Johann, King of Saxony b. December 12, 1801; Dresden, Saxony d. October 29, 1873;
Pillnitz, Saxony Johann entertained several American visitors to Saxony during the first half of the nineteenth century and entered into a decade-long exchange of letters with George Ticknor.
Johann became king of Saxony on the death of his brother, King Friedrich Augustus II (1854). He was greatly interested in law, administration, and the arts; played an active part in the commission that drew up the constitution of 1831; and during his reign not only allowed some liberalization but also worked for good administration and economic progress in Saxony. His preferred solution of the burning question of German unity would have been a confederation of German states independent of Prussia and Austria alike. In a letter to George Ticknor (September 1848), Johann expressed the opinion that a constitution like that of the United States would have been the best for Germany. Inspired by a visit to Italy (1821-1822) he became an ardent student of Dante and made himself a name as an excellent, internationally renowned translator and commentator of the Divina Com- media (3 vols. 1839-1849, published under the pseudonym of Philalethes).Highly educated, well informed on national and international affairs, and fluent in English and French, Johann became just the right partner for all learned American visitors to Dresden. The distinguished New England scholars George Ticknor and John Lothrop Motley—both American residents at the Saxon capital for a longer period— were full of praise for this knowledgeable prince/monarch of an old German dynasty. Ticknor characterized Johann as a very agreeable man of quiet, studious habits and a good deal of learning with a special interest in American history, social institutions, and political problems. Particularly during Ticknor’s second stay in Dresden (1835—1836) Prince Johann regularly invited the American scholar to his residential quarters to converse with him on literary matters or to discuss various subjects of common interest.
This was the beginning of an acquaintance that ripened into friendship and produced frequent correspondence (in English) that lasted until Ticknor’s death in 1871. In 1852 Motley presented himself at court in Dresden and paid his respects to Prince Johann, who received him informally and with great kindness and politeness. Motley was much impressed by Johann and considered his acquaintance worth cultivating. These two outstanding American intellectuals, by their intimate knowledge of Dresden and the court of the House of Wettin, broadened the American view of Saxony in the first half of the nineteenth century.Already under Johann’s predecessors, transatlantic visitors cherished the Saxon court as a truly intellectual and moral court that was hospitable and friendly toward foreigners and appreciated the sights and cultural events in Dresden, the “Florence on the Elbe.” The first and one of the most important of all the prominent and high-ranking American citizens who traveled in Saxony was the diplomat and scholar, John Quincy Adams. He stayed with his wife and servants at the Saxon residence for nearly two and a half months in 1799, was received at court and felt almost overwhelmed by the fine collection of the royal picture gallery (containing such famous pictures as Raphael’s Madonna di San Sisto).
In 1823 the celebrated author of the Sketch Book, Washington Irving, felt himself no less deeply impressed by “this little Kingdom of Saxony” and its court, which took pride in both the encouragement of fine art and education and a kind, unrestrained, and respectful intercourse with foreign visitors. The unaccustomed attention and the warm-hearted welcome Irving received from the royal family and his Dresden admirers fascinated and, indeed, flattered him.
Such well-known nineteenth-century authors of popular travel books as Henry Edwin Dwight, Bayard Taylor, and Nathaniel Parker Willis also informed their American readers of the benevolent and art-loving Saxon royals, as well as of the manifold cultural advantages of the Dresden residence, so lavishly offered to all foreign visitors.
Johann’s sister, Princess Amalia (1794— 1870), was another member of the royal family who effectively contributed to the favorable American image of Dresden’s cultural and intellectual scene. Ticknor was a great admirer of her. Her plays (written and produced under the pseudonym of Amalia Heiter) were also known in the New World, translated and published in New York and Boston newspapers.
Eberhard Bruning
See also Adams, John Quincy; Motley, John Lothrop; Ticknor, George; Travel Literature, German-U.S.
References and Further Reading
Briefwechsel Konig Johanns von Sachsen mit George Ticknor. Ed. Johann Georg Herzog von Sachsen im Verein mit E. Daenell. Leipzig/Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1920.
Bruning, Eberhard. “Konig Johann von Sachsen und sein amerikanischer Bewunderer und Freund.” Sachsische Heimatblatter (Konig Johann von
Sachsen. Leben—Werk—Zeit) no. 1, 1992: 48—52. Kotzschke, Rudolf, and Hellmut Kretzschmar. Sachsische Geschichte. Dresden: Verlag C. Heinrich, 1935.