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Christian Ludolf Wienbarg (25 December 1802 – 2 January 1872) was a German journalist and literary critic, one of the founders of theYoung Germany movement during theVormärz period.
Christian Ludolf Wienbarg | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1802-12-25)25 December 1802 |
| Died | 2 January 1872(1872-01-02) (aged 69) |
| Citizenship | |
| Occupations | Journalist,Editor,Theologian |
| Known for | Founding figure of theYoung Germany movement during theVormärz period |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Kiel University,Marburg University |
| Thesis | (1829) |
| Academic work | |
| Notable students | Christian Günther von Bernstorff |
| Main interests | Platonic ideas |
Wienbarg was born inAltona, as the son of a blacksmith. In 1822 he started studying theology at theKiel University. In 1826, he had to drop his studies for financial reasons and worked as a private tutor for CountChristian Günther von Bernstorff inLauenburg. In 1829, he was conferred a doctor's degree atMarburg University for his thesis on the original meaning ofPlatonic ideas. In 1833, he accepted a job as lecturer in Kiel.
In 1834, he published a collection with 22 of his lectures under the title"Ästhetische Feldzüge" ("Aesthetic Campaigns"). With the opening words"To you, young Germany, I dedicate these speeches" he helped to create the expression"Young Germany". In the same year, he met the writerKarl Gutzkow inFrankfurt am Main. They planned to publish a journal in summer 1835. However, it was seized and banned by theGerman government even before the delivery of its first edition.
In November 1835, Wienbarg's writings, together with those ofHeinrich Heine,Ludwig Börne, Karl Gutzkow,Heinrich Laube andTheodor Mundt, were first banned inPrussia and subsequently in all the member states of theGerman confederation. Wienbarg was forced to leave Frankfurt and escaped toHeligoland, then a British island popular with political refugees from Germany. In the autumn of 1836, he returned to Hamburg where he resumed his activities as a journalist and editor for different journals. At the end of the 1830s, he was supported by his siblings. On 12 May 1839 he married Elisabeth Wilhelmine Dorothea Marwedel, daughter of a middle-class family in Altona, but his marriage did not improve his financial situation.
In 1846, his plans to emigrate to the United States were discussed in the press, but the national enthusiasm for theSchleswig-Holstein Question made him rethink his decision. In 1848 and 1849, he volunteered in theFirst Schleswig War.
After 1850, Wienbarg lived in Hamburg and Altona, addicted to alcohol, destitute, and forgotten by the public. In 1869, he was committed to a psychiatric clinic inSchleswig where he died on 2 January 1872.[1]
