Gustav Schwab | |
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| Born | Gustav Benjamin Schwab (1792-06-19)19 June 1792 Stuttgart,Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Died | 4 November 1850(1850-11-04) (aged 58) Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Education | Gymnasium Illustre University of Tübingen |
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Gustav Benjamin Schwab (19 June 1792 – 4 November 1850) was a German writer, pastor and publisher.
Gustav Schwab was born inStuttgart, the son of the philosopherJohann Christoph Schwab. He was introduced to the humanities early in life. After attendingGymnasium Illustre,[1] he studied as a scholar ofTübinger Stift atUniversity of Tübingen, his first two years studying Philology and Philosophy, and thereafter Theology. While at university he established a literary club and became a close friend ofLudwig Uhland,Karl Varnhagen andJustinus Kerner, with whom he published a collection of poems under the titleDeutscher Dichterwald.
In the spring of 1813, he made a journey to northern Germany, where he metJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,Friedrich Schleiermacher,Friedrich Rückert,Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué,Adelbert von Chamisso and others. In 1818 he became a high school teacher inStuttgart, and in 1837 he started work as a pastor inGomaringen, nearTübingen. In 1841, he moved back to Stuttgart, where he was first pastor and then from 1845 educational counselor for Stuttgart's high school system. In 1847 he received an honorary Doctorate from his old university.
Schwab's collection ofmyths andlegends ofantiquity,Sagen des klassischen Altertums, published from 1838 to 1840, was widely used at German schools and became very influential for the reception of classical antiquity in German classrooms. There is a still available English translation with a foreword byWerner Jaeger.
In his later years, he traveled regularly toÜberlingen am Bodensee atLake Constance to enjoy the waters at the city's spa.[2] The large lake seldom freezes over, an event called "Seegfrörne". The most recent times were 1695, 1788, 1830 (witnessed by Schwab), 1880 and 1963. To celebrate an old tradition, people cross the lake carrying a statue of St. John. In 1830, it was brought fromMünsterlingen Switzerland toHagnau Germany. Conditions in 1880 were unsafe, but on 12 February 1963, a procession of about 2500 people (and one rider) returned the statue to the Swiss which had given it in 1573 to their German neighbors. In the same year, a travelling rider crossed the frozen lake without recognising it as such, and only on the other side was informed about the risk he took inadvertently. In one of Schwab's most famous works, "The Ride over Lake Constance", the rider is so shocked about his lucky deed that he falls from his horse and dies.
Schwab died in Stuttgart in 1850.
Media related toGustav Schwab at Wikimedia Commons
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