Schiller, Friedrich

10 November 1759 - 9 May 1805

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, army physician, dramatist, and poet as well as a major figure of C18 German thought and culture, had (despite his own general disdain for lowbrow lit) a major influence on the Romantic and Gothic traditions, primarily through his hugely popular novels Die Räuber (The Robbers) (1778) and the unfinished Der Geisterseher (The Ghost-Seer) (1786-88). Schiller's works on aesthetics were also influential in an age when aesthetic considerations held a more prominent place on the cultural stage than they do now.

Sites:
Biographical essay
[Steven D. Martinson, U Arizona; Literary Encyclopedia]
Biographical note
[Authors Calendar]
Afterword to Hanns Heinz Ewers' completion of The Ghost-Seer.
An interesting discussion of Schiller's work [1921] (17K)  [Georges Dodds, Ruritanian Muglug]


Etexts:
The Ghost-Seer
Schiller's famous (deliberate) fragment of mystery, magic, and ambiguity set in Venice. [Project Gutenberg]

"Friedrich von Schiller."