- Friedrich Wilhelm Weber
Friedrich Wilhelm Weber (
25 December ,1813 –5 April ,1894 ) was a German doctor, politician of thePrussian House of Deputies , and poet.Weber was born in
Alshausen , nearBad Driburg , in Westphalia. His father was forester for the Count of Asseburg. Weber first attended the village school, then when thirteen years old he went to the Gymnasium atPaderborn , and afterwards studied medicine at theUniversity of Greifswald . His talent for poetry had been evidenced at the gymnasium; at university, it grew. After spending two years at Greifswald he went toBreslau , where he became acquainted withGustav Freitag . After a year, however, he returned to Greifswald, where he obtained a doctorate; thence he went toBerlin , where he passed the state medical examination with great honour. After a brief journey for recreation to southern Germany he settled as a physician in Driburg, where he spent twenty-six years.His practice as a doctor did not keep him from writing poetry. In 1887 he settled permanently at
Nieheim . In 1863 he was made "Sanitätsrat" (honorary title given to a distinguished doctor) in recognition of his medical services; he was made an honorary doctor of philosophy by the academy inMunich , and when he celebrated his semi-centennial as a physician he received theOrder of the Red Eagle , fourth class, while three years before his death he received the further honour of the title of "Geheimen Sanitätsrat". He was elected a member of the Prussian House of Deputies. He remained a member of the Centre Party until 1893, when he declined a re-election on account of his health.His poetry fell into the genres of epic, lyric, and didactic. His early poems were frequently imitations of foreign poets. He was also one of the translators who made Scandinavian and English poetry accessible to Germans, including
Tennyson 's "Enoch Arden ", "Aylmers Field" and "Maud", andEsaias Tegnér 's "Axel". His reputation, however, was founded on his epic, "Dreizehnlinden" (1878). It enjoyed a wide circulation, and was arranged for the stage; he was nicknamed 'Dreizehnlinden-Weber' after it. His second work is his "Goliath" (1892). His "Gedichte"(1881) and "Herbstblätter" (1895) were published after his death. Other works include "Marienblumen" (1885), and two other religious poems written for special occasions, "Vater unser" and "Das Leiden unseres Heilandes" (1892).ources
*KEITER, "Friedr. W. Weber, der Dichter von Dreizehnlinden" (1884);
*SCHWERING, "Friedr. W. Weber, sein Leben u. sein Werke" (1900)
*Catholic|Friedrich Wilhelm Weber
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