Skip to content

Questions about August Wilhelm Schlegel

Short answers, pulled from the story.

When and where was August Wilhelm Schlegel born?

August Wilhelm Schlegel entered the world on the 8th of September 1767 in Hanover. His father Johann Adolf Schlegel served as a Lutheran pastor there.

What major translation project did August Wilhelm Schlegel complete during his time in Jena?

The translation of William Shakespeare began its life in Jena during the late 1790s and remained unfinished until Ludwig Tieck supervised its completion alongside Dorothea Tieck. This rendering stands today as one of the best poetical translations in German.

Who were the key figures associated with August Wilhelm Schlegel's intellectual circle in Jena between 1796 and 1801?

Visitors to his house included Johann Gottlieb Fichte who studied Foundations of the Science of Knowledge intensively there. His brother Friedrich moved in with his wife Dorothea Schlegel while Ludwig Tieck and Novalis also visited this gathering place regularly.

Why did August Wilhelm Schlegel leave the Swiss Confederation in 1810?

In 1810 Schlegel was ordered to leave the Swiss Confederation as an enemy of French literature. He had attracted much attention in France through an essay written in French that attacked French classicism from the standpoint of the Romantic school.

What academic position did August Wilhelm Schlegel hold at the University of Bonn starting in 1818?

Schlegel became a professor of Indology at the University of Bonn in 1818. During the remainder of his life he occupied himself chiefly with oriental studies including editing the Bhagavad Gita with a Latin translation in 1823.