Johann Heinrich Merck, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJohann Heinrich Merck
German writer
Date of Birth: 11-Apr-1741
Place of Birth: Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
Date of Death: 27-Jun-1791
Profession: writer, poet, translator, journalist, literary critic
Zodiac Sign: Aries 
About Johann Heinrich Merck
- Johann Heinrich Merck (11 April 1741 – 27 June 1791), German author and critic, was born at Darmstadt, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist. He studied law at Gießen, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's department at Darmstadt, and a year later himself became paymaster.
- For a number of years he exercised considerable influence upon the literary movement in Germany; he helped to found the Frankfurter gelehrte Anzeigen in 1772, and was one of the chief contributors to Nicolai's Allgemeine Bibliothek. In 1773 he accompanied the Landgravine Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt to Saint Petersburg, and on his return was a guest of the duke Charles Augustus of Weimar in the Wartburg.
- Unfortunate speculations brought him into pecuniary embarrassment in 1788, and although friends, notably Goethe, were ready to come to his assistance, his losses — combined with the death of five of his children — so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide on 27 June 1791. Merck distinguished himself mainly as a critic; his keen perception, critical perspicacity and refined taste made him a valuable guide to the young writers of the Sturm und Drang.
- He also wrote a number of small treatises, dealing mostly with literature and art, especially painting, and a few poems, stories, narratives and the like; but they have not much intrinsic importance.
- Merck's letters are particularly interesting and instructive, and throw much light upon the literary conditions of his time. Merck's Ausgewählte Schriften zur schönen Literatur und Kunst were published by A Stahr in 1840, with a biography.
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