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Wilhelm Hauff | |
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| Born | 29 November 1802 Stuttgart,Duchy of Württemberg |
| Died | 18 November 1827(1827-11-18) (aged 24) Stuttgart,Kingdom of Württemberg |
| Occupation | Poet,novelist |
| Language | German |
| Alma mater | University of Tübingen (PhD) |
| Genre | Poetry, fiction |
Wilhelm Hauff (29 November 1802 – 18 November 1827) was a German poet and novelist.
Hauff was born inStuttgart, the son of August Friedrich Hauff, a secretary in the Württemberg ministry of foreign affairs,[1] and Hedwig Wilhelmine Elsaesser Hauff. He was the second of four children.
Hauff lost his father when he was seven years old, and his early education was practically self-gained in the library of his maternal grandfather atTübingen, where his mother had moved after the death of her husband. In 1818 he was sent to the Klosterschule atBlaubeuren, and in 1820 began to study at theUniversity of Tübingen. In four years he completed his philosophical and theological studies at theTübinger Stift, graduating with aPhD.[1]
On leaving the university, Hauff became tutor to the children of the Württemberg minister of war, General Baron Ernst Eugen von Hugel (1774–1849), and for them wrote hisMärchen (fairy tales), which he published in hisMärchen Almanach auf das Jahr 1826 (Fairytale Almanac of 1826 published asTales of the Caravan, Inn, and Palace. in the US).[1] Some of these stories are very popular in German-speaking countries to this day, such asDer kleine Muck (The Story of Little Muck),Kalif Storch (Caliph Stork) andDie Geschichte von dem Gespensterschiff (The Tale of the Ghost Ship)—all set in theOrient—as well asDer Zwerg Nase (Little Longnose),Das kalte Herz (The Cold Heart orThe Marble Heart) andDas Wirtshaus im Spessart (The Spessart Inn), set in Germany.
A story from Tales of the Caravan, "Die Geschichte von der abgehauenen Hand" (The Severed Hand) was included in the 10 volume anthology Stories by Foreign Authors (German Volume 2) published in English translation by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1898.
He also wrote the first part of theMitteilungen aus den Memoiren des Satan (1826;Memoirs of Beelzebub) andDer Mann im Mond (1825;The Man in the Moon). The latter, a parody of the sentimental and sensual novels ofHeinrich Clauren (the pseudonym of Carl Gottlieb Samuel Heun, 1771–1854), became in the course of composition a close imitation of that author's style and was actually published under his name. As a result, Clauren brought and won an action for damages against Hauff, whereupon Hauff followed up the attack in his witty and sarcasticKontroverspredigt über H. Clauren und den Mann im Mond (1826) and attained his original object: the moral annihilation of the mawkish and unhealthy literature with which Clauren was flooding the country.[1]
Meanwhile, inspired bySir Walter Scott's novels, Hauff wrote the historical romanceLichtenstein: Romantische Sage aus der wuerttembergischen Geschichte (1826;Lichtenstein: Romantic Saga from the History of Württemberg), which became hugely popular in Germany and especially inSwabia, treating as it did the most interesting period in the history of that country, the reign ofDuke Ulrich (1487–1550).[1] This novel was the inspiration for Duke Ulrich's heir,Duke Wilhelm of Urach, to rebuild thecastle, which had fallen into disrepair, in accordance with Hauff's description.
While on a journey to France, theNetherlands, and northern Germany he wrote the second part of theMemoiren des Satan and some short novels, among them the charmingDie Bettlerin vom Pont des Arts (1826;The True Lover's Fortune; or, the Beggar of the Pont des Arts) and his masterpiece, the novellaPhantasien im Bremer Ratskeller (1827;The Wine-Ghosts of Bremen). He also published some short poems, which have passed intoVolkslieder, among them "Morgenrot, Morgenrot, leuchtest mir zum frühen Tod?" ("Dawn's light, you are lighting my way to early death") and "Steh ich in finstrer Mitternacht" ("I stand in the darkest midnight").[1] The novellaJud Süß ("Süss the Jew"), "naïvely anti-Semitic", was published in 1827 by Wilhelm Hauff;a film version (different from Hauff's novella) was produced by theNazi Party as propaganda in 1940.
In January 1827, Hauff undertook the editorship of theStuttgart Morgenblatt and in the following month married his cousin Luise Hauff, but his happiness was prematurely cut short by his death from typhoid[2] fever on 18 November 1827.[1]
HisSämtliche Werke (Collected works), with a biography, edited byGustav Schwab were published in 3 volumes 1830–1834, and 5 volumes (18th ed.) in 1882. They were also published byFelix Bobertag 1891–1897. A selection from his works was published byM. Mendheim (3 vols, 1891).[1] A six-volume edition, with a biographical introduction by Alfred Weile, was published in 1911 by A. Weichert.
Christopher Morley's English translations of Hauff's short story "The Young Foreigner" andAlfred de Musset's tale "The Story of a White Blackbird" were published together in book form byDoubleday in 1925.[3]
| This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Wilhelm Hauff" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hauff, Wilhelm".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 65. This work in turn cites:
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