Johann Jakob Engel
Illustration — Johann Jacob Engel (1773) • Illustration — Johann Jakob Engel, portrait by Chodowiecki Johann Jakob Engel (11 September 1741 – 28 June 1802) was a German author.
Also recorded as Johann Jacob Engel
Johann Jakob Engel

Anton Graff · scanned by Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Berlin (Hrsg.): 450 Jahre Jagdschloß Grunewald, II. Aus der Gemäldesammlung, Berlin 1992, S. 75 · Public domain
- Born
- 1741 · Parchim.
- Died
- 1802 · Parchim.
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- writer · philosopher · independent publisher · theatre critic · theatre manager · playwright
- Fields
- philosophy
- Education
- Leipzig University · University of Rostock
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Johann Jacob Engel (1773) • Illustration — Johann Jakob Engel, portrait by Chodowiecki Johann Jakob Engel (11 September 1741 – 28 June 1802) was a German author.
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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
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Authority files
gnd · 1091262713 · wikidata · Q71442 · wikipedia · Johann Jakob Engel
In this article
Life
Life
Engel was born and died in Parchim, in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He studied theology at Rostock and Bützow, and philosophy at Leipzig, where he took his doctors' degree. In 1776 he was appointed professor of moral philosophy and belles-lettres in the Joachimstal gymnasium at Berlin, and a few years later he became tutor to the crown prince of Prussia, afterwards Frederick William III. The lessons which he gave his royal pupil in ethics and politics were published in 1798 under the title Fürstenspiegel ("Mirror for Princes"), and are a favourable specimen of his powers as a popular philosophical writer. In 1787 he was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin, and in the same year he became director of the royal theatre, an office he resigned in 1794.
Works
Works
• Illustration — Illustration from Ideen zu einer Mimik, 1785 Besides numerous dramas, some of which had a considerable success, Engel wrote several valuable books on aesthetic subjects. His Anfangsgründe einer Theorie der Dichtungsarten ("Initial foundations for a theory of poetry types," 1783) showed fine taste and acute critical faculty if it lacked imagination and poetic insight. The same excellences and the same defects were apparent in his Ideen zu einer Mimik (1785), written in the form of letters. It demonstrated a knowledge of human nature, and may be regarded as a kind of manual for actors. His most popular work was Der Philosoph für die Welt (1775), which consists chiefly of dialogues on men and morals, written from the utilitarian standpoint of the philosophy of the day. His last work, a romance entitled Herr Lorenz Stark (1795), achieved a great success, by virtue of the marked individuality of its characters and its appeal to middle-class sentiment. He wanted to make the German theatre the mirror of the national life, and he wrote several plays, but they were of little merit – Der dankbare Sohn and Edelknaben are examples. Engel's Sämtliche Schriften (complete writings) were published in twelve volumes at Berlin in 1801–1806; a new edition appeared at Frankfort in 1851.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1741
Johann Jakob Engel born at Parchim.
1802
Johann Jakob Engel died at Parchim.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q71442: Johann Jakob Engel
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Johann Jakob Engel”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1091262713, Johann Jakob Engel 1741-1802 (1991 : Berlin).
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
References
Citations
References
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authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1091262713, Johann Jakob Engel 1741-1802 (1991 : Berlin).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q71442: Johann Jakob EngelWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
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Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Johann Jacob Engel. His recorded language was German. His recorded confession was Lutheranism. Recorded as writer, philosopher, independent publisher, theatre critic and theatre manager. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Identity and origins
Within the Encyclopedia
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.
Elsewhere in Books
38,624 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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