LESSING, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM - JewishEncyclopedia.com

Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on September 13, 1775 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's "Die Juden" premiered in Frankfurt-am-Main.

Moses Mendelssohn & Gotthold Ephraim Lessing” – Modern Philosophy, Video 37
Is the Bible unquestionable revelation—or is it open to criticsm? In this video, the Rev. Dr. Jayme Mathias, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Austin, Texas, sets forth the thought of Mendelssohn & Lessing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5XUa8CDAv0


Images:
1. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781).
2. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) on engraving from the 1800s. German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic.
3. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's wife Eve Koenig
4. Lessing's grave, Braunschweig, Germany.

Biographies
1. mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/personen-2/lessing-gotthold-ephraim-1729-1781
2. enlightenment-revolution.org/index.php/Lessing%2C_Gotthold_Ephraim

1. Background from {[ https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/personen-2/lessing-gotthold-ephraim-1729-1781]}
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)
Profession: Poet, playwright, critic.
Residences: Leipzig, Berlin.
Relation to Mahler:
Correspondence with Mahler:
Born: 22-01-1729 Kamenz, Germany.
Died: 15-02-1781 Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany.
Buried: 00-00-0000 Braunschweig, Germany.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg.

Lessing was born in Kamenz, a small town in Saxony, to Johann Gottfried Lessing and Justine Salome Feller. His father was a Lutheran minister and wrote on theology. Young Lessing studied at the Latin School in Kamenz from 1737 to 1741. With a father who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, Lessing next attended the Fürstenschule St. Afra monastery in Meissen. After completing at St. Afra's, he enrolled at the University of Leipzig where he pursued a degree in theology, medicine, philosophy, and philology (1746–1748).

It was here that his relationship with Karoline Neuber, a famous German actress, began. He translated several French plays for her, and his interest in theatre grew. During this time, he wrote his first play, The Young Scholar. Neuber eventually produced the play in 1748.

From 1748 to 1760, Lessing lived in Leipzig and Berlin. He began to work as a reviewer and editor for, amongst others, the Vossische Zeitung. Lessing formed a close connection with his cousin, Christlob Mylius, and decided to follow him to Berlin. In 1750, Lessing and Mylius teamed together to begin a periodical publication named Beitrage zur Historie und Aufnahme des Theatres. The publication ran only four issues, but it caught the public's eye and revealed Lessing to be a serious critic and theorist of drama.

In 1752 he took his Master's degree in Wittenberg. From 1760 to 1765, he worked in Breslau (now Wroc?aw) as secretary to General Tauentzien during the Seven Years' War between Britain and France, which had effects in Europe. It was during this time that he wrote his famous Laokoon, or the Limitations of Poetry.

In 1765 Lessing returned to Berlin, leaving in 1767 to work for three years at the Hamburg National Theatre. Actor-manager, Konrad Ackermann, began construction on Germany's first permanent theatre in Hamburg. Johann Friederich Lowen established Germany's first national theatre, the Hamburg National Theatre. The owners hired Lessing as the theatre's critic of plays and acting, which would later be known as dramaturgy (based on his own words), making Lessing the very first dramaturge. The theatre's main backer was Abel Seyler, a former currency speculator who since became known as "the leading patron of German theatre." There he met Eva König, his future wife. His work in Hamburg formed the basis of his pioneering work on drama, titled Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Unfortunately, because of financial losses due to pirated editions of the Hamburgische Dramaturgie, the Hamburg Theatre closed just three years later.

In 1770 Lessing became librarian at the ducal library, now the Herzog August Library (Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Bibliotheca Augusta), in Wolfenbüttel under the commission of the Duke of Brunswick. His tenure there was energetic, if interrupted by many journeys. In 1775, for example, he accompanied Prince Leopold to Italy. On 14 October 1771 Lessing was initiated into Freemasonry in the lodge "Zu den drei Goldenen Rosen" in Hamburg.

In 1776 he married Eva König, who was then a widow, in Jork (near Hamburg). She died in 1778 after giving birth to a short-lived son. On 15 February 1781, Lessing, aged 52, died during a visit to the wine dealer Angott in Brunswick.

Lessing was also famous for his friendship with Jewish-German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. A recent biography of Mendelssohn's grandson, Felix, describes their friendship as one of the most "illuminating metaphors for the clarion call of the Enlightenment for religious tolerance". It was this relationship that sparked his interest in popular religious debates of the time. He began publishing heated pamphlets on his beliefs which were eventually banned. It was this banishment that inspired him to return to theatre to portray his views and wrote Nathan the Wise.

Works
Lessing was a poet, philosopher and critic. His theoretical and critical writings are remarkable for their often witty and ironic style and their unerring polemics. Hereby the stylistic device of dialogue met with his intention of looking at a thought from different angles and searching for elements of truth even in the arguments made by his opponents. For him this truth was never solid or something which could be owned by someone but always a process of approaching.

Early in his life, Lessing showed interest in the theatre. In his theoretical and critical writings on the subject—as in his own plays—he tried to contribute to the development of a new type of theatre in Germany. With this he especially turned against the then predominant literary theory of Gottsched and his followers. Lessing's Hamburgische Dramaturgie ran critiques of plays that were performed in the Hamburg Theatre, but after dealing with dissatisfied actors and actresses, Lessing redirected his writings to more of an analysis on the proper uses of drama. Lessing advocated the outline of drama in Aristotle's Poetics. He believed The French Academy had devalued the uses of drama through their neoclassical rules of form and separation of genres. His repeated opinions on this issue influenced theatre practitioners who began the movement of rejecting theatre rules known as Sturm und Drang, or "storm and stress". He also supported serious reception of Shakespeare's works. He worked with many theatre groups (e.g. the one of the Neuberin).

In Hamburg he tried with others to set up the German National Theatre. Today his own works appear as prototypes of the later developed bourgeois German drama. Scholars see Miss Sara Sampson and Emilia Galotti as amongst the first bourgeois tragedies, Minna von Barnhelm (Minna of Barnhelm) as the model for many classic German comedies, Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise) as the first German drama of ideas ("Ideendrama"). His theoretical writings Laocoon and Hamburg Dramaturgy (Hamburgische Dramaturgie) set the standards for the discussion of aesthetic and literary theoretical principles. Lessing advocated that dramaturgs should carry their work out working directly with theatre companies rather than in isolation.

In his religious and philosophical writings he defended the faithful Christian's right for freedom of thought. He argued against the belief in revelation and the holding on to a literal interpretation of the Bible by the predominant orthodox doctrine through a problem later to be called Lessing's Ditch. Lessing outlined the concept of the religious "Proof of Power": How can miracles continue to be used as a base for Christianity when we have no proof of miracles? Historical truths which are in doubt cannot be used to prove metaphysical truths (such as God's existence). As Lessing says it: "That, then, is the ugly great ditch which I cannot cross, however often and however earnestly I have tried to make that leap."

In the final leg of his life, Lessing threw himself into an intense evaluation of theology and religion. He did much of his studying by reading manuscripts he found while working as a librarian. While working for the Duke, he formed a close friendship with a family by the name of Reimarus. The family held an unpublished manuscript that provided a complete attack on the historicity of Christian revelation. Despite discouragement from his brother, Karl, Lessing began publishing pieces of the manuscript in pamphlets known as Fragments from an Unnamed Author. The controversial pamphlets resulted in a heated debate between him and another theologian, Johann Melchior Goeze. In concern for tarnishing his reputation, Goeze requested the government put an end to the feud, and Lessing was silenced through a law that took away his freedom from censorship.

In response, Lessing relied upon his skills as a playwright to write what is undoubtedly his most influential play, Nathan the Wise. In the play, Lessing set up tension between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity by having one character ask Nathan which religion was the most genuine. Nathan avoids the question by telling the parable of the three rings, which implies the idea that no specific religion is the "correct religion." The Enlightenment ideas to which Lessing held tight were portrayed through his "ideal of humanity," stating that religion is relative to the individual's ability to reason. Nathan the Wise is considered to be the first example of the German "literature of humanity". As a child of the Enlightenment he trusted in a "Christianity of Reason", which oriented itself by the spirit of religion. He believed that human reason (initiated by criticism and dissent) would develop, even without help by a divine revelation. In his writing The Education of Humankind (Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts) he extensively and coherently lays out his position.

The idea of freedom (for the theatre against the dominance of its French model; for religion from the church's dogma) is his central theme throughout his life. Therefore he also stood up for the liberation of the upcoming middle and upper class from the nobility making up their minds for them.

In his own literary existence he also constantly strove for independence. But his ideal of a possible life as a free author was hard to keep up against the economic constraints he faced. His project of authors self-publishing their works, which he tried to accomplish in Hamburg with C. J. Bode, failed.

Lessing is important as a literary critic for his work Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry. In this work, he argues against the tendency to take Horace's ut pictura poesis (as painting, so poetry) as prescriptive for literature. In other words, he objected to trying to write poetry using the same devices as one would in painting. Instead, poetry and painting each has its character (the former is extended in time; the latter is extended in space). This is related to Lessing's turn from French classicism to Aristotelian mimesis, discussed above."

2. Background from {[http://enlightenment-revolution.org/index.php/Lessing%2C_Gotthold_Ephraim]}
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim (1729-81): German, Playwright and Critic.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing considered himself chiefly a critic, but he also made significant contributions to German literature as a dramatist, poet, and theologian. Lessing was among the first Germans to succeed at supporting himself almost completely through his writing. He embraced the principles of the Enlightenment wholeheartedly and advocated religious and intellectual tolerance. The son of a Lutheran minister, Lessing attended the Fürstenschule in Meissen, Saxony. There he read works by the Latin dramatists Plautus and Terence and developed an interest in writing comedies. From 1746-48, Lessing attended universities in Leipzig and Wittenberg, where he studied theology, philosophy, and medicine. While devoting time to his academic studies, he also began his literary career and was befriended by Caroline Neuber. Prominent in Leipzig theater circles, she was instrumental in the staging of his first play, a satire called The Young Scholar (1748). Between 1747 and 1749, Lessing, who wanted to be known as the German Molière, wrote Damon, The Old Maid, The Misogynist, The Jews, and The Freethinker.

In 1748, Lessing moved to Berlin, where he lived off and on for the next nineteen years. During his early years in Berlin, Lessing attracted much attention as the book review editor of the Berlin Privileged Newspaper. He was both feared and respected for his impartiality, directness, and clarity.

In 1752, Lessing received a degree in medicine from the University of Wittenberg. Returning to Berlin, he resumed his writing and became friends with Mendelssohn, Moses and Nicolai, Christoph Friedrich. In his monograph, Vade Mecum for Mr. Samuel Gotthold Lange (1754), Lessing, not one to avoid controversy, takes Lange to task for careless translations of Horace’s poetry. In 1755, he completed Miss Sara Sampson, the first successful domestic tragedy in German drama. The play tells the story of Sara, a young middle-class woman seduced by Mellefont and poisoned by Marwood, Mellefont’s abandoned mistress. Grief stricken, Mellefont regrets his trickery and commits suicide at the end of the play. Well received by audiences of the time, Lessing’s play helped pave the way for Sturm und Drang theater.

From 1759-60, Lessing, Mendelssohn, and Nicolai published Letters Concerning the Latest Literature. In his contributions, Lessing attacked the French-oriented neo-classicism that much of mid-eighteenth century Germany had embraced, and his criticism was especially directed toward Gottsched, Johann Christoph. Believing that Gottsched had misunderstood the German soul, Lessing felt that the Germans had much more in common with the English. Shakespeare was, therefore, a much more appropriate model for German writers than French tragedians such as Pierre Corneille. In 1759, Lessing published a collection of fables and a treatise on their structure and content.

After serving as secretary to General Bogislaw von Tauentzien, the governor of Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland) from 1760-65, Lessing returned to Berlin and published two of his most important works: Laokoon (1766) and Minna von Barnhelm (1767). A major aesthetic document of Enlightenment Germany, Laokoon discusses the differences in form and content between literature and the visual arts. Minna von Barnhelm, considered to be the first modern comedy in German literature, has been praised for its convincing depiction of the period following the Seven Year War and for its realistic characters. In the play, Major Tellheim, a Prussian officer unjustly accused of a crime, feels that his honor has been besmirched and cancels his engagement to Minna, a lively, strong-willed woman from Saxony. Using her resourcefulness and insight into human nature, Minna succeeds in resolving the conflict.

Lessing’s next important contribution to German literary life was his involvement in the founding of a German national theater in Hamburg. Though the venture proved to be unsuccessful, it gave Lessing occasion to write his Hamburg Dramaturgy (1767-68), a collection of reviews and short essays on fundamental principles of the drama. In his work, Lessing attacks the German preoccupation with French culture, and he offers suggestions for a uniquely German theater: a mixture of plot and characterization features found in Shakespearian drama with the dignified style and form of Sophocles’ drama.

Lessing’s final years brought him much difficulty and sorrow. In 1770, he accepted a position as librarian of the ducal library at Wolfenbüttel. Although he had the chance to discover several hidden treasures in the library, Lessing never really felt comfortable working under conditions imposed by the Duke of Braunschweig. In 1776, Lessing married Eva König, and she soon became pregnant. By 1778, both his child and his wife had died.

During his years at Wolfenbüttel, Lessing was very active as a critic and playwright. The domestic tragedy Emilia Galotti (1772), one of his most popular plays, is the story of Emilia, a young middle-class woman who is sexually pursued by Hettore Gonzago, Prince of Guastalla, and ultimately sacrificed by her father to preserve her virginity. From 1774-77, Lessing published a series of fragments from controversial theological works by Hermann Samuel Reimarus and was severely criticized, especially by Pastor Johann Melchior Goeze. Lessing, intellectually superior to his opponents, defended himself valiantly. Eventually, the Duke entered the conflict, using his powers of censorship to silence Lessing, who then switched to a different medium in order to continue his struggle against religious intolerance. In Nathan the Wise (1779), a dramatic poem in unrhymed iambics, he argues that moral excellence and an exalted mind, character, and spirit do not depend on adherence to a particular religion, and that the validity of a particular religious creed is determined by the actions of its followers.

More than two hundred years after his death, Lessing’s influence can still be felt. As a dramatist, he established new standards in German literature, and his plays, especially Minna von Barnhelm, Emilia Galotti, and Nathan the Wise, continue to be produced. As a critic, he argued successfully for less French influence on German literature. As a theologian, he stood for religious and intellectual openmindedness.

Further Reading:
Edward M. Batley, Catalyst of Enlightenment, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Productive Criticism of Eighteenth-Century Germany, New York, 1990.
Monika Fick, Lessing Handbuch: Leben, Werk, Wirkung, Stuttgart, 2000.

David Witkosky
Auburn Montgomery"

FYI MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Robert PryorGySgt Thomas VickMAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.SGT Denny EspinosaSFC (Join to see)SGM Bill FrazerCSM (Join to see)SSG Jeffrey LeakeCSM Bruce TregoPFC (Join to see)SP5 Dennis LobergerSGT Michael HearnSPC Michael Duricko, Ph.DSPC Russ BoltonSPC Nancy GreeneSSG Franklin Briant COL Mikel J. Burroughs Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D.

Thank you for the literary history share brother SGT (Join to see)

Thank you!