Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg
Illustration — Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg. • Illustration — Board on birthplace in Tønder, Denmark (Photo 2015) Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg (3 January 1737 – 1 November 1823) was a German poet and critic. Gerstenberg was born in Tønder, Denmark. After attending school in Husum and at the Christianeum Hamburg, and studying law at the University of Jena (1757–1759), he entered 1760 the Danish military service and took later part in the Russian campaign of 1762.
Also recorded as Johann Heinrich von Gerstenberg
Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg

Christian Gottfried Schulze (1749–1819) · Bildarchiv Austria · Public domain
- Born
- 1737. · Tønder.
- Died
- 1823. · Altona.
- Nationality
- Duchy of Schleswig.
- Occupation
- poet, writer, playwright, critic and librettist.
- Education
- University of Jena and Christianeum.
- Languages
- German.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Illustration — Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg. • Illustration — Board on birthplace in Tønder, Denmark (Photo 2015) Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg (3 January 1737 – 1 November 1823) was a German poet and critic. Gerstenberg was born in Tønder, Denmark. After attending school in Husum and at the Christianeum Hamburg, and studying law at the University of Jena (1757–1759), he entered 1760 the Danish military service and took later part in the Russian campaign of 1762.
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wikidata · Q77488 · wikipedia · Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg
In this article
Identity
Identity
He spent the next twelve years in Copenhagen, where he was a close friend of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. His military period ends in the year 1771. Von Gerstenberg was a Danish deputy in a German Chamber and was an assessor in the Commercial Deputation up to 1775. From 1775 to 1783 he represented Denmark's interests as Danish Resident at Lübeck, and in 1786 received a judicial appointment at Altona, where he died in November 1823. In the course of his long life, Gerstenberg passed through many phases of his nation's literature. He began as an imitator of the Anacreontic school (Tändeleyen, 1759); then wrote, in imitation of Gleim, Kriegslieder eines dänischen Grenadiers (1762); with his Gedicht eines Skalden (1766) he joined the group of bards led by Klopstock. He translated Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy (1767), and helped to usher in the Sturm und Drang period with a gruesome but powerful tragedy, Ugolino (1768). But he did perhaps even better service to the new literary movement with his Briefe über Merkwürdigkeiten der Litteratur (1766–1770), in which the critical principles of the Sturm und Drang, and especially its enthusiasm for Shakespeare, were first definitely formulated. In later life Gerstenberg lost touch with literature, and occupied himself mainly with Kant's philosophy. His Vermischte Schriften appeared in 3 vols. The Briefe über Merkwürdigkeiten der Litteratur were republished with an introduction by Alexander von Weilen (1888).
Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg is recorded with the occupation writer. Recorded as poet, writer, playwright, critic and librettist.
Mindeplade over digteren Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg (1737-1823) i Tønder, Sønderjylland
Orf3us

Mindetavle på Søndergade 10, Tønder
Hjart
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1737
Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg was born on 3 January 1737.
1823
Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg died on 1 November 1823.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Tønder.
Birth place
Altona.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q77488: Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q77488: Heinrich Wilhelm von GerstenbergWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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