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Freedom and Dignity pp 87–108Cite as

Political and Esthetic Roots

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Abstract

In the summer of 1791 Schiller suffered a serious illness of the lungs which was to be the first phase of a long struggle with death, ending fourteen years later. His collapse produced great concern among admiring friends in Copenhagen who soon heard rumors of Schiller’s death. Among these was the poet Jens Baggesen, who had been greatly impressed by Don Carlos, and even more so by the historical works so that he “was inclined to prefer the historian Schiller to the poet.” 1 Baggesen was a friend and the official reader of prince Friedrich Christian von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, an enlightened nobleman with a fine taste for learning and literature. Baggesen had infected him with his enthusiasm for Schiller’s work, and when the rumors of Schiller’s death proved to be false, the prince decided to alleviate some of the financial distress which, he had heard, was plaguing the poet. Thus, on December the 13 th, Schiller received a letter from Denmark, signed by the prince and Ambassador Schimmelman, which offered him a yearly pension of one thousand Talers for the next three years.

La vertu seule est libre. André Chénier

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References

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  1. Deric Regin
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© 1965 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands

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Regin, D. (1965). Political and Esthetic Roots. In: Freedom and Dignity. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9097-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9097-8_8

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