WERNER, ZACHARIAS. - Playwright and orator, b. in Königsberg on 18 Nov. 1768, d. in Vienna on 17 Jan. 1823.
Thrice divorced within a few years, he felt the need for religious activity and joined a Masonic lodge in order to cooperate in a religious and moral regeneration of humanity.
The series of his dramas: Die Söhne des Thales (1800-1806), Das Kreuz an der Ostsee (1806), Luther, oder die Weihe der Kraft (1807), Attila, König der Hünnen (1808), Wanda, die Königin der Sarmaten (1810), Der vierundzwanzigste Februar (1809), contains the passage from a utopian-Masonic ideal to an erotic-mystical world, ending in a gloomy fatalism. In Jena and in Weimar he was in contact with Goethe; in Switzerland with Madame de Staël; on her advice he traveled to Rome (1809), where on 19 Apr. 1810 he entered the Catholic Church, and his fantastic mysticism was transformed into a calm and convinced acceptance of Catholic dogma. Having returned to Germany, he was ordained a priest by the archbishop of Mainz, K. Th. v. Dalberg (1814), and from then on the center of his activity was Vienna, where he was very well known as a preacher; there he became a disciple of St. Clement Hofbauer.
His dramatic works were published by himself in the edition: Theater von Z. W. (6 vols., 2nd ed. Vienna 1881). Other works, including a selection of his sermons, in: Z. W. Sämtliche Werke, aus seinem schriftlichen Nachlass herausgegeben von seinen Freunden (13 vols., Grimma 1840).
Bibliography6 worksH. Schultz, Z. W. Biogr. und Charakteristik, 2 vols., Grimma 1841; H. Dünter, Zwei Bekehrte Z. W. und Sophie von Schardt, Leipzig 1873; E. V
BIBL.: H. Schultz, Z. W. Biogr. und Charakteristik, 2 vols., Grimma 1841; H. Dünter, Zwei Bekehrte Z. W. und Sophie von Schardt, Leipzig 1873; E. Vierling, La conversion d'un romantique, Paris 1908; G. Gabetti, Il dramma di Z. W., Turin 1916; G. Garow, Z. W. und das Drama seiner Zeit, Leipzig 1933; A. Manghi, Mazzini e W., in Convivium, raccolta nuova, 6 (1952), pp. 873-95.
Rogger, Igino. “Werner, zacharias.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, coll. 1669–1670. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954. https://azioneromana.com/article/werner-zacharias.
MLA
Rogger, Igino. “Werner, zacharias.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1954, coll. 1669–1670. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/werner-zacharias.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec12_werner_zacharias,
author = {Rogger, Igino},
title = {Werner, zacharias},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {XII},
pages = {1669--1670},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1954},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/werner-zacharias}
}
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