His biography and work reveal the personality of a rebel, a person who does not consider himself, in an era of general lawlessness, the property of a feudal lord. His feat in life impressed even the most august person, which we will discuss later. The life of a poet and playwright itself resembles a theatrical drama, where Talent fights discrimination, poverty and wins.

The Europeans have chosen the anthem of the European Union for its "Ode to Joy". Set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, it sounded solemn, lofty.

The genius of this man manifested itself in many ways: a poet, playwright, art theorist, fighter for human rights.

Born not free

When Friedrich Schiller was born, serfdom was still relevant in Germany.

The subjects of the feudal lords could not leave the possessions of their overlord. And if this happened, then the fugitives were returned by force. The subject could neither change his trade, to which he was "attached" by the feudal lord, nor marry without the permission of his master. In such a nightmarish legal status, reminiscent of an iron cage, was Friedrich Schiller.

He became a classic, rather, not because of contemporary German society, but in spite of it. Frederick, figuratively speaking, managed to enter the Temple of Art through a door closed to him by a state with remnants of the Middle Ages.

Only in 1807 (Schiller died in 1805) did Prussia abolish serfdom.

Parents

Schiller's biography begins in the Duchy of Württemberg (the city of Marbach an der Neckar), where he was born on 11/10/1759 in the family of an officer, regimental paramedic Johann Kaspar Schiller. The mother of the future poet was from a family of pharmacists and innkeepers. Her name was Elizabeth Dorothea Codweiss. The atmosphere of clean, tidy and intelligent poverty reigned in his parents' house.

The father and mother of Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (such is the full name of the classic) were very religious and raised their children in the same spirit. The father of the future poet, who came from a peasant wine-making family, was lucky enough to get a medical education. He became an official under his master, an intelligent man, but not free. He changed places of residence, positions, following the will of his master.

Education

When the boy was five years old, the family moved to the city of the same county of Lorch. My father got a government job there as a recruiter. For three years, Friedrich's primary church and humanitarian education was handled by pastor Lorch, a kind man who managed to interest the boy in Latin, German, and catechism.

When the seven-year-old Schiller moved to Ludwigsburg with his family, he was able to attend a Latin school. At the age of 23, an educated young man was confirmed (the right to approach communion). At first he dreamed of becoming a priest, following the charisma of his teachers.

Feudal despot

Biography of Schiller in his youth turned into a series of suffering due to failure to comply with the will of the Duke of Württemberg. He ordered his serf to study at the military academy of jurisprudence of the legal profession. Schiller could not live someone else's life, he ignored classes. Three years later, the young man was ranked last in a peer group of 18 people.

In 1776, he moved to the Faculty of Medicine, where he became interested in studying. But in teaching medicine, he was attracted by secondary subjects - philosophy, literature. In 1777, the respectable magazine German Chronicles published the first work of the young Schiller, the ode "The Conqueror", written in imitation of the beloved poet Friedrich Klopstock.

Schiller's biography, as follows from the above, is not a "major" story. The guy who did not fulfill the order to become a lawyer was disliked by the tyrant duke. By his will, a 29-year-old graduate of the academy received only the post of regimental doctor, without an officer's rank. It seemed to the despot that he managed to break the life of the disgraced young man, but Friedrich Schiller had already felt the power of his talent by that time.

Talent speaks for itself

The 32-year-old playwright is writing the drama The Robbers. No publisher from Stuttgart undertakes to print such a serious work of a slave, fearing a conflict with the all-powerful Duke of Württemberg. Showing perseverance, declaring himself to the public, Friedrich Schiller himself publishes it. His biography as a playwright begins with this work.

The impudent subject, who published the drama "Robbers" at his own expense, turned out to be a winner. And Fate sent him a gift. A bookseller friend introduced him to the art connoisseur Baron von Dahlberg, director of the Mingham Theatre. Drama after minor edits became the highlight of the next theatrical season in Prussia!

The author embraces courage, he revels in talent. In the same period, Schiller published his first collection of poems, An Anthology for 1782. He seems to reach any height! He competes for the championship in the Swabian school of poetry with Gotthald Steidlin, who had previously released his "Collection of Muses". To give the image of scandal to his collection, the poet indicates the place of publication of the city of Tobolsk.

Harassment and escape

The biography of Schiller at that time is marked by a banal flight to the county of the Palatinate. On September 22, 1782, he took this risky step together with his friend Streicher, a pianist and composer. The Duke of Württemberg was unshakable in his desire to turn the future classic into a government servant.

Schiller was put in a guardhouse for two weeks for leaving the regiment to attend a theatrical production of The Robbers. At the same time, he was forbidden to write.

Friends, not without reason, feared intrigues on the part of the Archduke. Schiller changed his name to Schmidt. Therefore, they settled not in the city of Mannheim itself, but in the hunting yard tavern in the suburban village of Oggersheim.

Schiller hoped to make money with a new play written, The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa. However, the fee was meagre. Being in poverty, he was forced to ask for help from Henriette von Walzogen. She generously allowed the playwright to live in her empty estate.

Living under a false name

From 1782 to 1783 he hid in the estate of a benefactress under a fictitious name, Dr. Ritter Friedrich Schiller. His biography during this period is a description of the life of an outcast who chose risk in order to be able to develop his talent. He studies history and writes the plays Louise Miller and The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa. To the credit of his friend, Andrei Streicher, he made great efforts so that the director of the Mannheim Theater, Baron von Dahlberg, paid attention to the work of a friend. Schiller informs the baron about his new plays by letter, and he agrees to stage them!

During this period (1983), Henriette von Walzogen visited the estate with her young daughter Charlotte. Schiller falls in love with a girl and asks his mother for permission to marry her, but is refused because of his poverty. He moves to Mannheim to prepare his works for staging.

Finding freedom. Getting a formal position

If the play "The Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa" on the stage of the Mannheim Theater takes place as an ordinary production, then "Louise Miller" (renamed "Deceit and Love") brings a resounding success. In 1784, Schiller entered the local German society, while receiving the right to legalize his status by becoming a palatine subject, and finally draw a line under the archduke's persecution.

He, who has his own views on the development of the German theater, is respected as a famous playwright. He writes his work "The Theater is a Moral Institution", which has become a classic.

Soon, Schiller begins a short affair with a married woman, Charlotte von Kalb. The writer, inclined towards mysticism, led a bohemian lifestyle. This lady considered the young poet as her next trophy in a series of women's victories.

She introduced Schiller in Darmstadt to Archduke Karl August. The playwright read the first act of the drama Don Carlos to him. Surprised and delighted with the talent of the author, the nobleman granted the writer the position of adviser. This gave the playwright only a social status, nothing more. However, this did not change his life.

Soon Schiller quarrels and breaks the contract with the director of the Mannheim Theater. He considers the author of his hit productions dependent on his will and money, trying to put pressure on Schiller.

Leipzig receives a desperate poet

All the same unsettled life remained Friedrich Schiller. His biography is not the first time preparing a blow in his personal life. Due to poverty, he is denied marriage by Margarita Schwan, the daughter of a court bookseller. However, soon his life changes for the better. In Leipzig, his work was appreciated.

The playwright has long been persistently invited there by admirers of his work, organized in a society controlled by Gottfried Kerner. Driven to the extreme (he still has not repaid the debt of 200 guilders taken for the publication of The Robbers), the writer turned to his admirers with a request for material assistance. To his joy, he soon received a bill from Leipzig for an amount sufficient to pay off his debts and move to live where he is valued. Friendship with Gottfried Kerner connected the classic for the rest of his life.

04/17/1785 Schiller arrives in a hospitable city.

At this time, the classic falls in love for the third time, but again unsuccessfully: Margarita Schwan refuses him. The classic who has gone into black despondency is influenced by his benefactor, Gottfried Kerner. He dissuades a romantic friend from committing suicide by first inviting Friedrich to his wedding to Minna Stock.

Warmed by friendship and having experienced a severe spiritual crisis, F. Schiller writes a brilliant ode “To Joy” for the wedding of his friend.

The biography of the writer, who settled at the invitation of the same Kerner in the village of Loschwitz adjacent to Dresden, is marked by remarkable works: “Philosophical Letters”, the drama “The Misanthrope”, the modified drama “Don Carlos”. In terms of creative fruitfulness, this period resembles Pushkin's Boldino autumn.

Schiller becomes famous. The playwright rejects an offer from the Hamburg Theater to stage his plays. Too fresh memories of the difficulties in cooperation and break with the Mannheim theater.

Weimar period: a departure from creativity. Tuberculosis

On August 21, 1787, he arrives in Weimar at the invitation of the poet Christoph Wieland. He is accompanied by his mistress, an old acquaintance, Charlotte von Kalb. Having connections in high society, she introduces Schiller to the hosts Johann Herder and Martin Wieland.

The poet begins to publish the magazine "Thalia", is published in the "German Mercury". Here he departed from creativity for almost a decade, taking up self-education in the field of history. His knowledge is highly valued, and in 1788 he became a professor at the University of Jena.

He lectures on world history and poetry, and translates Virgil's Aeneid. Schiller receives a salary of 200 thalers a year. This is a fairly small income, but it allows him to plan his future.

The poet decides to arrange his life and marries Charlotte von Lengefeld. But four years later, fate prepares a new test for him: speaking in cold classrooms and becoming infected from his student, Friedrich Schiller falls ill with tuberculosis. Interesting facts in his biography testify to the charisma, integrity of the personality. The disease crosses out his teaching career, chains him to bed, but calm human courage often wins fate.

New stage of destiny

As if by a wave of higher powers, friends help him in difficult times. And now, when Schiller's illness made it impossible to work, the Danish writer Jens Baggens persuaded the Prince of Holstein and Count Schimmelmann to appoint a subsidy of a thousand thalers for the treatment of classics.

Iron will and financial assistance raised the bedridden patient to his feet. He could not teach, and his friend, publisher Johann Kotta provided an opportunity to earn money. Soon Schiller moves to a new stage of creativity. Ironically, it begins with a tragic event: the poet was summoned by his dying father, who at that time lived in Ludwigsburg.

This event was expected: previously, the father was seriously ill for a long time. A classic, in addition to the filial duty - to say goodbye to his father, also attracted the opportunity to hug and console his three sisters and his mother, whom he had not seen for eighteen years!

Perhaps that is why he did not go on his own, but together with his wife, who was in a position.

Staying in his small homeland, the poet receives a powerful spiritual incentive - to develop creativity.

A month and a half after his father's funeral, he visited his alma mater, a military academy. He was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he was an idol for students. Those greeted him enthusiastically: before them stood a legend - Friedrich Schiller, poet No. 1 in Prussia. Touched by the classic, after this visit, he wrote his famous work “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man”.

His first child was born in Ludwigsburg. He is finally happy. But he only has seven years to live...

The poet returned to the city of Jena, being in a state of creative upsurge. His faceted talent shines with renewed vigor! Schiller, after ten years of in-depth study of history, literary theory, aesthetics, again returns to poetry.

He managed to attract all the best poets of Prussia to participate in the magazine Ory. In 1795, philosophical poetic works come out from under his pen: "Dance", "Poetry of Life", "Hope", "Genius", "Division of the Earth".

Collaboration with Goethe

Among the poets invited by Schiller to the journal "Ora" were their creative souls entered into the resonance that stimulated the creation of many priceless pearls from the necklace of German classical literature of the 18th century.

They had a common vision of the civilizational significance of the French Revolution, the development of German literature, and the rethinking of ancient art. Goethe and Schiller criticized the contemporary literature's treatment of religious, political, aesthetic and philosophical issues. Moral and civic pathos sounded in their letters. Two brilliant poets who chose a literary direction for themselves competed with each other in its development:

• from December 1795 - in writing epigrams;
• in 1797 - in writing ballads.

The friendly correspondence between Goethe and Schiller is a remarkable example of epistolary art.

The last stage of creativity. Weimar

In 1799 Friedrich Schiller returned to Weimar. The works written by him and Goethe served to develop the German theater. They became a dramatic basis for creating the best theater in Germany - the Weimar one.

However, Schiller's strength is drying up. In 1800, he completed the writing of his swan song - the tragedy "Mary Stuart", a deep composition that has success and wide resonance in society.

In 1802, the emperor of Prussia grants the nobility to the poet. However, Schiller was ironic about this. His young and best mature years were full of hardships, and now the newly minted nobleman felt that he was dying. He humanly wanted to reject the useless title for himself, but he accepted it, thinking only about his children.

He was often ill, suffered from chronic pneumonia. Against this background, tuberculosis worsened, which led him to an untimely death in the prime of his talent and at the age of 45.

Conclusion

It can be said without exaggeration that Johann Goethe and Friedrich Schiller have been and will be the favorite poets of the Germans for all time. The photo of the monument, forever depicting two friends living in Weimar, is familiar to every German. Their contribution to literature is invaluable: the classics led it to the path of a new humanism, summarizing the ideas of the Enlightenment, romanticism and classicism.

Biography

Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller (11/10/1759, Marbach am Neckar - 05/09/1805, Weimar) was a German poet, philosopher, historian and playwright, a representative of the romantic trend in literature.

Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach (Württemberg); comes from the lower classes of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-innkeeper, his father is a regimental paramedic.

1768 - begins to attend a Latin school.

1773 - being a subject of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugene, the father is forced to send his son to the newly established military academy, where he begins to study law, although from childhood he dreams of becoming a priest.

1775 - the academy is transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study is extended, and Schiller, leaving law, begins to practice medicine.

1780 - after completing the course, he receives a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

1781 - publishes the drama "The Robbers" (Die Rauber), begun at the academy. The plot of the play is based on the enmity of two brothers, Karl and Franz Moor; Karl is impetuous, courageous and, in essence, generous; Franz is an insidious scoundrel, seeking to take away from his older brother not only the title and estates, but also the love of his cousin Amalia. Despite the illogicality of the gloomy plot, the irregularities of the rough language and youthful immaturity, the tragedy captures the reader and viewer with its energy and social pathos. The second edition of The Robbers (1782) has on the title page an image of a roaring lion with the motto "In tyrannos!" (lat. "Against tyrants!"). "Robbers" prompted the French in 1792. make Schiller an honorary citizen of the new French Republic.

1782 - "Robbers" staged in Mannheim; Schiller attends the premiere without asking the sovereign for permission to leave the duchy. Having heard about the second visit to the Mannheim theater, the duke puts Schiller in a guardhouse, and later orders him to engage in medicine alone. September 22, 1782 Schiller flees from the Duchy of Württemberg.

1783 - apparently no longer fearing the revenge of the duke, the quartermaster of the Mannheim theater Dahlberg appoints Schiller as a "theater poet", concluding a contract with him to write plays for production on the Mannheim stage. Two dramas that Schiller had been working on even before his flight from Stuttgart were Die Verschworung des Fiesco zu Genua, a play based on the biography of a 16th-century Genoese conspirator, and Kabale und Liebe, Fiesco's Conspiracy in Genoa. the first "petty-bourgeois tragedy" in world dramaturgy was staged at the Mannheim Theater, and the latter is a great success. However, Dahlberg does not renew the contract, and Schiller finds himself in Mannheim in very tight financial circumstances, moreover, tormented by the pangs of unrequited love.

1785 - Schiller writes one of his most famous creations - "Ode to Joy" (An die Freude). With a grand chorus to the text of this poem, Beethoven completed his 9th symphony.

1785-1787 - accepts the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, Privatdozent G. Körner, and visits him in Leipzig and Dresden.

1785-1791 - Schiller publishes a literary magazine, published irregularly and under various names (for example, "Thalia").

1786 Philosophical Letters (Philosophische Briefe) are published.

1787 - the play "Don Carlos" (Don Carlos), which takes place at the court of the Spanish King Philip II. This drama ends the first period of Schiller's dramatic work.

1787-1789 - Schiller leaves Dresden and lives in and around Weimar.

1788 - writes the poem "Gods of Greece" (Gottern Griechenlands), in which the ancient world is shown as the focus of joy, love and beauty. Also created a historical study "History of the fall of the Netherlands from Spanish rule" (Geschichte des Abfalls der vereinigten Niederlande von der spanischen Regierung).

Schiller meets with Goethe, who has returned from Italy, but Goethe shows no desire to maintain an acquaintance.

1789 - becomes professor of world history at the University of Jena.

1790 - marries Charlotte von Lengefeld.

1791-1793 - Schiller works on the "History of the Thirty Years' War" (Die Geschichte des Drei?igjahrigen Krieges).

1791-1794 - Crown Prince Fr.Kr.von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E.von Schimmelman pay Schiller a scholarship that allows him not to worry about his daily bread.

1792-1796 - a series of philosophical essays by Schiller are published: “Letters on aesthetic education” (Uber die asthetische Erziehung der des Menschen, in einer Reihe von Briefen), “On the tragic in art” (Uber die tragische Kunst), “On grace and dignity "(Uber Anmut und Wurde), "On the Sublime" (Uber das Erhabene) and "On Naive and Sentimental Poetry" (Uber naive und sentimentalische Dichtung). The philosophical views of Schiller are strongly influenced by I. Kant.

1794 - The publisher I.Fr. Kotta invites Schiller to publish the monthly magazine Ory.

1796 - the second period of Schiller's dramatic work begins, when he subjects the turning points in the history of European peoples to artistic analysis. The first of these plays is the drama Wallenstein. Studying the "History of the Thirty Years' War", Schiller finds in the generalissimo of the imperial troops Wallenstein a grateful figure in a dramatic sense. The drama takes shape in 1799. and takes the form of a trilogy: Wallenstein's Camp, which plays the role of a prologue, and two five-act dramas, Die Piccolomini and Wallenstein's Tod.

In the same year, Schiller founded a periodical - the yearly "Almanac of the Muses", where many of his works are published. In search of materials, Schiller turns to Goethe, and now the poets become close friends.

1797 is the so-called "balad year", when Schiller and Goethe create ballads in a friendly competition, incl. Schiller - "The Cup" (Der Taucher), "The Glove" (Der Handschuh), "Polycrates' Ring" (Der Ring des Polykrates) and "Ivikov's Cranes" (Die Kraniche des Ibykus), which came to the Russian reader in the translations of V.A. Zhukovsky. In the same year, "Xenien" (Xenien), short satirical poems, is the fruit of the joint work of Goethe and Schiller.

1800 - the play "Mary Stuart" (Marie Stuart), illustrating Schiller's aesthetic thesis that for the sake of dramaturgy it is quite permissible to change and reshape historical events. Schiller did not bring political and religious problems to the fore in "Mary Stuart" and determined the denouement of the drama by the development of a conflict between rival queens.

1801 - the play "The Maid of Orleans" (Die Jungfrau von Orleans), based on the story of Joan of Arc. Schiller gives free rein to fantasy, using the material of a medieval legend, and recognizes his involvement in the new romantic movement, calling the play "romantic tragedy".

1802 - Holy Roman Emperor Francis II grants Schiller the nobility.

1803 - The Bride of Messina (Die Braut von Messina) was written, in which Schiller, well-read in Greek drama, translated Euripides and studied the Aristotelian theory of drama, as an experiment tries to revive the forms characteristic of ancient tragedy, in particular, choirs, and in his individual interpretation embodies the ancient Greek understanding of fatal punishment.

1804 - the last completed play "William Tell", conceived by Schiller as a "folk" drama.

1805 - work on the unfinished drama "Demetrius" (Demetrius), dedicated to Russian history.

en.wikipedia.org

Biography

Schiller was born on November 10, 1759 in Marbach am Neckar. His father - Johann Kaspar Schiller (1723-1796) - was a regimental paramedic, an officer in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, his mother was from the family of a provincial baker-tavern owner. The young Schiller was brought up in a religious-pietistic atmosphere, echoed in his early poems. His childhood and youth were spent in relative poverty, although he was able to study at a rural school and with Pastor Moser. Attracting the attention of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugen (German: Karl Eugen), in 1773, Schiller entered the elite military academy "Karl's Higher School" (German: Hohe Karlsschule), where he began to study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest. In 1775, the academy was transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study was extended, and Schiller, leaving law, took up medicine. Under the influence of one of his mentors, Schiller became a member of the secret society of the Illuminati, the forerunners of the German Jacobins. In 1779, Schiller's dissertation was rejected by the leadership of the academy, and he was forced to stay for a second year. Finally, in 1780, he completed the course of the academy and received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart. Even in his school years, Schiller wrote his first works. Influenced by the drama "Julius of Tarentum" (1776) by Johann Anton Leisewitz (German: Johann Anton Leisewitz), Friedrich wrote "Cosmus von Medici" - a drama in which he tried to develop a favorite theme of the literary movement "Sturm und Drang": hatred between brothers and love father. But the author destroyed this play [source not specified 250 days]. At the same time, his great interest in the work and writing style of Friedrich Klopstock inspired Schiller to write the ode "The Conqueror", published in March 1777 in the journal "German Chronicles" and which was an imitation of the idol. Better known to readers is his drama The Robbers, completed in 1781.

The Robbers were staged for the first time in Mannheim on January 13, 1782. For an unauthorized absence from the regiment to Mannheim for the performance of The Robbers, Schiller was arrested and banned from writing anything other than medical writings, which forced him to flee the duke's possessions on September 22, 1782.

In July 1787, Schiller left Dresden, where he stayed with Privatdozent G. Koerner, one of his admirers, and lived in Weimar until 1789. In 1789, with the assistance of J. W. Goethe, whom Schiller had met in 1788, he took up the position of extraordinary professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena, where he delivered an introductory lecture on "What is world history and for what purpose is it studied." In 1790 Schiller married Charlotte von Lengefeld, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. But the poet's salary was not enough to support his family. Help came from Crown Prince Fr. Cr. von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E. von Schimmelmann, who paid him a scholarship for three years (1791–1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I. Fr. Cotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ory.

In 1799 he returned to Weimar, where he began to publish several literary magazines with the money of patrons. Becoming a close friend of Goethe, Schiller founded the Weimar Theater with him, which became the leading theater in Germany. The poet remained in Weimar until his death. In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II granted Schiller the nobility.

Schiller's most famous ballads (1797) - The Cup (Der Taucher), The Glove (Der Handschuh), Polycrates' Ring (Der Ring des Polykrates) and Ivikov's Cranes (Die Kraniche des Ibykus), became familiar to Russian readers after translations by V. A. Zhukovsky .

World-famous was his "Ode to Joy" (1785), the music for which was written by Ludwig van Beethoven.

The last years of Schiller's life were overshadowed by severe protracted illnesses. After a severe cold, all the old ailments became aggravated. The poet suffered from chronic pneumonia. He died on May 9, 1805 at the age of 45 from tuberculosis.

Schiller's remains

Friedrich Schiller was buried on the night of May 11-12, 1805 at the Weimar cemetery Jacobsfriedhof in the Kassengewölbe crypt, specially reserved for nobles and revered residents of Weimar who did not have their own family crypts. In 1826, they decided to rebury Schiller's remains, but they could no longer accurately identify them. Randomly chosen as the most suitable remains, they were transferred to the library of Duchess Anna Amalia. Looking at the skull of Schiller, Goethe wrote a poem of the same name. On December 16, 1827, these remains were buried in the princely tomb in the new cemetery, where Goethe himself was subsequently buried next to his friend in accordance with his will.

In 1911, another skull was discovered, which was attributed to Schiller. For a long time there were disputes about which one of them is real. As part of the "Friedrich Schiller Code" campaign, jointly conducted by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk radio station and the Weimar Classicism Foundation, a DNA examination conducted in two independent laboratories in the spring of 2008 showed that none of the skulls belonged to Friedrich Schiller. The remains in Schiller's coffin belong to at least three different people, and their DNA also does not match any of the studied skulls. The Weimar Classicism Foundation decided to leave Schiller's coffin empty.

Reception of the work of Friedrich Schiller

Schiller's writings were enthusiastically received not only in Germany, but also in other European countries. Some considered Schiller a poet of freedom, others - a stronghold of bourgeois morality. Accessible language tools and apt dialogues have turned many of Schiller's lines into catch phrases. In 1859, the centenary of Schiller's birth was celebrated not only in Europe, but also in the United States. The works of Friedrich Schiller were learned by heart, since the 19th century they have been included in school textbooks.

After coming to power, the National Socialists tried to present Schiller as a "German writer" for their own propaganda purposes. However, in 1941, the productions of "William Tell", as well as "Don Carlos" were banned by order of Hitler.

Monuments

The most famous works

Plays

* 1781 - "Robbers"
* 1783 - "Deceit and love"
* 1784 - "Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa"
* 1787 - "Don Carlos, Infante of Spain"
* 1799 - dramatic trilogy "Wallenstein"
* 1800 - "Mary Stuart"
* 1801 - "Maid of Orleans"
* 1803 - "Messinian bride"
* 1804 - "William Tell"
* "Dimitri" (was not completed due to the death of the playwright)

Prose

* Article "Criminal because of lost honor" (1786)
* Spirit Seer (unfinished novel)
* Eine gromutige Handlung

Philosophical works

* Philosophie der Physiologie (1779)
* On the relationship of the animal nature of man with his spiritual nature / Uber den Zusammenhang der tierischen Natur des Menschen mit seiner geistigen (1780)
* Die Schaubuhne als eine moralische Anstalt betrachtet (1784)
* Uber den Grund des Vergnugens an tragischen Gegenstanden (1792)
*Augustenburger Briefe (1793)
* On Grace and Dignity / Uber Anmut und Wurde (1793)
* Kallias-Briefe (1793)
* Letters on the aesthetic education of man / Uber die asthetische Erziehung des Menschen (1795)
* On Naive and Sentimental Poetry / Uber naive und sentimentalische Dichtung (1795)
* On dilettantism / Uber den Dilettantismus (1799; co-authored with Goethe)
* About the sublime / Uber das Erhabene (1801)

Schiller's works in other art forms

Musical Theatre

* 1829 - "William Tell" (opera), composer G. Rossini
* 1834 - "Mary Stuart" (opera), composer G. Donizetti
* 1845 - Giovanna d'Arco (opera), composer G. Verdi
* 1847 - The Robbers (opera), composer G. Verdi
* 1849 - "Louise Miller" (opera), composer G. Verdi
* 1867 - "Don Carlos" (opera), composer G. Verdi
* 1879 - The Maid of Orleans (opera), composer P. Tchaikovsky
* 1883 - The Bride of Messina (opera), composer Z. Fibich
* 1957 - "Joan of Arc" (ballet), composer N. I. Peiko
* 2001 - "Mary Stuart" (opera), composer S. Slonimsky

The Bolshoi Drama Theater was opened in Petrograd on February 15, 1919 with the tragedy Don Carlos by F. Schiller.

Screen adaptations and films based on works

* 1980 - Teleplay "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa". Performance by the Maly Theatre. Directors: Felix Glyamshin, L. E. Kheifets. Cast: V. M. Solomin (Fiesco), M. I. Tsarev (Verina), N. Vilkina (Leonora), N. Kornienko (Julia), Y. P. Baryshev (Gianettino), E. V. Samoilov ( Duke Doria), A. Potapov (Hassan, Moor), V. Bogin (Burgonino), Y. Vasiliev (Calcagno), E. Burenkov (Sacco), B. V. Klyuev (Lomellino), A. Zharova (Berta), M. Fomina (Rose), G. V. Bukanova (Arabella) and others.

Friedrich Schiller, full name Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller (Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller), was born on November 10, 1759 in Marbach (Württemberg, Germany) in the family of military doctor Johann Kaspar Schiller. His parents named him after King Frederick the Great.

In 1772 Friedrich graduated from the Latin school in Ludwigsburg. By order of Duke Charles, Eugene was enrolled in a military school, later renamed the academy, where he studied at the law, then at the medical department.

In 1780, after graduating from the academy, he received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

Even at the academy, Schiller became interested in literature and philosophy. Under the influence of one of his mentors, he became a member of the secret society of the Illuminati.

In 1776-1777, several of Schiller's poems were published in the Swabian Journal.

Schiller began his poetic activity in the era of the literary movement "Storm and Onslaught", which received its name from the drama of the same name by Friedrich Klinger. Its representatives defended the national originality of art, demanded the image of strong passions, heroic deeds, characters that were not broken by the regime.

Schiller destroyed his first plays "Christians", "Student from Nassau", "Cosimo Medici". In 1781, his tragedy The Robbers was published anonymously. On January 13, 1782, the tragedy was staged on the stage of the theater in Mannheim, directed by Baron von Dahlberg. For unauthorized absence from the regiment to present his play, Schiller was arrested, he was forbidden to write anything other than medical essays.
Schiller fled from Stuttgart to the village of Bauerbach. Later he moved to Mannheim, in 1785 - to Leipzig, then to Dresden.

During these years, he created the dramatic works "The Fiesco Conspiracy" (1783), "Cunning and Love" (1784), "Don Carlos" (1783-1787). In the same period, the ode "To Joy" (1785) was written, which the composer Ludwig Beethoven included in the finale of the 9th symphony as a hymn to the coming freedom and brotherhood of people.

From 1787 Schiller lived in Weimar, where he studied history, philosophy and aesthetics.

In 1788 he began to edit a series of books called "History of Remarkable Revolts and Conspiracies".

In 1789, with the assistance of the poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller assumed the position of Extraordinary Professor of History at the University of Jena.

Together with Goethe, he created a cycle of epigrams "Xenia" (Greek - "gifts to guests"), directed against rationalism in literature and theater and the early German romantics.

In the first half of the 1790s, Schiller wrote a number of philosophical works: "On the Tragic in Art" (1792), "Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man", "On the Sublime" (both - 1795) and others. Starting from Kant's theory of art as a link between the realm of nature and the realm of freedom, Schiller created his own theory of the transition from the "natural absolutist state to the bourgeois realm of reason" with the help of aesthetic culture and the moral re-education of mankind. His theory found expression in a number of poems from 1795-1798 - "The Poetry of Life", "The Power of Chant", "Division of the Earth", "Ideal and Life", as well as ballads written in close collaboration with Goethe - "The Glove", " Ivikov Cranes", "Polycrates Ring", "Hero and Leander" and others.

During these years, Schiller was the editor of the magazine "Di Oren".

In 1794-1799 he worked on the Wallenstein trilogy, dedicated to one of the commanders of the Thirty Years' War.

In the early 1800s, he wrote the dramas Mary Stuart and The Maid of Orleans (both 1801), The Bride of Messina (1803), and the folk drama William Tell (1804).

In addition to his own plays, Schiller created stage versions of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Turandot by Carlo Gozzi, and also translated Jean Racine's Phaedra.

In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II granted Schiller the nobility.

In the last months of his life, the writer worked on the tragedy "Demetrius" from Russian history.

Schiller was married to Charlotte von Lengefeld (1766-1826). The family had four children - sons Carl Friedrich Ludwig and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm and daughters Caroline Louise Henriette and Louise Henrietta Emily.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

SCHILLER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH(Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich) (1759–1805), German poet, playwright and aesthetic philosopher. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach (Württemberg); comes from the lower classes of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-innkeeper, his father is a regimental paramedic. After studying in elementary school and studying with a Protestant pastor, in 1773, at the insistence of the duke, Schiller entered the newly established military academy and began to study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest; in 1775 the academy was transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study was extended, and Schiller, leaving law, took up medicine. After completing the course in 1780, he received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

While still at the academy, Schiller moved away from the religious and sentimental exaltation of his early literary experiments, turned to drama, and in 1781 completed and published Robbers (Die Rauber). Early next year Rogues were delivered in Mannheim; Schiller attended the premiere without asking the sovereign for permission to leave the duchy. Having heard about the second visit to the Mannheim theater, the duke put Schiller in a guardhouse, and later ordered him to practice medicine alone. September 22, 1782 Schiller fled from the Duchy of Württemberg. The next summer, apparently no longer fearing the duke's revenge, the quartermaster of the Mannheim theater Dahlberg appoints Schiller "theatrical poet", concluding a contract with him to write plays for production on the Mannheim stage. The two dramas that Schiller had been working on before he left Stuttgart were Fiesco conspiracy in Genoa (Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua) And Deceit and love (Kabale und Liebe), were staged at the Mannheim Theater, the latter being a great success. Dahlberg did not renew the contract, and Schiller found himself in Mannheim in very tight financial circumstances, moreover, tormented by the pangs of unrequited love. He willingly accepted the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, Privatdozent G. Koerner, and for more than two years (April 1785 - July 1787) stayed with him in Leipzig and Dresden.

Second Edition Robbers(1782) had on the title page an image of a roaring lion with the motto "In tyrannos!" (lat. "Against tyrants!"). The plot of the play is based on the enmity of two brothers, Karl and Franz Moor; Karl is impetuous, courageous and, in essence, generous; Franz is an insidious scoundrel, seeking to take away from his older brother not only the title and estates, but also the love of his cousin Amalia. Despite the illogicality of the gloomy plot, the irregularities of the rough language and youthful immaturity, the tragedy captures the reader and viewer with its energy and social pathos. First of all Rogues and prompted the French in 1792 to make Schiller an honorary citizen of the new French Republic.

Fiesco(1783) is significant primarily because it anticipates Schiller's later triumphs in historical drama, but, writing a play based on the biography of a 16th-century Genoese conspirator, the young poet was not yet able to capture the dramatic essence of historical events, clearly identify moral issues. IN Insidiousness and love(1784) Schiller refers to the reality of the small German principalities, well known to him. IN Don Carlos (Don Carlos, 1787) clarified and clarified the concept of personal and civil freedom. Don Carlos the first period of Schiller's dramatic work ended.

In July 1787, Schiller left Dresden and until 1789 lived in Weimar and its environs. In 1789 he received a professorship of world history at the University of Jena, and thanks to his marriage (1790) to Charlotte von Lengefeld, he found family happiness. The meager salary of the poet was not enough even to meet modest needs; help came from Crown Prince Fr.Kr.von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E.von Schimmelmann, who paid him a scholarship for three years (1791–1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I.Fr.Kotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ory. The magazine "Thalia" - an earlier enterprise for the publication of a literary magazine - was published in 1785-1791 very irregularly and under various names; in 1796, Schiller founded another periodical, the yearly Almanac of the Muses, where many of his works were published. In search of materials, Schiller turned to J.W. Goethe. They met shortly after Goethe returned from Italy (1788), but then things did not go beyond a superficial acquaintance; now the poets have become close friends. In 1799, the duke doubled Schiller's maintenance, which in fact became a pension, because. the poet was no longer engaged in teaching activities and moved from Jena to Weimar. In 1802, Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, granted Schiller the nobility. Schiller was never in good health, he was often ill, he developed tuberculosis. Schiller died in Weimar on May 9, 1805.

Communication with Koerner aroused Schiller's interest in philosophy, especially in aesthetics; resulted in Philosophical letters (Philosophische Briefe, 1786) and a number of essays (1792-1796) - On the tragic in art (Uber die tragische Kunst), On Grace and Dignity (Über Anmut und Würde), About the sublime (Uber das Erhabene) And On Naive and Sentimental Poetry (Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung). The philosophical views of Schiller were strongly influenced by I. Kant. Unlike philosophical poetry, purely lyrical poems - short, songlike, expressing personal experiences - are less typical for Schiller, although there are remarkable exceptions here. The so-called "ballad year" (1797) was marked by Schiller and Goethe with excellent ballads, incl. at Schiller's Cup (Der Taucher), Glove (Der Handschuh), Polycrates ring (Der Ring des Polykrates) And Ivikov cranes (Die Kraniche des Ibykus), which came to the Russian reader in the magnificent translations of V.A. Zhukovsky. Xenia (Xenien), short satirical poems, became the fruit of the joint work of Goethe and Schiller.

Studying materials for Don Carlos, Schiller prepared his first historical study - The history of the fall of the Netherlands from Spanish rule (Geschichte des Abfalls der vereinigten Niederlande von der spanischen Regierung, 1788); in Jena he wrote History of the Thirty Years' War (Die Geschichte des Dreissigjährigen Krieges, 1791–1793).

The second period of Schiller's dramatic work began in 1796. Wallenstein (wallenstein) and ended with a fragment from Russian history Dimitri (Demetrius), work on which was interrupted by death. Pursuing History of the Thirty Years' War, Schiller saw in the generalissimo of the imperial troops Wallenstein a grateful figure in a dramatic sense. The drama took shape in 1799 and took the form of a trilogy: the prologue Wallenstein's camp (Wallenstein's Lager) and two five-act dramas - Piccolomini (Die Piccolomini) And Death of Wallenstein (Wallensteins Tod).

Next play Mary Stuart (Marie Stuart, 1800), illustrates Schiller's aesthetic thesis that it is perfectly acceptable to change and reshape historical events for the sake of dramaturgy. Schiller did not bring to the fore in Mary Stuart political and religious problems and led to the denouement of the drama by the development of a conflict between rival queens. Leaving aside the question of historical accuracy, it must be admitted that Mary Stuart is an extremely scenic play, and the title role was invariably loved by all the great European actresses.

At the core Maid of Orleans (Die Jungfrau von Orleans, 1801) - the story of Joan of Arc. Schiller gave free rein to fantasy, using the material of a medieval legend, and admitted his involvement in the new romantic movement, calling the play a "romantic tragedy." The poet was well-read in Greek dramaturgy, translated from Euripides and studied Aristotle's theory drama, and Messinian bride (Die Braut von Messina, 1803), as an experiment, he tried to introduce the choir of ancient tragedy and the Greek concept of rock into medieval drama. William Tell (Wilhelm Tell, 1804), the last of his completed plays, is a large-scale picture of the struggle of four Swiss forest cantons against the tyranny of Imperial Austria.

Beginning with Don Carlos Schiller wrote his dramas in blank verse, sometimes interspersing it with metrical verse. The language of his works is sublime, melodic and expressive, although sometimes too rhetorical and pompous, but on stage he makes an extremely winning impression. Schiller enriched the literature of his country with outstanding dramatic works. In addition to his own plays, he created stage versions of Shakespeare's Macbeth And Turandot C.Gozzi, and also translated Rasinovskaya Phaedra. Schiller has been known in Russia since the end of the 18th century.

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach am Neckar - died May 9, 1805 in Weimar. German poet, philosopher, art theorist and playwright, professor of history and military doctor, representative of Sturm und Drang and romanticism in literature, author of Ode to Joy, a modified version of which became the text of the anthem of the European Union. He entered the history of world literature as a defender of the human personality.

During the last seventeen years of his life (1788-1805) he was friends with Johann Goethe, whom he inspired to complete his works, which remained in draft form. This period of friendship between the two poets and their literary controversy entered German literature under the name "Weimar classicism".

The surname Schiller has been found in Southwestern Germany since the 16th century. The ancestors of Friedrich Schiller, who lived for two centuries in the Duchy of Württemberg, were winemakers, peasants and artisans.

His father - Johann Kaspar Schiller (1723-1796) - was a regimental paramedic, an officer in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, his mother - Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweis (1732-1802) - from the family of a provincial baker-tavern owner. The young Schiller was brought up in a religious-pietistic atmosphere, echoed in his early poems. His childhood and youth were spent in relative poverty.

In 1764, Schiller's father was appointed recruiter and moved with his family to the town of Lorch. In Lorch, the boy received his primary education from the local pastor, Moser. The training lasted three years and mainly included the study of reading and writing in their native language, as well as familiarity with Latin. The sincere and good-natured pastor was later immortalized in the writer's first drama. "Robbers".

When the Schiller family returned to Ludwigsburg in 1766, Friedrich was sent to the local Latin school. The curriculum at the school was not difficult: Latin was studied five days a week, on Fridays - the native language, on Sundays - the catechism. Schiller's interest in studies increased in high school, where he studied the Latin classics -, and. After graduating from the Latin school, having passed all four exams with excellent marks, in April 1772 Schiller was presented for confirmation.

In 1770, the Schiller family moved from Ludwigsburg to Solitude Castle, where the Duke of Württemberg, Karl-Eugene, established an orphanage for the education of soldiers' children. In 1771 this institute was reformed into a military academy.

In 1772, looking through the list of graduates of the Latin school, the duke drew attention to the young Schiller, and soon, in January 1773, his family received a summons according to which they were to send their son to the military academy "Higher School of Charles the Saint", where Friedrich began study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest.

Upon entering the Academy, Schiller was enrolled in the burgher department of the Faculty of Law. Due to the hostile attitude towards jurisprudence at the end of 1774, the future writer turned out to be one of the last, and at the end of the 1775 academic year, the very last of the eighteen students of his department.

In 1775, the academy was transferred to Stuttgart and the course of study was extended.

In 1776, Schiller moved to the medical faculty. Here he attends lectures by talented teachers, in particular, a course of lectures on philosophy by Professor Abel, a favorite teacher of academic youth. During this period, Schiller finally decides to devote himself to poetic art.

Already from the first years of study at the Academy, Friedrich was carried away by the poetic works of Friedrich Klopstock and poets "Storm and Stress", began to write small poetic works. Several times he was even offered to write congratulatory odes in honor of the duke and his mistress, Countess Franziska von Hohengey.

In 1779, Schiller's dissertation "Philosophy of Physiology" was rejected by the leadership of the academy, and he was forced to stay for a second year. Duke Charles Eugene imposes his resolution: “I must agree that the dissertation of Schiller's pupil is not without merit, that there is a lot of fire in it. But it is precisely the latter circumstance that compels me not to publish his dissertation and to keep another year at the Academy, so that the heat of it cools down. If he is as diligent, then by the end of this time a great man will probably come out of him..

While studying at the Academy, Schiller wrote his first works. Influenced by the drama "Julius of Tarentum" (1776) by Johann Anton Leisewitz, Friedrich writes "Cosmus von Medici"- a drama in which he tried to develop a favorite theme of the Sturm und Drang literary movement: the hatred between brothers and the love of a father. At the same time, his great interest in the work and writing style of Friedrich Klopstock prompted Schiller to write the ode "The Conqueror", published in March 1777 in the journal "German Chronicles" (Das schwebige Magazin) and which was an imitation of the idol.

Friedrich Schiller - The Triumph of a Genius

Finally, in 1780, he completed the course of the Academy and received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart, without conferring an officer rank on him and without the right to wear civilian clothes - evidence of ducal dislike.

In 1781 he completes the drama "Robbers"(Die Räuber), written by him during his stay at the Academy. After editing the Robbers' manuscript, it turned out that not a single Stuttgart publisher wanted to print it, and Schiller had to publish the drama at his own expense.

The bookseller Schwan in Mannheim, to whom Schiller also sent the manuscript, introduced him to the director of the Mannheim theater, Baron von Dahlberg. He was delighted with the drama and decided to stage it in his theater. But Dahlberg asks to make some adjustments - to remove some scenes and the most revolutionary phrases, the time of action is transferred from the present, from the era of the Seven Years' War to the 17th century.

Schiller opposed such changes, in a letter to Dahlberg dated December 12, 1781, he wrote: “Many tirades, features, both large and small, even characters are taken from our time; transferred to the age of Maximilian, they will cost absolutely nothing ... To correct a mistake against the era of Frederick II, I would have to commit a crime against the era of Maximilian, but nevertheless, he made concessions, and The Robbers were first staged in Mannheim January 13, 1782. This production was a huge success with the public.

After the premiere in Mannheim on January 13, 1782, it became clear that a talented playwright had come into literature. The central conflict of the "Robbers" is the conflict between two brothers: the eldest, Karl Moor, who, at the head of a gang of robbers, goes into the Bohemian forests to punish tyrants, and the younger, Franz Moor, who at this time seeks to take possession of his father's estate.

Karl Moor personifies the best, brave, free beginnings, while Franz Moor is an example of meanness, deceit and treachery. In The Robbers, as in no other work of the German Enlightenment, the ideal of republicanism and democracy sung by Rousseau is shown. It is no coincidence that it was for this drama that Schiller was awarded the honorary title of citizen of the French Republic during the years of the French Revolution.

Simultaneously with the Robbers, Schiller prepared for publication a collection of poems, which was published in February 1782 under the title "Anthology for 1782"(Anthologie auf das Jahr 1782). The creation of this anthology is based on Schiller's conflict with the young Stuttgart poet Gotthald Steidlin, who, claiming to be the head of the Swabian school, published "Swabian Almanac of Muses for 1782".

Schiller sent Steidlin several poems for this edition, but he agreed to print only one of them, and then in an abbreviated form. Then Schiller collected the poems rejected by Gotthald, wrote a number of new ones and, thus, created the Anthology for 1782, contrasting it with his literary opponent's "almanac of the muses". For the sake of greater mystification and raising interest in the collection, the city of Tobolsk in Siberia was indicated as the place of publication of the anthology.

For an unauthorized absence from the regiment to Mannheim for the performance of The Robbers, Schiller was placed in a guardhouse for 14 days and was banned from writing anything other than medical writings, which forced him, along with his friend, the musician Streicher, to flee the duke's possessions on September 22, 1782 year to the Margraviate of the Palatinate.

Having crossed the border of Württemberg, Schiller went to the Mannheim theater with a prepared manuscript of his play. "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa"(German: Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua), which he dedicated to his professor of philosophy at the Academy, Jacob Abel.

The theater management, fearing the discontent of the Duke of Württemberg, was in no hurry to start negotiations on staging the play. Schiller was advised not to stay in Mannheim, but to leave for the nearest village of Oggersheim. There, together with his friend Streicher, the playwright lived under the assumed name of Schmidt in the village tavern "Hunting Yard". It was here in the autumn of 1782 that Friedrich Schiller made the first draft of a version of the tragedy. "Cunning and Love"(German: Kabale und Liebe), which is still called "Louise Miller".

At this time, Schiller is typing "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" for a meager fee, which he instantly spent. Being in a hopeless situation, the playwright wrote a letter to his old acquaintance Henriette von Walzogen, who soon offered the writer her empty estate in Bauerbach.

In Bauerbach, under the surname "Doctor Ritter", he lived from December 8, 1782. Here Schiller began to finish the drama "Cunning and Love", which he completed in February 1783. Immediately he sketched a new historical drama "Don Carlos"(German: Don Karlos). He studied the history of the Spanish Infanta using books from the library of the Mannheim ducal court, which were supplied to him by a familiar librarian. Along with the history of Don Carlos, Schiller then began to study the history of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart. For some time he hesitated on which of them he should choose, but the choice was made in favor of "Don Carlos".

January 1783 became a significant date in the private life of Friedrich Schiller. In Bauerbach, the mistress of the estate came to visit the hermit with her sixteen-year-old daughter Charlotte. Friedrich fell in love with the girl at first sight and asked her mother for permission to marry, but she did not give consent, since the aspiring writer did not have a penny in his pocket.

At this time, his friend Andrey Shtreikher did everything possible to arouse the favor of the administration of the Mannheim Theater in favor of Schiller. The director of the theater, Baron von Dahlberg, knowing that Duke Karl Eugene had already abandoned the search for his missing regimental physician, writes a letter to Schiller in which he is interested in the literary activities of the playwright.

Schiller replied rather coldly and only briefly recounted the content of the drama "Louise Miller". Dahlberg agreed to stage both dramas - The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa and Louise Miller - after which Friedrich returned to Mannheim in July 1783 to participate in the preparation of plays for production.

Despite the excellent performance of the actors, The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa was generally not a great success. The Mannheim theater audience found this play too abstruse. Schiller undertook a remake of his third drama, Louise Miller. During one rehearsal, theater actor August Iffland suggested changing the name of the drama to "Deceit and Love". Under this title, the play was staged on April 15, 1784 and was a huge success. "Cunning and Love", no less than "Robbers", glorified the name of the author as the first playwright in Germany.

In February 1784 he joined "Elector German Society", which was led by the director of the Mannheim theater Wolfgang von Dahlberg, which gave him the rights of a Palatinate citizen and legalized his stay in Mannheim. During the official acceptance of the poet into society on July 20, 1784, he read a report entitled "The Theater as a Moral Institution." The moral significance of the theater, designed to denounce vices and approve of virtue, Schiller diligently propagated in the magazine he founded "Rhine Thalia"(German Rheinische Thalia), the first issue of which was published in 1785.

In Mannheim, Friedrich Schiller met Charlotte von Kalb, a young woman with outstanding mental abilities, whose admiration brought the writer much suffering. She introduced Schiller to the Weimar Duke Karl August when he was visiting Darmstadt. The playwright read in a select circle, in the presence of the duke, the first act of his new drama Don Carlos. The drama made a big impression on those present.

Karl August granted the author the position of Weimar councilor, which, however, did not alleviate the plight in which Schiller was. The writer had to repay a debt of two hundred guilders, which he had borrowed from a friend for the publication of The Robbers, but he had no money. In addition, his relationship with the director of the Mannheim Theater deteriorated, as a result of which Schiller broke his contract with him.

At the same time, Schiller became interested in the 17-year-old daughter of the court bookseller Margarita Schwan, but the young coquette did not show unequivocal favor for the beginning poet, and her father hardly wanted to see his daughter married to a man without money and influence in society. In the autumn of 1784, the poet remembered a letter that he received six months earlier from the Leipzig community of admirers of his work, headed by Gottfried Koerner.

On February 22, 1785, Schiller sent them a letter in which he frankly described his plight and asked to be received in Leipzig. Already on March 30, a benevolent response came from Koerner. At the same time, he sent the poet a promissory note for a significant amount of money so that the playwright could pay off his debts. Thus began a close friendship between Gottfried Koerner and Friedrich Schiller, which lasted until the death of the poet.

When Schiller arrived in Leipzig on April 17, 1785, he was met by Ferdinand Huber and sisters Dora and Minna Stock. Koerner was at that time on official business in Dresden. From the first days in Leipzig, Schiller yearned for Margarita Schwan, who remained in Mannheim. He addressed her parents with a letter in which he asked for the hand of his daughter. The publisher Schwan gave Margarita the opportunity to resolve this issue herself, but she refused Schiller, who was very upset by this new loss. Soon Gottfried Körner arrived from Dresden and decided to celebrate his marriage to Minna Stock. Warmed by the friendship of Koerner, Huber and their girlfriends, Schiller recovered. It was at this time that he created his anthem "Ode to Joy".

On September 11, 1785, at the invitation of Gottfried Koerner, Schiller moved to the village of Loschwitz near Dresden. Here Don Carlos was completely remade and finished, a new drama The Misanthrope was begun, a plan was drawn up and the first chapters of the novel The Spirit Seer were written. It was also finished here "Philosophical Letters"(German: Philosophische Briefe) is the most significant philosophical essay of the young Schiller, written in epistolary form.

In 1786-87 Friedrich Schiller was introduced into Dresden secular society through Gottfried Körner. At the same time, he received an offer from the famous German actor and theater director Friedrich Schroeder to stage Don Carlos at the Hamburg National Theatre.

Schroeder's offer was pretty good, but Schiller, remembering the past unsuccessful experience of cooperation with the Mannheim Theater, refuses the invitation and goes to Weimar - the center of German literature, where he is zealously invited by Christoph Martin Wieland to collaborate in his literary magazine "German Mercury" (German. Der Deutsche Merkur).

Schiller arrived in Weimar on August 21, 1787. The playwright's companion in a series of official visits was Charlotte von Kalb, with whose assistance Schiller quickly became acquainted with the greatest writers of the time - Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried Herder. Wieland highly appreciated Schiller's talent and especially admired his latest drama, Don Carlos. Between the two poets, from the first meeting, close friendly relations were established, which remained for many years. For several days, Friedrich Schiller went to the university town of Jena, where he was warmly received in local literary circles.

In 1787-88, Schiller published the journal Thalia (German: Thalia) and at the same time collaborated on Wieland's Deutsche Mercury. Some works of these years were begun in Leipzig and Dresden. In the fourth issue of Thalia, his novel was published chapter by chapter. "Ghost Seer".

With the move to Weimar and after meeting with major poets and scientists, Schiller became even more critical of his abilities. Realizing the lack of his knowledge, the playwright withdrew from artistic creation for almost a decade in order to thoroughly study history, philosophy and aesthetics.

Publication of the first volume of the work "History of the Fall of the Netherlands" in the summer of 1788 brought Schiller the fame of an outstanding researcher of history. The poet's friends in Jena and Weimar (including J. W. Goethe, whom Schiller met in 1788) used all their connections to help him get a position as an extraordinary professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena, who during the poet's stay in this city experienced a period of prosperity.

Friedrich Schiller moved to Jena on 11 May 1789. When he began lecturing, the university had about 800 students. The introductory lecture entitled "What is world history and for what purpose is it studied" (German: Was heißt und zu welchem ​​Ende studiert man Universalgeschichte?) was a great success. Schiller's listeners gave him an ovation.

Despite the fact that the work of a university teacher did not provide him with sufficient material resources, Schiller decided to end his single life. Upon learning of this, Duke Karl August appointed him in December 1789 a modest salary of two hundred thalers a year, after which Schiller made an official proposal to Charlotte von Lengefeld, and in February 1790 a marriage was concluded in a village church near Rudolstadt.

After the engagement, Schiller began work on his new book "History of the Thirty Years' War", began work on a number of articles on world history and again began to publish the journal Rhine Thalia, in which he published his translations of the third and fourth books of Virgil's Aeneid. Later, his articles on history and aesthetics were published in this journal.

In May 1790, Schiller continued his lectures at the university: in this academic year he publicly lectured on tragic poetry, and privately on world history.

In early 1791, Schiller fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Now he only occasionally had intervals of a few months or weeks when the poet would be able to work quietly. Especially strong were the first bouts of illness in the winter of 1792, because of which he was forced to suspend teaching at the university. This forced rest was used by Schiller for a deeper acquaintance with philosophical works.

Being unable to work, the playwright was in an extremely poor financial situation - there was no money even for a cheap lunch and the necessary medicines. At this difficult moment, at the initiative of the Danish writer Jens Baggesen, Crown Prince Friedrich Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Count Ernst von Schimmelmann appointed Schiller an annual subsidy of a thousand thalers so that the poet could restore his health. Danish subsidies continued in 1792-94. Then Schiller was supported by the publisher Johann Friedrich Kotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ores.

In the summer of 1793, Schiller received a letter from his parents' home in Ludwigsburg informing him of his father's illness. Schiller decided to go home with his wife to see his father before his death, to visit his mother and three sisters, whom he had separated from eleven years ago.

With the tacit permission of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugene, Schiller arrived in Ludwigsburg, where his parents lived not far from the ducal residence. Here, on September 14, 1793, the first son of the poet was born. In Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart, Schiller met with old teachers and former friends from the Academy. After the death of Duke Karl Eugen Schiller visited the military academy of the deceased, where he was enthusiastically received by the younger generation of students.

During his stay at home in 1793-94, Schiller completed his most significant philosophical and aesthetic work. "Letters on the aesthetic education of man"(German: Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen).

Shortly after returning to Jena, the poet set to work energetically and invited all the most prominent writers and thinkers of the then Germany to collaborate in the new journal Ores (German: Die Horen). Schiller planned to unite the best German writers into a literary society.

In 1795, Schiller wrote a series of poems on philosophical topics similar in meaning to his articles on aesthetics: "The Poetry of Life", "Dance", "The Division of the Earth", "Genius", "Hope" and others. The idea of the death of everything beautiful and truthful in a dirty, prosaic world. According to the poet, the fulfillment of virtuous aspirations is possible only in an ideal world. The cycle of philosophical poems was Schiller's first poetic experience after almost a ten-year creative break.

The rapprochement of the two poets was facilitated by the unity of Schiller in his views on the French Revolution and the socio-political situation in Germany. When Schiller, after a trip to his homeland and returning to Jena in 1794, outlined his political program in the journal Ory and invited Goethe to participate in a literary society, he agreed.

A closer acquaintance between the writers took place in July 1794 in Jena. At the end of the meeting of naturalists, going out into the street, the poets began to discuss the content of the report they heard, and talking, they reached Schiller's apartment. Goethe was invited to the house. There he began expounding his theory of plant metamorphosis with great enthusiasm. After this conversation, a friendly correspondence began between Schiller and Goethe, which was not interrupted until the death of Schiller and made up one of the best epistolary monuments of world literature.

The joint creative activity of Goethe and Schiller was primarily aimed at theoretical understanding and practical solution of the problems that arose before literature in the new, post-revolutionary period. In search of the ideal form, the poets turned to ancient art. In him they saw the highest example of human beauty.

When new works by Goethe and Schiller, which reflected their cult of antiquity, high civic and moral pathos, religious indifference, appeared in the "Orah" and "Almanac of the Muses", a campaign was launched against them by a number of newspapers and magazines. Critics condemned the interpretation of issues of religion, politics, philosophy, aesthetics.

Goethe and Schiller decided to give their opponents a sharp rebuff, mercilessly scourging all the vulgarity and mediocrity of contemporary German literature in the form suggested to Schiller by Goethe - in the form of couplets, like Martial's Xenius.

Starting in December 1795, for eight months, both poets competed in writing epigrams: each response from Jena and Weimar was accompanied by "Xenia" for review, review and addition. Thus, by joint efforts in the period from December 1795 to August 1796, about eight hundred epigrams were created, of which four hundred and fourteen were selected as the most successful and published in the Almanac of the Muses for 1797. The theme of "Kseny" was very versatile. It included questions of politics, philosophy, history, religion, literature and art.

They touched on over two hundred writers and literary works. "Xenia" is the most militant of the compositions created by both classics.

In 1799 he returned to Weimar, where he began to publish several literary magazines with the money of patrons. Becoming a close friend of Goethe, Schiller founded the Weimar Theater with him, which became the leading theater in Germany. The poet remained in Weimar until his death.

In 1799-1800. Schiller finally writes a play "Mary Stuart", the plot of which occupied him for almost two decades. He gave the brightest political tragedy, capturing the image of a distant era, torn apart by the strongest political contradictions. The play was a great success among contemporaries. Schiller finished it with the feeling that he now "mastered the playwright's craft".

In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II granted Schiller the nobility. But he himself was skeptical about this, in his letter of February 17, 1803, writing to Humboldt: “You probably laughed when you heard about the elevation of us to a higher rank. That was our duke's idea, and since everything has already happened, I agree to accept this title because of Lolo and the children. Lolo is now in his element, as he twirls his train at court.

The last years of Schiller's life were overshadowed by severe protracted illnesses. After a severe cold, all the old ailments became aggravated. The poet suffered from chronic pneumonia. He died on May 9, 1805 at the age of 45 from tuberculosis.

Schiller's main works:

Schiller's plays:

1781 - "Robbers"
1783 - "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa"
1784 - "Deceit and love"
1787 - "Don Carlos, Infante of Spain"
1799 - dramatic trilogy "Wallenstein"
1800 - "Mary Stuart"
1801 - "Maid of Orleans"
1803 - "Messinian bride"
1804 - "William Tell"
"Dimitri" (was not completed due to the death of the playwright)

Schiller's prose:

Article "Criminal for Lost Honor" (1786)
"Ghostseer" (unfinished novel)
Eine grossmütige Handlung

Philosophical works of Schiller:

Philosophie der Physiologie (1779)
On the relationship between the animal nature of man and his spiritual nature / Über den Zusammenhang der tierischen Natur des Menschen mit seiner geistigen (1780)
Die Schaubühne als eine moralische Anstalt betrachtet (1784)
Über den Grund des Vergnügens an tragischen Gegenständen (1792)
Augustenburger Briefe (1793)
On Grace and Dignity / Über Anmut und Würde (1793)
Kallias Briefe (1793)
Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man / Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen (1795)
On Naive and Sentimental Poetry / Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung (1795)
On Dilettantism / Über den Dilettantismus (1799; co-authored with Goethe)
On the Sublime / Über das Erhabene (1801)

Historical works of Schiller's work:

History of the Fall of the United Netherlands from Spanish Rule (1788)
History of the Thirty Years' War (1791)