Editing Georg Herwegh (section)

==Biography==
He was born in [[Stuttgart]] on 31 May 1817, the son of an innkeeper. He was educated at the [[Gymnasium Illustre]] of Stuttgart,<ref>{{Cite book | last =Wojak | first =Irmtrud | title =Fritz Bauer 1903–1968: eine Biographie | publisher =C.H.Beck | year =2009 | pages =54 | isbn =9783406581540 }}</ref> and in 1835 proceeded to the [[University of Tübingen]] as a [[theology|theological]] student, where, with a view to entering the ministry, he entered the [[Protestant]] theological seminary. However, he found the strict discipline  distasteful; he broke the rules and was expelled in 1836. He studied law for a short time, but decided to return to Stuttgart, and became editor of [[August Lewald]]'s periodical ''Europa''. Called out for [[military service]], he had hardly joined his regiment when he became embroiled with a military officer with an act of insubordination,<ref name="eb">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Herwegh, Georg}}</ref><ref name="americana">{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Herwegh, Georg|year=1920}}</ref> and had to flee to Emmishofen, [[Switzerland]] in 1839.

His ''Gedichte eines Lebendigen'' ("Poems of a living man"<ref name="Columb" />) were published in Zürich between 1841–1843 and immediately banned in [[Prussia]]. The lyrics combined revolutionary sentiment with a popular style and soon placed him at the forefront of the [[Vormärz]] revolutionary movement.<ref>Herwegh, Georg (1817–1875). The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia  (2005)</ref>  The fervent effusions of his poems became immensely popular, so that when, after a short trip to Paris, Herwegh journeyed through Germany in 1842, he was greeted with enthusiasm everywhere.

[[Frederick William IV of Prussia|King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.]] gave him an audience, and assured him that he liked nothing better than an energetic opposition. But Herwegh overstepped all the bounds of conventionality in a letter to the King, and was hurried out of Prussia. At Zürich, he found no pleasant reception. But the king of Württemberg pardoned him for desertion from military service,<ref name="nie">{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Herwegh, Georg|year=1905}}</ref> and in the canton of [[Basel]], of which he now became a citizen, he married [[Emma Herwegh|Emma Siegmund]], daughter of a Jewish merchant at Berlin.<ref name="americana" /> He next took up his abode in Paris, and wrote a second volume of ''Gedichte eines Lebendigen'' (1844). He also translated all of [[Lamartine]] into German (1843–1844).<ref name="nie" />

During the failed [[German revolution of 1848]], together with a group of German emigrants, he led the [[German Democratic Legion]] in a military mission to Baden as part of the [[Hecker Uprising]]; with its defeat at Kadern, he had to flee to Switzerland once again.<ref name="Columb" /> He lived in [[Zürich]]; after an amnesty he moved to Baden-Baden, Germany. Herwegh wrote songs for [[Ferdinand Lassalle|Lassalle]]'s Worker's Society and the Social Democratic Worker's Party. In 1877, ''Neue Gedichte'' was published. The most important work of his later years was the translation of many of [[Shakespeare]]'s plays.<ref name="nie" /> He died in [[Lichtental]].

While other poets such as [[Ferdinand Freiligrath]] gave up their radical politics later on, Herwegh never changed his radical outlook and his commitment to radical democracy. He was disappointed by and criticised Prussian nationalism and [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]'s [[Franco-Prussian War|war against France]] and annexation of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] in 1870–71. In Herwegh's mind, poetry is a first step towards political action, it should however not be artless. Consequently, he—like [[Heinrich Heine]]—defended [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]].