Everything about Friedrich Leopold Graf Zu Stolberg totally explained
Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg (
7 November,
1750 -
5 December,
1819), was a
German poet born at
Brammstedt in
Holstein (then a part of
Denmark).
Life
Friedrich Leopold belonged to a
cadet branch of the Stolberg family. He was born the son of a
Danish magistrate and owner of a manorial estate, Count Christian zu Stolberg. Together with his brother
Christian, Friedrich Leopold went to the
University of Halle in
1770, in order to study
German Law. His other studies embraced the Classics and various historical courses. The two brothers then studied in
Göttingen and were a prominent members of the famous
Hain or
Dichterbund, a society of young men who had high aspirations for the unity of the country, and who cultivated
German poetry. After leaving the university the brothers made a journey to
Switzerland in company with the famed poet
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
In 1777 Friedrich Leopold was appointed envoy of the
prince bishop of
Lübeck at the Court of
Copenhagen, but often stayed at
Eutin to spend time with his college friend and member of the Dichterbund,
Johann Heinrich Voss.
In
1782 Stolberg married Agnes von Witzleben, whom he celebrated in his poems. After six years of happy married life, leaving two sons and two daughters, Agnes died an early death in
1788. Friedrich Leopold then became
Danish envoy to the Court of
Prussia, and contracted a second marriage with the Countess Sophie von Redern in 1789. After their wedding he and his wife took a grand tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
This tour was of great importance for his religious development, as he then made the acquaintance of the devout Catholic
Freiherr von Droste-Vischering, as well as of Droste-Vischering's resident tutor, the distinguished theologian Katerkamp. In 1791 he was appointed president of the Lübeck episcopal court at Eutin; he resigned this office in 1800, retiring to
Münster in
Westphalia. By his second marriage Stolberg had a large family, of which all, with the exception of the oldest daughter, followed their father's example and joined the
Catholic Church in 1801. The oldest daughter, Agnes, was betrothed to the
Lutheran Count Ferdinand of
Stolberg-Wernigerode, but her son in 1854 became a Catholic. Four sons and two sons-in-law took part in the campaign against
France in 1814; one of these sons was killed at the
Battle of Ligny (1815).
For his conversion to
Catholicism, Friedrich Leopold was severely attacked by his former friend Voss (
Wie ward Fritz Stolberg zum Unfreien?, 1819). After living for a while (from 1812) in the neighbourhood of
Bielefeld, he removed to his estate of
Sondermühlen near
Osnabrück, where he remained until his death in
1819.
Works
Friedrich Leopold wrote many
odes,
ballads,
satires and dramas; among them the
tragedy Timoleon (1784). He produced translations of the
Iliad (1778), of
Plato (1796-1797),
Aeschylus (1802), and
Ossian (1806); he published in 1815 a
Leben Alfreds des Grossen, and a voluminous
Geschichte der Religion Jesu Christi (17 vols., 1806-1818). Other works include poetry, as
Ballads (1779) and
Iambics (1784), and other works, such as
Plays (1787) and
Travels (1791); and novels, such as
The Island (1788). He also wrote a history of
Alfred the Great (1816); a life of
St. Vincent de Paul; translated passages from the works of
St. Augustine, and also wrote meditations on the Holy Scriptures, which, however, together with the
Büchlein der Liebe, and the polemical pamphlet
Kurze Abfertigung des langen Schmähschrifts des Hofrats Voss, didn't appear until after his death.
The
Collected Works of Christian and Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg were published in twenty volumes in 1820-1825; 2nd ed. 1827. Friedrich's correspondence with
FH Jacobi will be found in Jacobi's
Briefwechsel (1825-1827); that with Voss has been edited by O Hellinghaus (1891).
Selections from the poetry of the two brothers will be found in August Sauer's
Der Göttinger Dichterbund, iii. (
Kürschner's
Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. 50, 1896). See also:
- Theodor Menge, Der Graf F. L. Stolberg and seine Zeitgenossen (2 vols, 1862)
- JH Hennes, Aus F. L. von Stolbergs Jugendjahren (1876)
- the same, Stolberg in den zwei letzten Jahrzehnten seines Lebens (1875)
- Johannes Janssen, F. L. Graf zu Stolberg (2 vols, 1877), 2nd ed. 1882
- Wilhelm Keiper, F. L. Stolbergs Jugendpoesie (1893).
Further Information
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