Theodor Fontane

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Youth

Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He subsequently became an apothecary, and in 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work (Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe, lost). His further education was in Leipzig where he got into contact with the progressives of the Vormärz. His first job as apothecary was in Dresden after which he returned to his father's shop, now in the provincial town of Letschin in the Oderbruch region. Fleeing the provincial atmosphere there, Fontane published articles in the Leipzig newspaper Die Eisenbahn and translated Shakespeare. In 1843, he joined a literary club called Tunnel über der Spree (i.e. Tunnel over the river Spree) in Berlin where he came into contact with many of the most renowned German writers such as Theodor Storm, Joseph von Eichendorff and Gottfried Keller.

Related Topics:
Neuruppin - Huguenot - 1839 - Leipzig - Vormärz - Dresden - Letschin - Oderbruch - Die Eisenbahn - 1843 - Tunnel über der Spree - Spree - Berlin - Theodor Storm - Joseph von Eichendorff - Gottfried Keller

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