Winkler collection

Winkler, who used the pseudonym Theodor Hell, was born on 9 February 1775 near Dresden, the son of a clergyman. He studied law and history at Wittenberg and then returned to Dresden, where he held various positions and maintained a lifestyle rich in activities and connections. In 1796 he was appointed to the city court, and beginning in 1801 held positions of increasing responsibility with the city archive. When Saxony came under Russian control as a result of the Napoleonic wars, Winkler became a government secretary, edited government publications, and attained the rank of Russian privy councilor. By 1814 he was also active in the Dresden theater, rising eventually to vice-director of the court theater. His service to the German stage included his many translations of plays and operas, from French, English, Italian, and Portuguese, all languages in which he was well versed. He also wrote original prose and dramatic works, most of them now forgotten, and edited and published numerous periodicals, some of them influential. Among these publications were the literary annuals Penelope (1811-48) and Dramatisches Vergissmeinnicht (1824-49); the theater monthly Tagebuch der deutschen Bühnen (1815-35); and the newspaper the Dresden Abendzeitung, of which he was the editor from 1817-43. Winkler died in Dresden on 24 September 1856.

Born in Schönburg in the former Baltic province of Courland in 1756, the Komtesse Elisabeth von Medem was married as a teenager to the Baron von der Recke but divorced him several years later. She published poetry (Geistliche Lieder, 1780, Gedichte, 1806), autobiographical works, and travel writings, but was especially well known for her role in exposing the Italian adventurer Cagliostro, about whom she published a book in 1787. After her divorce, she travelled for many years, staying with friends, visiting spas, and taking part in court life in Berlin and Warsaw. From 1804 onward, the poet Christoph August Tiedge was her companion; in later years, they settled in Dresden, where the Countess Elisa died in 1833.