Schiller was born in
Marbach, Württemberg (located at the river
Neckar in southwest Germany, north of
Stuttgart, the region of
Swabia), as the only son, besides ten sisters, of military doctor Johann Kaspar Schiller (1733-1796), and Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweiß (1732-1802). On 22 February 1790, he married Charlotte von Lengefeld (1766-1826). Four children were born between 1793 and 1804, the sons Karl and Ernst, and the daughters Luise and Emilie. The grandchild of Emilie, Baron Alexander of Gleichen-Rußwurm, died in 1947 at Baden-Baden, Germany, as the last living descendant of Schiller.
His father was away in the
Seven Years' War when Friedrich was born. He was named after
Frederick II of Prussia (
Friedrich is
German for
Frederick), the
king of the country his father was fighting,
Prussia, but he was called
Fritz by nearly everyone. Caspar Schiller was rarely home at the time, which was hard on the mother, but he did manage to visit the family once in a while and the mother and the children also visited him where he happened to be stationed at the time occasionally. In
1763, the war ended. Schiller's father became a recruiting officer and was stationed in
Schwäbisch Gmünd. The family moved with him, of course; but since the cost of living especially the rent soon turned out to be too expensive, the family moved to nearby
Lorch, which was at the time still a fairly small village.
Although the family was happy in Lorch, the father found his work unsatisfying. He did, however, take Friedrich Schiller with him occasionally. In Lorch Schiller received his primary education, but the schoolmaster was lazy, so the quality of the lessons was fairly bad; therefore, Friedrich regularly cut class with his older sister. Because his parents wanted Schiller to become a pastor himself, they had the pastor of the village instruct the boy in
Latin and
Greek. The man was a good teacher, which led Schiller to name the cleric in
Die Räuber after Pastor Moser. Schiller was excited by the idea of becoming a clericalist and often put on black robes and pretended to preach.
In
1766, the family left Lorch for the Duke's residence town,
Ludwigsburg. Schiller's father had not been paid for three years and the family had been living on their savings, but could no longer afford to do so. So Kaspar Schiller had himself relocated to the garrison in Ludwigsburg. The move was not easy for Friedrich, since Lorch had been a warm and comforting home for the child.
He came to the attention of
Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. He entered the
Karlsschule Stuttgart (an elite, extremely strict, military academy founded by Duke Karl Eugen), in
1773, where he eventually studied medicine. During most of his short life, he suffered from illnesses that he tried to cure himself.
While at the Karlsschule, Schiller read
Rousseau and
Goethe and discussed Classical ideals with his classmates. At school, he wrote his first play,
Die Räuber (
The Robbers), which dramatizes the conflict between two aristocratic brothers: the elder, Karl Moor, leads a group of rebellious students into the Bohemian forest where they become Robin Hood-like bandits, while Franz Moor, the younger brother schemes to inherit his father's considerable estate. The play's critique of social corruption and its affirmation of proto-revolutionary republican ideals astounded the original audience, and made Schiller an overnight sensation. Later, Schiller would be made an honorary member of the French Republic because of this play.
In
1780, he obtained a post as regimental doctor in
Stuttgart, a job he disliked.
Following the remarkable performance of
Die Räuber in
Mannheim, in
1781, he was arrested and forbidden by
Karl Eugen himself from publishing any further works. He fled Stuttgart, in
1783, coming via
Leipzig and
Dresden to
Weimar, in
1787. In
1789, he was appointed professor of History and Philosophy in
Jena, where he wrote only historical works. He returned to Weimar, in 1799, where Goethe convinced him to return to playwriting. He and Goethe founded the
Weimar Theater which became the leading theater in Germany, leading to a dramatic renaissance. He remained in
Weimar, Saxe-Weimar until his death at 45 from
tuberculosis.
