Friedrich von Schiller’s 260th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates the birthday of German dramatist, poet, historian, and philosopher Friedrich von Schiller, widely regarded as the country’s most important playwright and one of the leading lights of German literature. Schiller's theories of aesthetics influenced the thinking of great European philosophers such as Jung, Nietzsche, and Hegel, while his 1785 hymn An die Freude (“Ode to Joy”) inspired Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 9 in D minor, which was later adopted as the official anthem of the European Union.

Born in the town of Marbach on this day in 1759, Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller was the son of an army officer and attended a strict military academy in Stuttgart. He spent his free time reading the works of Rousseau, Seneca, and Shakespeare while writing his first play, Die Räuber (“The Robbers”), which he self-published in 1781. He managed to get the play produced at a Mannheim theater, delighting audiences, but angering the local Duke with its critical view of authority.

The dramatic Sturm und Drang (“Storm and Stress”) of Schiller’s early work eventually gave way to a mature style in Don Carlos, his first play in blank verse. Taking a break from drama and poetry, he focused on philosophy, working towards his belief that art’s true purpose was not just to delight readers, but to edify and uplift them.

In 1794, Schiller developed a friendship with the prominent writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who recommended him to become a professor of history at the University of Jena. The horrors of the 30 Years’ War served as the backdrop for Schiller’s masterpiece of the Wallenstein trilogy, which was soon followed by his popular historical drama Maria Stuart, based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Made a nobleman in the early 1800s, von Schiller is considered a national icon. His stature in German literature comparable to Shakespeare’s in English literature.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Friedrich von Schiller!

Early icon sketches & animated draft by artist Matt Cruickshank