Johann Peter Eckermann

Johann Peter Eckermann ( born September 21, 1792 in Winsen ( Luhe), † December 3, 1854 in Weimar ) was a German poet and close confidant of Goethe.

" Eckermann seems to me not as a some great man ," remarked Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863) Eckermann. " Eckermann [ ... ] is [ ... ] especially the reason that I continue to Faust", however, wrote Goethe (1749-1832) and "[ He ] remains, because promoting participation, quite invaluable. " Judgments about his young friend and assistant of the great poet always go far apart.

Life

Born on 21 September 1792 in a poor family in Winsen (Luhe ), a small town in the Elbe river outside Hamburg, he grew up lonely. Often, he moved with his father hausierend by the Winsener march and the northern Lüneburg heath to all sorts of little things for sale in the villages. The width of his North German landscape coined Eckermann's being permanent.

As was customary, he only attended school irregularly, but soon fell to the notables of his hometown through his mental abilities and artistic talents. They encouraged the young Eckermann, so he took office as clerk in his hometown Winsen and the eastern neighboring cities 1808-1813 employment.

After his time as a soldier (1813 /14) he wandered, following his wish to become a painter, to Hanover to be trained with the painter Ramberg. Disease and lack of money forced him but after a short time to abandon this project and, in turn, to accept a position in the state administration. He saw that he had to spiritually educate, incidentally visited in Hanover high school and devoted himself zealously wide-ranging literature. Especially the works of Goethe impressed him deeply.

Following the short school years Eckermann took in Göttingen on the study of law and philology, but soon had it for lack of money to set. In 1822 he established his residence in Empelde near Hanover. Due to the great models he now felt inspired myself to write verses. In addition, the contributions in writing emerged to poetry with special allusion to Goethe, whose manuscript he sent to Weimar Goethe.

The positive response from Weimar caused him to almost seventy-four Goethe visit on June 10, 1823 in person. Overjoyed, the ambitious young guest went at once to the proposal of his " infallible guide star " one to take on some organizational work. However, he was not, as now, to read more on the plaque at the Weimar Eckermannhaus, Goethe's secretary, but he was from now on a no-obligation ratio for complacency Goethe worked.

As in previous years was also Eckermann's Weimar period of shortage of money dominates. Although Goethe made ​​sure that the above-mentioned contributions in writing, were moved to poetry against a good fee; also gave the famous poet him -paid jobs, for example as a teacher of the Hereditary Prince Carl Alexander, and in 1825 a doctorate at the University of Jena, but could the young North German barely earn a living, especially since the work of Goethe claimed him often extraordinary. Goethe's confidence in the reliability of Eckermann was so great that he even asked him to accompany his unstable son August, 1830 on his fateful trip to Italy.

It was only in 1831 Eckermann could in Northeim his longtime fiancee Johanna Bertram married. She died in April 1834, shortly after the birth of their son Karl, who later became a respected painter.

The aged Goethe put his employees Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer together with Eckermann profit sharing testament to the editor of his literary estate of a, but took after Goethe's death in 1832 in Weimar soon hardly anyone notice of the ailing, gradually depleting Eckermann. 1836 appeared finally got his long-prepared Conversations with Goethe in the last years of his life to this day a recognized, translated into several languages, literary work, and two years later, Eckermann published another volume of poetry, but the fee income were so low that it it not long could live off.

On December 3, 1854 Eckermann died sick and lonely in Weimar. He left behind an apartment full of semi- tame domestic animals, for he had always been, as far as possible with the care and observation of birds particularly busy. In this field, he had acquired great knowledge ( confirmed him visiting experts ), but published nothing. Eckermann's former student, who later became Grand Duke Carl Alexander, ensured a dignified burial place near the final resting place of Goethe on the Historical Cemetery of Weimar.

In 1932 the old school street in Winsen ( Luhe) was named after him.

Work

Fewer his poems, which appeared in a second volume in 1838, but rather the transcript of his conversations with Goethe in the last years of his life have Johann Peter Eckermann widely publicized and earned him high praise.

In contrast to his poetic experiments Eckermann's Goethe is important for the research now generally accepted. The transcripts of his published in the volumes 1 and 2 of his "Conversations with Goethe " in 1836 conversations are considered authentic and are used in journalism, literature and science again and again as the source. The published only in 1848 conversations of the third volume, however, are largely based on extremely fragmentary notes Eckermann and on third-party records, especially on those of his friend Frédéric Soret. Your authenticity must therefore be viewed with caution.

On the other hand, resulted in resentment and remains today a widespread ignorance of Eckermann's role in the life of Goethe to an environment characterized by arrogance, ridicule and contempt judgment on the Goethe confidant. These undoubtedly also contributed to Eckermann's little successful poetic efforts. Among the contemporaries particularly Heinrich Heine did show that it, inter alia, as " Goethe's Parrot " mocked. More recently, Martin Walser was in his stage play award " In Goethe's hand " Eckermann of ridicule. Friedrich Nietzsche ( eg 1878 ) and Christian Morgenstern ( 1909 ), however, judged appreciatively of Eckermann's "Conversations with Goethe ". Nietzsche referred to them even as the best German book there is.

As " Goethe's secretary " felt Eckermann been misunderstood in his lifetime: " But it is not a true word ," he defended himself, counts the secretaries to that occupied Goethe, and has such a classification for back personally. He sees himself as a companion and friend of the poet, in whose service he provides nine years of his life, and his strength. Goethe calls him because even his " tested house and soul friend" and " faithful Eckart " and leaves him in 1825 confer a doctorate of the University of Jena, which Eckermann 's embarrassing: "I had to let it happen, but I was only happy when I was a simple man Mr. Ecker yet. "

Without Eckermann today we would probably not Faust II, and later generations would have Goethe's lyrical work must together seek tedious. Eckermann's immediate sketches in his 1836 published major work Conversations with Goethe in the last years of his life have kept their originality and validity for today's readers. Many passages can be used as guiding principles and maxims, even without the additional context of the text, taken alone, are, and not a few may be read and stand still as pertinent comments or critical remarks on phenomena of our time.