Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
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Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen (April 2, 1806–May 22, 1871) was an Austrian dramatist, born at Cracow, the son of a district judge. He wrote using the pseudonym of Friedrich Halm.
Münch-Bellinghausen was educated at the seminary of Melk and later at Vienna, where he studied philosophy and jurisprudence, and where he began his official career in 1826.
Even as a boy he took a keen interest in the theater and since 1833 enjoyed the friendship of his former teacher, the Benedictine Michael Leopold Enk von der Burg, who himself had a strong bent for the drama and encouraged the poet to offer his drama Griseldis to the Hofburg theatre. Its successful production in 1835 established Halm's reputation as a playwright and henceforth he continued to write for the stage with varying success.
In the meantime he advanced in his official career, becoming Regierungsrat (government councillor) in 1840 and Kustos (chief keeper) of the Court Library in 1844, a position that Grillparzer had sought in vain. He was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in 1852 and life member of the Upper House of Parliament in 1861. In 1867 he was appointed superintendent of the two court-theatres, but three years later resigned this position which disputes had made distasteful to him. His health also had been failing.
Of his many dramatic works the best known are Griseldis (1837); Der Adept (1836; publ. 1838), Camoens (1838), Der Sohn der Wildnis (1842), and Der Fechter von Ravenna (1857). Griseldis is based on the well-known story of the faithful wife whose loyalty and devotion are put to the severest tests but who triumphs in the end. Der Sohn der Wildnis ("The Son of the Wilderness") is a romantic drama depicting the power of womanly love and virtue over rude barbarian strength. It was presented on the English stage under the title of Ingomar the Barbarian. Der Fechter von Ravenna ("The Gladiator of Ravenna"), regarded as Halm's best work, is a tragedy having for its hero Thumelicus the son of Arminius, the liberator of Germany from Roman rule. All of these are distinguished by elegance of language, melodious versification and clever construction, and were for a time exceedingly popular.
Theatrically these plays are very effective, but the characters are improbable and the situations are often strained. Their popularity, which they owe largely to their smooth, polished diction and skilfully interspersed lyrics, has not been lasting. Of Halm's numerous other dramas we may mention Iphigenie in Delphi (1856); Begum Somru (1863); Wildfeuer (1864); and a German version of Shakespeare's Cymbeline that appeared on the stage in 1842.
He is also the author of lyrics, short stories, and of a narrative poem Charfreitag ("Good Friday") (1864). His poems, Gedichte, were published in Stuttgart, 1850 (new ed. Vienna. 1877). His collected works, Samtliche Werke, were published arranged in chronological order in eight volumes (1856-1864), to which four posthumous volumes were added in 1872. Also published was Ausgewählte Werke, ed. by A. Schlossar in 4 vols. (1904).
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia.
