Edmund Hoefer

Biography

Edmund Hoefer, son of the Municipal Court Director Carl Andreas Hoefer (1781-1853) and the Waldeck Christiane Sophie († 1834), a sister of the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss ( 1777-1855 ), studied for his matriculation certificate in 1839 at the universities of Greifswald, Heidelberg and Berlin philology and history at which in 1842 still joined a shorter military service time.

During his high school years, when he had already written 84 ballad -like poems, and especially during his years of study, to Hoefer tendency to literary showed. So it was natural for him, that he struck any university or school career, but from then on increasingly devoted his poems and short stories. In the company due to its unregulated life as not accepted, Hoefer be surrounded with friends, such as the family Ziemssen on the Manor Bolton, allowable by his passion and Wesenart. Besides, he had to always take care of his ailing after the early death of his mother 's father, who was supposed to know nothing of his literary ambitions, and sell him the time with reading in Greifswald. In the meantime, let Hoefer for this reason some novellas and stories still publish under a pseudonym in the morning paper for educated stands of Cotta publishing house in Tübingen. This procured him continued success and the special recognition of the publishing boss personally and ultimately the acceptance of his work by his father. In the same way, he has performed with the publisher Adolph crab in Stuttgart in connection with the Hoefer had also publish a series of publications.

After in 1853 the father had died and now free of family constraints, settled Edmund Hoefer finally in the Stuttgart area. Now he tried later on his father's request and at the suggestion of August Boeckh (1785-1867) out again. At a purely scientific work on Greek colonies in Sicily, which he initially submitted as a dissertation at the University of Greifswald After these had been rejected but by Friedrich Wilhelm Barthold, Hoefer submitted it in Jena and he got here in 1854 finally his doctor degree. In future, however, he remained true to his actual genre and his new home faithful and founded in the same year, together with Friedrich Wilhelm Hack countries (1816-1877), the magazine "House of Leaves", to the many distinguished writers of that time participated. Furthermore Hoefer worked as a recognized and factual literary critic, especially the " belles-lettres ". Here in Stuttgart, he was now his most successful period and intercourse with the most influential artists of the day, such as Johann Georg Fischer (1816-1897), Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-1876), Karl Gerok (1815-1890), Karl Mayer (1786-1870 ), Emma von Suckow (1807-1876) and others. From 1881, however, he was increasingly impaired health and passed away after a long illness on 22 May 1882 in Cannstatt near Stuttgart.

Edmund Hoefer, descended from an ancient family of scholars, which included his brother, the linguist and Indo-Europeanist Albert Hoefer (1812-1883) as well as their common ancestor Johann priest Cyriacus Höfer (1605-1667) are to be counted was married to Elise Therese of Rodbertus (1827-1895), daughter of the landlord of Christian Rodbertus in Gransebieth, a cousin of the Prussian minister Johann Karl Rodbertus ( 1805-1875 ). Together with her, he had a daughter and a son.

Scripture Generic interaction

After his early ballads followed later lyrical poems and love songs, and finally the first novels. Frequently they were incorporated persons and incidents from his life. So he glorified example in the figure to the town magistrate Michael Wohlgemuth in his novel " A foundling " the person and his father's environment or memories from the many conversations with his various friends. His first stories he was later united under the title: " For the people" out. His novel " Norien, memories of an old woman ," he refuted the opinion decided that his talent was sufficient only for the small space of the novel. However, he was not spared, that his talent was not initially due to a fast sequence of productions and an associated certain superficiality, according to the application and assessment.

Hoefer advantages lay in his energetic and lively characteristic in its fullness of life and the evocative portrayal of landscapes and domestic environments of his characters. A truly poetic vein was revealed especially in the representation defiant, brittle, closed, but genuine and heart-warming northern German natures as well as in the living reproduction Spreading family relationships and hereditary Familieneigentümlichkeiten. In his earlier books " from the people", " Schwanwiek ", " Norien " and others, but also in some parts of the newer novels themselves Hoefer rises thereby clearly on the mass of dozen narrator. Even his less exquisite productions are characterized usually by a most excellent description mostly true stories from. Even the University of Greifswald mentioned as part of its 400 - year anniversary in 1856 with pride its former students whose thesis work she had two years previously rejected. At one of his major works in later years counted without doubt the novel about " Goethe and Charlotte von Stein ", on the basis of his contemporaries considered him qualified than the pedantic literary critic and connoisseur Goethe Heinrich Düntzer ( 1813-1901 ). Numerous publications letter of influential witnesses on his various works, as they are printed in the ADB in part, evidence of a broad recognition of his life's work.

Publications (selection )

• From the people (Stuttgart 1852)
• Poems (Berlin 1853);
• From ancient and modern times (Stuttgart 1854);
• Stories of an ancient tambour (Stuttgart 1855)
• Moving Life ( 1856);
• Norien, memories of an old woman (Stuttgart 1858, 2 vols )
• Bygone Days ( Prague 1859).
• German heart ( Prague 1860);
• On German soil (Stuttgart, 1860, 2 vols );
• The Honoratiorentochter (1861 );
• A story from back then ( Prague 1861);
• The ancients of Ruhneck (Stuttgart 1862);
• In sins (Vienna 1863);
• Under the foreign rule ( Stuttgart., 1863, 3 vols );
• Old man Ryke (Berlin 1865, 4 ​​vols );
• Narrator writings, (Stuttgart 1865, 12 vols )
• New stories (Breslau 1867, 2 vols );
• Small Life (1873, 3 vols );
• To the left (Leipzig 1874);
• Loyalty wins (Stuttgart 1874);
• Tales from the homeland ( Jena 1874, 2 vols );
• Silence Stories ( Jena. 1874, 3 ​​vols );
• The Bettelprinzeß (Bremen 1876);
• All sorts of spirits (Stuttgart, 1876 );
• German literary history for women (Stuttgart 1876)
• As the people say, a collection of proverbs (1876 )
• Five new stories (1877 );
• Dark Window (1877 );
• Goethe and Charlotte von Stein (Stuttgart 1878).
• The Junker (1878, 3 vols ); the Low German narrative
• Pap Kuhn: 'ne historians ' ut de oll Plattdütsch Tid (1878 );
• In the last hour (1881, 2 vols ).
• Selected Writings ( Jena 1882, 14 vols, posthumously ).