Johann Michael Moscherosch
Johann Michael Moscherosch was a prominent 17th-century German writer and intellectual, born in 1601. He displayed exceptional talent from a young age, leading him to attend the Strasbourg Latin School, which later became a university. After graduating with honors in 1621, he traveled across Europe to gain diverse cultural experiences that influenced his literary works. Moscherosch faced numerous personal tragedies, including the loss of his first two children and both of his first two wives due to illness, against the backdrop of the Thirty Years' War, which profoundly affected his writing. His notable works include the popular and controversial *Wunderliche und wahrhafftige Gesichte Philanders von Sittewald*, along with his reflections on the struggles of parenthood and societal issues during turbulent times. Throughout his life, he served in various roles, including tutor and secretary to a Swedish commander, and was involved in local governance, becoming a member of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, a society dedicated to the preservation of German language and culture. Despite the initial popularity of his satirical works, he faced criticism and eventually lost his official positions due to backlash from offended groups. Moscherosch's experiences shaped his literary voice, making him an important figure in German literature of his time.
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Johann Michael Moscherosch
Writer
- Born: March 5, 1601
- Birthplace: Willstätt, Germany
- Died: April 4, 1669
- Place of death: Worms, Germany
Biography
Johann Michael Moscherosch was born in 1601 to Michael Moscherosch, a respected German farmer and keeper of church ground, and Veronika (Beck) Moscherosch. As a young boy, he displayed an impressive intellect, and by age eleven he had already outgrown his local school and enrolled at the Strasbourg Latin School. Monetary help from his parents allowed the young scholar to develop a library of several hundred books; over the course of the Moscherosch’s lifetime, the collection grew to include more than two thousand volumes.
When Moscherosch graduated with honors in 1621, Strasbourg Latin School had risen to the status of a university, so he continued his education there. Three years later, the results of his master’s degree exam showed Moscherosch to be the best of that year’s twenty-one degree candidates, and Moscherosch then embarked on travels to other countries and universities, gathering cultural and practical experiences that would inform his later writings. He returned to Strasbourg in 1626, and shortly thereafter became a private tutor to the sons of Count Johann Phillip II. However, Moscherosch’s strict temperament made him unpopular and the count dismissed him in June 1628. These life experiences at court influenced the writer’s dialogue on meloncholy, “Patientia, ein traurig Gespräch,” which was published in an incomplete book form in 1897.
In 1628, Moscherosch married Esther Ackerman. The couple’s first two children died shortly after birth, and Esther died in 1632 following the birth of their son, Ernst Ludwig. Moscherosch then wed Maria Barbara Paniel in 1633. The poverty, illness, and violence brought on by the Thirty Years’ War, which Moscherosch’s writings vividly recount, ravaged the region in these years, and the family left their home in Kriechingen for refuge in Strasbourg in 1635. However, Maria became ill during the journey and died on November 6, 1635.
Moscherosch became administrator of Duke Ernst Bogislav’s lands and married Anna Maria Kilburger in 1636. The couple’s marriage lasted thirty-two years and produced ten children. It was during this time that Moscherosch began publishing editions of his incredibly popular, as well as controversial, Wunderliche und wahrhafftige Gesichte Philanders von Sittewald Gesichte, commonly called Gesichte. In 1641, Moscherosch was attacked by a gathering of soldiers and critics while he was farming his wife’s family fields. Some of his workers and all of his livestock were killed during the attack, which occurred shortly before the birth of Moscherosch’s daughter Ernestine Amely, and his amalgamation of emotions is apparent in his essay “Insomnis cura parentum” (sleepless concern of parents).
Back in Strasbourg, Moscherosch became secretary to a Swedish commander, and in 1645 he joined the Strasbourg police department as an administrator who composed and enforced rules governing manners and conduct. That same year, he was inducted into the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, a society aimed at preserving German language and culture. Some took offense to Moscherosch’s satires, though they were aimed at groups rather than individuals, and in the writer’s later years, the offended groups forced Moscherosch out of his police position and other employments.