Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Portrait of Lessing by Anna Rosina Lisiewska during his time as dramaturg of Abel
Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre (1767/1768)
Born 22 January 1729
Kamenz, Upper Lusatia, Saxony
Died 15 February 1781 (aged 52)
Braunschweig, Brunswick-L�neburg
Occupation Writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, art critic and dramaturg
Alma mater Leipzig University
University of Wittenberg
Notable works Miss Sara Sampson; Emilia Galotti; Minna von Barnhelm; Nathan the
Wise; Laoco�n; Hamburgian Dramaturgy
Spouse Eva K�nig
Signature
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (/'l?s??/; German: ['l?s??]; 22 January 1729 � 15 February
1781) was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and
one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and
theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature.
He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role
at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre.[1]

Contents
1 Life
2 Works
3 Vehement attack of the Radical Pietist Johann Daniel M�ller
4 Selected works
4.1 English translations
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Life

Lessing, 1771
Lessing was born in Kamenz, a small town in Saxony, to Johann Gottfried Lessing and
Justine Salome Feller. His father was a Lutheran minister and wrote on theology.
Young Lessing studied at the Latin School in Kamenz from 1737 to 1741. With a
father who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, Lessing next attended the
F�rstenschule St. Afra in Meissen. After completing his education at St. Afra's, he
enrolled at the University of Leipzig where he pursued a degree in theology,
medicine, philosophy, and philology (1746�1748).[2]

It was here that his relationship with Karoline Neuber, a famous German actress,
began. He translated several French plays for her, and his interest in theatre
grew. During this time, he wrote his first play, The Young Scholar. Neuber
eventually produced the play in 1748.

From 1748 to 1760, Lessing lived in Leipzig and Berlin. He began to work as a
reviewer and editor for the Vossische Zeitung and other periodicals. Lessing formed
a close connection with his cousin, Christlob Mylius, and decided to follow him to
Berlin. In 1750, Lessing and Mylius teamed together to begin a periodical
publication named Beitr�ge zur Historie und Aufnahme des Theaters. The publication
ran only four issues, but it caught the public's eye and revealed Lessing to be a
serious critic and theorist of drama.

In 1752 he took his master's degree in Wittenberg. From 1760 to 1765, he worked in
Breslau (now Wroclaw) as secretary to General Tauentzien during the Seven Years'
War between Britain and France, which had effects in Europe. It was during this
time that he wrote his famous Laocoon, or the Limitations of Poetry.

In 1765 Lessing returned to Berlin, leaving in 1767 to work for three years at the
Hamburg National Theatre. Actor-manager, Konrad Ackermann, began construction on
Germany's first permanent theatre in Hamburg. Johann Friedrich L�wen (de)
established Germany's first national theatre, the Hamburg National Theatre. The
owners hired Lessing as the theatre's critic of plays and acting, which would later
be known as dramaturgy (based on his own words), making Lessing the very first
dramaturge. The theatre's main backer was Abel Seyler, a former currency speculator
who since became known as "the leading patron of German theatre."[3] There he met
Eva K�nig, his future wife. His work in Hamburg formed the basis of his pioneering
work on drama, titled Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Unfortunately, because of financial
losses due to pirated editions of the Hamburgische Dramaturgie, the Hamburg Theatre
closed just three years later.[4]

In 1770 Lessing became librarian at the ducal library, now the Herzog August
Library (Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Bibliotheca Augusta), in Wolfenb�ttel under the
commission of the Duke of Brunswick. His tenure there was energetic, if interrupted
by many journeys. In 1775, for example, he accompanied Prince Leopold to Italy.

On 14 October 1771 Lessing was initiated into Freemasonry in the lodge "Zu den drei
Goldenen Rosen" in Hamburg.[5]

In 1776 he married Eva K�nig, who was then a widow, in Jork (near Hamburg). She
died in 1778 after giving birth to a short-lived son. On 15 February 1781, Lessing,
aged 52, died during a visit to the wine dealer Angott in Brunswick.

Lessing was also famous for his friendship with Jewish-German philosopher Moses
Mendelssohn. A recent biography of Mendelssohn's grandson, Felix, describes their
friendship as one of the most "illuminating metaphors [for] the clarion call of the
Enlightenment for religious tolerance".[6] It was this relationship that sparked
his interest in popular religious debates of the time. He began publishing heated
pamphlets on his beliefs which were eventually banned. It was this banishment that
inspired him to return to theatre to portray his views and to write Nathan the
Wise.

Works
Early in his life, Lessing showed interest in the theatre. In his theoretical and
critical writings on the subject�as in his own plays�he tried to contribute to the
development of a new type of theatre in Germany. With this he especially turned
against the then predominant literary theory of Gottsched and his followers.
Lessing's Hamburgische Dramaturgie ran critiques of plays that were performed in
the Hamburg Theatre, but after dealing with dissatisfied actors and actresses,
Lessing redirected his writings to more of an analysis on the proper uses of drama.
Lessing advocated the outline of drama in Aristotle's Poetics. He believed the
French Academy had devalued the uses of drama through their neoclassical rules of
form and separation of genres. His repeated opinions on this issue influenced
theatre practitioners who began the movement of rejecting theatre rules known as
Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress").[7][8] He also supported serious reception of
Shakespeare's works. He worked with many theatre groups (e.g. the one of the
Neuberin).

Eva Lessing
Home, Wolfenb�ttel
In Hamburg he tried with others to set up the German National Theatre. Today his
own works appear as prototypes of the later developed bourgeois German drama.
Scholars see Miss Sara Sampson and Emilia Galotti as amongst the first bourgeois
tragedies, Minna von Barnhelm (Minna of Barnhelm) as the model for many classic
German comedies, Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise) as the first German drama of
ideas ("Ideendrama"). His theoretical writings Laocoon and Hamburg Dramaturgy
(Hamburgische Dramaturgie) set the standards for the discussion of aesthetic and
literary theoretical principles. Lessing advocated that dramaturgs should carry
their work out working directly with theatre companies rather than in isolation.[9]

In his religious and philosophical writings he defended the faithful Christian's

right for freedom of thought. He argued against the belief in revelation and the
holding on to a literal interpretation of the Bible by the predominant orthodox
doctrine through a problem later to be called Lessing's Ditch. Lessing outlined the
concept of the religious "Proof of Power": How can miracles continue to be used as
a base for Christianity when we have no proof of miracles? Historical truths which
are in doubt cannot be used to prove metaphysical truths (such as God's existence).
As Lessing says it: "That, then, is the ugly great ditch which I cannot cross,
however often and however earnestly I have tried to make that leap."[10]

In the final leg of his life, Lessing threw himself into an intense evaluation of
theology and religion. He did much of his studying by reading manuscripts he found
while working as a librarian. While working for the Duke, he formed a close
friendship with a family by the name of Reimarus. The family held an unpublished
manuscript by Hermann Samuel Reimarus which attacked the historicity of Christian
revelation. Despite discouragement from his brother, Karl, Lessing began publishing
pieces of the manuscript in pamphlets known as Fragments from an Unnamed Author.
The controversial pamphlets resulted in a heated debate between him and another
theologian, Johann Melchior Goeze. In concern for tarnishing his reputation, Goeze
requested the government put an end to the feud, and Lessing was silenced through a
law that took away his freedom from censorship.[11]

In response, Lessing relied upon his skills as a playwright to write what is

undoubtedly his most influential play, Nathan the Wise. In the play, Lessing set up
tension between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity by having one character ask Nathan
which religion was the most genuine. Nathan avoids the question by telling the
parable of the three rings, which implies the idea that no specific religion is the
"correct religion." The Enlightenment ideas to which Lessing held tight were
portrayed through his "ideal of humanity," stating that religion is relative to the
individual's ability to reason. Nathan the Wise is considered to be the first
example of the German "literature of humanity". As a child of the Enlightenment he
trusted in a "Christianity of Reason", which oriented itself by the spirit of
religion. He believed that human reason (initiated by criticism and dissent) would
develop, even without help by a divine revelation. In his writing The Education of
Humankind (Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts) he extensively and coherently
lays out his position.

The idea of freedom (for the theatre against the dominance of its French model; for
religion from the church's dogma) is his central theme throughout his life.
Therefore, he also stood up for the liberation of the upcoming middle and upper
class from the nobility making up their minds for them.

In his own literary existence he also constantly strove for independence. But his
ideal of a possible life as a free author was hard to keep up against the economic
constraints he faced. His project of authors self-publishing their works, which he
tried to accomplish in Hamburg with C. J. Bode, failed.[citation needed]
Lessing is important as a literary critic for his work Laocoon: An Essay on the
Limits of Painting and Poetry. In this work, he argues against the tendency to take
Horace's ut pictura poesis (as painting, so poetry) as prescriptive for literature.
In other words, he objected to trying to write poetry using the same devices as one
would in painting. Instead, poetry and painting each has its character (the former
is extended in time; the latter is extended in space). This is related to Lessing's
turn from French classicism to Aristotelian mimesis, discussed above.

Vehement attack of the Radical Pietist Johann Daniel M�ller

Johann Daniel M�ller (born 1716 in Wissenbach/Nassau, today part of Eschenburg,
deceased after 1785) published the following anonymous book against Lessing and
Reimarus:

[Johann Daniel M�ller (musician)]: Der Sieg der Wahrheit des Worts Gottes �ber die
L�gen des Wolfenb�ttelschen Bibliothecarii, [Gotthold] Ephraim Lessing, und seines
Fragmenten-Schreibers [i. e. Hermann Samuel Reimarus] in ihren L�sterungen gegen
Jesum Christum, seine J�nger, Apostel, und die ganze Bibel. 1780.
Cf. Reinhard Breymayer: Ein unbekannter Gegner Gotthold Ephraim Lessings. Der
ehemalige Frankfurter Konzertdirektor Johann Daniel M�ller aus Wissenbach/Nassau
(1716 bis nach 1785), Alchemist im Umkreis [Johann Wolfgang] Goethes, Kabbalist,
separatistischer Chiliast, Freund der Illuminaten von Avignon ("Elias / Elias
Artista") Dietrich Meyer (Ed.): Pietismus � Herrnhutertum � Erweckungsbewegung.
Festschrift f�r Erich Beyreuther. K�ln [Pulheim-Brauweiler] and Bonn 1982
(Schriftenreihe des Vereins f�r Rheinische Kirchengeschichte, volume 70), pp.
109�145, and p. 108 Silhouette of [Johann] Daniel M�ller.
Selected works

Grave, Brunswick
Der junge Gelehrte (The Young Scholar) (1748)
Der Freigeist (The Freethinker) (1749)
Die Juden (The Jews) (1749)
Miss Sara Sampson (1755)
Philotas (1759)
Fabeln (Fables) (1759)
Laoko�n oder �ber die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (Laoco�n) (1767)
Minna von Barnhelm (Minna of Barnhelm) (1767)
Hamburgische Dramaturgie (1767�69)
Emilia Galotti (1772)
Anti-Goeze (1778) (written against Johann Melchior Goeze, pastor in Hamburg)
Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise) (1779)
Ernst und Falk � Gespr�che f�r Freym�urer (1776�1778)
Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts (The Education of the Human Race) (1780)
English translations

An 1886 edition of Lessing's collected works

Fables and epigrams. London, Printed for J.& H.L. Hunt, 1825.
Laocoon: or, The limits of Poetry and Painting, translated by William Ross. London,
Ridgeway, 1836.
Nathan the Wise: a dramatic poem in five acts, translated by Adolph Reich. London,
A. W. Bennett, 1860.
Nathan, the Wise. A dramatic poem of five acts, translated by Dr. Isidor Kalisch.
New York, Waldheimer & Zenn, 1869.
The Education of the Human Race, translated by Fred W. Robertson, M.A.. London,
C.K. Paul & Co., 1881.
Plays of Lessing: Nathan the Wise and Minna von Barnhelm, translated by Ernest
Bell. London, G. Bell, 1888.
Selected prose works of G. E. Lessing, translated by E. C. Beasley, B. A., and
Helen Zimmern. London, G. Bell and sons, 1890.
Lessing�s Emilia Galotti, with footnotes and vocabulary; New York, Hinds & Noble,
1899.
Lessing�s Nathan der Weise, with footnotes and vocabulary. New York, Hinds & Noble,
1899.
Laocoon. An essay upon the limits of painting and poetry: With remarks illustrative
of various points in the history of ancient art, translated by Ellen Frothingham.
Boston, Little, Brown, 1904.
Laocoon, translated by Sir Robert Phillimore, London, G. Routledge & sons, 1905.
Minna von Barnhelm, edited with an introduction, German questions, notes and
vocabulary, by Philip Schuyler Allen. New York, Charles E. Merrill Co., 1907.
Minna von Barnhelm; or, Soldier�s fortune translated by Otto Heller. New York, H.
Holt and company, 1917.
Nathan the Wise; a dramatic poem in five acts, translated and edited by Leo Markun.
Girard, Kan., Haldeman-Julius Co., 1926.
Laocoon, Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, translated by William A. Steel.
London, J. M. Dent & sons, ltd.; New York, E. P. Dutton & co., inc., 1930.
Nathan the Wise, translated by Berthold August Eisenlohr. Ann Arbor, Mich.,
Lithoprinted by Edwards Brothers, inc., 1942.
Nathan the Wise, translated by Guenther Reinhardt. Brooklyn, Barron�s Educational
Series, inc., 1950.
Nathan the Wise; a dramatic poem in five acts, translated into English verse by
Bayard Quincy Morgan. New York, Ungar, 1955.
Theological Writings; Selections in Translation with an Introductory Essay, by
Henry Chadwick. London, A. & C. Black, 1956.
Lessing's Theological Writings. Selections in Translation, edited by Henry
Chadwick. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1957.
Emilia Galotti: a tragedy in five acts, translated by Anna Johanna Gode von Aesch.
Great Neck, N.Y., Barron�s Educational Series, inc., 1959.
Emilia Galotti, a tragedy in five acts, translated by Edward Dvoretzky. New York,
Ungar, 1962, reprinted German Book Center, 2003.
Hamburg dramaturgy, translated by Victor Lange. New York, Dover Publications, 1962.
Reprint of Helen Zimmern's 1890 translation.
Laocoon: an essay on the limits of painting and poetry, translated by Edward Allen
McCormick. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1962.
Minna von Barnhelm: a comedy in five acts, translated by Kenneth J. Northcott.
Chicago, University of Chicago Press [1972]
Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, and Other Plays and Writings, edited by Peter
Demetz with a Foreword by Hannah Arendt. New York: Continuum, 1991.
Nathan the Wise, with Related Documents, translated, edited, and with an
introduction by Ronald Schechter. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.
Philosophical and Theological Writings, edited by H. B. Nisbet. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2005.
See also
Poetry portal
Fable
Greek revival
Lessing Monument, Tiergarten, Berlin
Lessing Theater
Pantheism controversy
References
Luckhurst, Mary (2006). Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. p. 24. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was the world's first officially
appointed dramaturg.
Lamport, F. J. Lessing and the Drama. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. Print.
Wilhelm Kosch, "Seyler, Abel", in Dictionary of German Biography, eds. Walther
Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, Vol. 9, Walter de Gruyter, 2005, ISBN 3110966298, p. 308
Lamport, F. J. Lessing and the Drama. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. Print.
"Gotthold Ephraim Lessing". 2013. Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon.
Retrieved 12 September 2013.
Todd, R. Larry (2003). Mendelssohn: A Life in Music. New York: Oxford University
Press. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
Wilson, Edwin, and Alvin Goldfarb. Living Theatre: History of Theatre. 6th ed. New
York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. Print.
Karen Otterweell, Lessing and the Sturm und Drang: A Reappraisal Revisited, Peter
Lang Pub, Inc., 2002. Print.
Eckersley, M. 1997. Soundings in the Dramaturgy of the Australian Theatre
Director. University of Melbourne. Melbourne. p 9.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. "On the proof of the spirit and of power." Lessing:
Philosophical and theological writings, p. 87. H. B. Nisbet (translator and
editor). Cambridge University Press, 2005
Vallee, Gerard. Soundings in G.E. Lessing's Philosophy of Religion. Lanham:
University of America, 2000. Print.
Further reading
Nisbet, Hugh Barr. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: His Life, Works and Thought, Oxford
University Press, 2013
Liptzin, Sol. Historical Survey of German Literature. New York: Cooper Square
Publishers, 1936.
Priest, George. A Brief History of German Literature. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1909.
Robertson, John. A History of German Literature. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons,
1902.
Rose, Ernst. A History of German Literature. New York: New York University, 1960.
External links
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Works by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Gotthold Ephraim Lessing at Internet Archive
Works by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Minna von Barnhelm, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in English)
Literary and Philosophical Essays: French, German and Italian, 1910, includes The
Education of the Human Race, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in English)
Nathan the Wise, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in English)
The Parable of the Ring (in English)
Laocoon (in English)
The Dramatic Works of G.E. Lessing (in English)
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: His Life and his Works (1878) by Helen Zimmern
"Works by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing". Zeno.org (in German).
Works by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing at Projekt Gutenberg (in German)
All poems of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in German)
Coin to commemorate his 200th birth anniversary
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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
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Authority control
WorldCat Identities BIBSYS: 90051288 BNE: XX974829 BNF: cb11912703h (data) BPN:
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b293ce94-e66b-4151-aa7e-114c20534d18 NDL: 00447463 NKC: jn19990005016 NLA: 35301222
RKD: 476546 ICCU: IT\ICCU\CFIV\026553 SELIBR: 209302 SNAC: w6gb24ts SUDOC:
027328457 ULAN: 500321397 VIAF: 9849550
Categories: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing1729 births1781 deaths18th-century German
dramatists and playwrights18th-century German Protestant theologians18th-century
German poets18th-century philosophersChristian poetsEnlightenment
philosophersGerman ChristiansGerman male writersMembers of the Prussian Academy of
SciencesPeople from KamenzPeople from the Electorate of SaxonyPeople of the Age of
EnlightenmentProtestant philosophersLeipzig University alumniUniversity of
Wittenberg alumniWolfenb�ttelPeople from Upper LusatiaGerman FreemasonsGerman male
poetsGerman male dramatists and playwrightsGerman-language poetsSpinozistsSpinoza
scholars18th-century German writers
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