Fun Facts Friday: Friedrich Schlegel

Friedrich Schlegel (10 March, 1772 – 12 January, 1829) was a German poet, philosopher, and literary critic. Mr. Schlegel was on one of the main figures of the first phase of German Romanticism (Jena Romanticism).

Books by, or about, Friedrich Schlegel*

Fun Facts about Friedrich Schlegel:

1. Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel was born at Hanover, Germany. His father was a Lutheran pastor and a literary figure.
2. The Schlegel family had a number of prominent persons including dramatist Johann Elias (uncle), as well as the most well-known Shakespeare translator and prominent literary critic August Wilhelm (older brother).
3. Friedrich Schlegel started to study law in Göttingen and Leipzig, but he was more interested in classical literature.
4. Caroline Böhmer, who would marry his brother, had a profound influence on him. The daughter of a famous professor, Ms. Böhmer was pregnant out of wedlock, and imprisoned as a revolutionary. She sparked an interest in politics and social issues in the young man.
5. For a time, Schlegel lived in Paris (1802), founding the journal Europa and writing accounts of paintings in the Louvre and for prominent art collectors.
6. In 1804, Friedrich Schlegel and his wife Dorothea Veit, daughter of philosopher and theologian Moses Mendelssohn, moved to Cologne, where he tried to make a name for himself in academic circles. Studying Sanskrit, he developed a study of comparative grammar (a term he came up with) between Sanskrit and Indo-European languages.
7. Both of Dorothea’s sons from an earlier marriage, Johannes Veit and Philipp Veit were prominent Catholic painters. Dorothea herself published poems and translations under her husband’s name.
8. The couple moved to Vienna, Austria in 1809 where Friedrich got a job in civil service, serving in the Vienna chancellery. By that time both he and Dorothea became Catholics, and Friedrich was the ideological spokesman for the anti-Napoleonic movement for German liberation.
9. Friedrich Schlegel accompanied archduke Charles to the front during the War of the Fifth Coalition. The adventure gave him an opportunity to study Hungarian and issue proclamations against Napoleon. In 1814 he was knighted in the Supreme Order of Christ.
10. Friedrich Schlegel lived in Vienna until his death.

Books by, or about, Friedrich Schlegel*

Zohar – Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books

Sources:

Friedrich Schlegel – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Friedrich Schlegel – Wikipedia