volumes. This collection was called Phantasus. It included famous stories like Der Runenberg, Die Elfen, Der Pokal, and the dramatic fairy tale Fortunat.
In 1817, Tieck visited England to gather information for a book about Shakespeare. However, he never finished this project. In 1819, he settled permanently in Dresden. From 1825, he became a literary advisor for the Court Theatre. His public readings of plays made him famous far beyond Dresden.
Tieck also started publishing new short stories in 1822, which became very popular. Some of these well-known stories are "Die Gemälde," "Die Reisenden," "Die Verlobung," and "Des Lebens Überfluss." He also wrote longer historical novels like Dichterleben (1826) and Der Tod des Dichters (1834). His novel Der junge Tischlermeister (1836) was influenced by Goethe's Wilhelm Meister.
Final Years and Legacy
In 1841, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia invited Tieck to Berlin. There, Tieck received money to support him for the rest of his life. He passed away in Berlin on April 28, 1853.
Tieck was important because he quickly accepted the new ideas that appeared at the end of the 1700s. His Romantic works, like Der blonde Eckbert, were also very significant. In his later years, Tieck was known as a helpful friend and advisor to other writers. He was also a well-read critic with broad interests.
Tieck's work also influenced the famous composer Richard Wagner. Wagner's opera Tannhäuser was inspired by Tieck's Phantasus. For example, the idea of Tannhäuser visiting the Pope and Elisabeth dying in a song battle came from Tieck's work.
The German composer Wilhelmine Schwertzell (1787-1863) used Tieck’s words in her songs “Herbstlied” and “Aus Genoveva.”
Published Works and Translations
Tieck's collected writings, Schriften, were published in twenty volumes between 1828 and 1846. His Gesammelte Novellen (collected short stories) came out in twelve volumes from 1852 to 1854.
Many of Tieck's stories have been translated into English. "The Enchanted Castle," "Auburn Egbert," and "Elfin-Land" were translated in Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (1823). Thomas Carlyle translated "The Fair-haired Eckbert," "The Trusty Eckart," "The Runenberg," "The Elves," and "The Goblet" in German Romance (1827). "The Romance of Little Red Riding Hood" (1801) was translated by Jack Zipes and included in his book The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood (1983).
Key Influences
One of Tieck's biggest influences was the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso. Tasso even appears as a character in Tieck's novel, Vittoria Accorombona.
Images for kids
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Pencil drawing of Tieck by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein
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Ludwig Tieck's signature
See also
- Mozart's Berlin journey – This article mentions Tieck's meeting with Mozart when he was young.
- Blond Eckbert – This is about an opera by Judith Weir based on Tieck's story Der blonde Eckbert.
