Theodor Fontane

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Newspaper writer and critic

In 1844 Fontane enrolled in the Prussian army and set out on the first of numerous journeys to England which fostered his interest in old English ballads, a form he began to imitate then. At that time he became engaged to his future wife, Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, who he had first met when still at school. He briefly participated in the revolutionary events of 1848. In 1849 he quit his job as an apothecary and became a full-time journalist and writer. In order to support his family he took a job as a writer for the Prussian intelligence agency Centralstelle für Preußenangelegenheiten which was meant to influence the press towards a German national cause. Again he specialised in British affairs, and the agency sent him as correspondent to London for a couple of years where he was later joined by his wife and two sons. While still in London he quit his government job and, on his return to Berlin, became editor of the conservative Kreuzzeitung.

Related Topics:
Prussian - Old English ballads - 1848 - 1849 - Prussia - London - Kreuzzeitung

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