Georg Weerth
Georg Weerth was a notable German poet and writer, born on February 17, 1822, in Detmold, Westphalia. He emerged as an influential literary figure during the Vormärz period, which preceded the German Revolutions of 1848. Weerth's early life was marked by a diverse upbringing, as he was educated alongside other prominent poets and faced personal challenges, including the death of his father. His fascination with urban life in Cologne inspired his initial poetry, reflecting themes of love and social issues. A significant event in his life occurred in 1843 when he exposed a local mayor's hypocrisy regarding Jewish emancipation, resulting in his exile to England. During his time in Bradford, he became involved with the Chartist movement and collaborated with figures like Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, advocating for the working class. Weerth's later years were spent in the Virgin Islands and Central America, where he continued to write until his death from malaria in Havana, Cuba, on July 30, 1856. His legacy is preserved in various archives, highlighting his contributions to literature and social thought.
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Georg Weerth
Writer
- Born: February 17, 1822
- Birthplace: Detmold, Westphalia, Germany
- Died: July 30, 1856
- Place of death: Havana, Cuba
Biography
Georg Weerth was born February 17, 1822, in Detmold, Westphalia, Germany, to Georg Ludwig Weerth, a Protestant clergyman, and Wilhelmine (Burgmann) Weerth. An interesting note is that two other famous poets, Christian Dietrich Grabbe and Ferdinand Freiligrath, also came from Detmold, meaning that the three poets lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, and were taught by the same teacher.
When Weerth’s father died in 1836, he was sent to Elberfeld as a business apprentice. From 1840 to1842, Weerth lived and worked as a bookkeeper in Cologne. The big city life fascinated him, and the Cologne carnival was the inspiration of his first poems. In 1842, he moved to Bonn to become secretary to his uncle, a prominent clothing manufacturer and liberal politician. This political influence would help shape Weerth, along with his new acquaintances, Hermann Putmann and Gottfried Kinkel.
Weerth soon became published in local papers with his poems of love and wine. A scandal in 1843, when Weerth unmasked the mayor’s private fight against the emancipation of the Jews while he was publicly supporting the emancipation progress, led to Weerth’s exhile from Bonn. Weerth then moved on to Bradford, England, to work as a cleric.
While living in Bradford, England, between 1843 and 1846, Weerth became acquainted with Friedrich Engels and the Chartist movement. Inspired, Weerth began writing both prose and poetry that advocated for the working classes. He worked alongside Engels and Karl Marx in Brussels in the mid-1840’s and again as a member of the Association Democratique and the Bund der Kommunisten. In the late 1840’s, during the revolution, Weerth served on the editorial staff of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in Cologne. Weerth spent most of the last years of his life living on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and traveling around Central and South America. He died of Malaria in Havana, Cuba, on July 30, 1856.
Weerth is hailed as one of the most important literary figures of the Vormärz (pre-March) period. This was the period before the German Revolutions of March, 1848. Weerth’s friend, Friedrich Engels, praised Weerth as the first and most important poet of the German proletariat.
A large collection of Weerth’s manuscripts and letters is housed at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Additional papers are held at the Weerth-Archiv, Landesbibliothek (provincial library) in Detmold, his place of birth and youth. Most of Weerth’s letters to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels can be found at the Institute for Marxism- Leninism in Moscow.