Reichardt, Johann Friedrich 11/25/1752 - 06/27/1814

Johann Friedrich Reichhardt (1752-1814) was born in Königsberg (now Poland). He received his first musical instruction from his father, one of the last great lutenists. He broke off his studies to tour as a violin virtuoso and then joined the court of Frederick the Second of Prussia. There he composed songs and chamber music and edited musicological and critical writings. He continued to travel extensively and wrote extremely interesting diaries which were partially published in magazines.



His sympathies with the French Revolution cost him his reputation at the Prussian court and he bought an estate near Giebichenstein where he established a "Romantic Lodge", where he intended to live for himself and his friends, who included the Brothers Grimm and Achim von Arnim.



He was repelled by the atrocities of the French Revolution, which had so little to do with the original ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. The French plundered his estate after the occupation of Prussia and burnt it down to the foundations. He had to flee with his family to Danzig (modern-day Gdansk). There he took part as a Prussian patriot in the defense of his home province, but never recovered financially or emotionally from the chaos of war and the ensuing isolation.