Ernst Alexander August George Wichert (11 March 1831–21 January 1902) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 author and jurist.

Biography

Wichert was born in Insterburg, Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 (today Chernyakhovsk, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

) and visited school in Pillau and Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

.

He studied law at the University of Königsberg

University of Königsberg

The University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as second Protestant academy by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....

 and worked as an assessor

Assessor (law)

In some jurisdictions, an assessor is a judge's or magistrate's assistant. This is in fact the historical meaning of this word.-By country:In Denmark, it was the former title given to Supreme Court judges. Today the title is given to Deputy Judges...

 in Memel

Klaipeda

Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....

. In 1860 Wichert became a district judge in Prökuls (today Priekulė, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

). In 1863 he returned to Königsberg as a judge at the local court and became an Oberlandesgerichtsrat in 1877 (sometimes also 1879 is reported). In 1888 Wichert moved to Berlin, where he became Kammergerichtsrat at the Berlin Kammergericht

Kammergericht

The Kammergericht is the Oberlandesgericht for the state of Berlin. Its name differs from Germany's other state courts for historic reasons. There are no other courts called Kammergericht in Germany.-Overview:...

, retired in 1896 and died in 1902.

While performing his duties as a judge, Ernst Wichert published 34 stage plays, 28 novels and 15 multi-volumed novellas.

Stage plays

• Unser General York, 1858
• Der Withing von Samland, 1860
• Licht und Schatten, 1861
• Der Narr des Glücks, 1871
• Ein Schritt vom Wege, 1873
• Die Realisten, 1874
• Biegen oder Brechen, 1874
• An der Majorsecke, 1875
• Die Frau für die Welt, 1876
• Der Freund des Fürsten, 1879
• Peter Munk, 1882
• Im Dienst der Pflicht, 1896
• Als Verlobte empfehlen sich

Novels and novellas

• Aus anständiger Familie, 1866
• Ein hässlicher Mensch, 1868
• Die Arbeiter, 1873
• Heinrich von Plauen, 1881 Online version
• Litauische Geschichten, 1881
• Aus dem Leben, Novella, 1882
• Unter einer Decke, Novella, 1883
• Der Große Kurfürst in Preußen, 1887
• Die Taube auf dem Dache, 1892
• Die Schwestern, 1896
• Der Bürgermeister von Thorn
• Kleine Passionen

Screen adaption

• Elzes Leben (Elzė iš Giljos), a film version of Der Schaktarp, (Lit-D, 1999), directed by Algimantas Puipa, appearing Eglė Jaselskytė, Aušra Venckunaitė

Literature

• Margot Braun: Ernst Wicherts Roman "Der Große Kurfürst in Preußen". Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des historischen Romans im 19. Jahrhundert. Würzburg-Aumühle

External links

• Gustav Freytag und Ernst Wichert
• Ernst Wichert In: Datenbank Projekt Historischer Roman. University of Innsbruck.