FREIHERR VON CHRISTOPH

ERNST

See also:

• FREIHERR VON CHRISTOPH ERNST HOUWALD (1778–1845)

HOUWALD (1778–1845)  , German dramatist and author, was born at Straupitz in Lower Lusatia, a son of the president of the district court of justice, on the 28th of November 1778 . He studied law at the university of Halle, and on completion of his academic studies returned home, married, and managed the family estates . In 1516 he afforded a home to his friend K . W . S . Contessa (1777–1825), himself a poet, who had met with serious reverses of fortune; Contessa lived with Houwald, assisting and stimulating him in his literary work, for eight years . In 1821 Houwald was unanimously elected syndic for Lower Lusatia, an office which placed him at the head of the administration of the province . He died at Neuhaus, near Lubben, on the 28th of January 1845 . Houwald is remembered as the author of several so-called " Fate tragedies " (see GERMAN LITERATURE), of which the best known are Des Bild, Per Leuchtturm, Die Heimkehr, Fluch and Segen (all published in 1821) . They have, however, small literary value, and Houwald is seen to better advantage in his narratives and books for juvenile readers, such as Romantische Akkorde (pub]. by W . Contessa, Berlin, 1817); Bitch. fur Kinder gebildeter Stande (1819–1824); and Jakob Thau, der Ilofnarr (1821) . Houwald's collected works, Sdmtliche Werke, were published in five volumes (Leipzig, 1851; 2nd ed., 1858-1859) .

See J .

Minor, Die Schicksalstragodie in ihren Haupteertretern (Frankfurt, 1883), and Das Schicksalsdrama in Ki rschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. cli . (Stuttgart, 1884) ; O, Schmidtborn, C . E von Houwald als Drantatiker (1909) .