Editing Julius Mosen (section)

==Life==
Julius Mosen ('''Julius Moses''') was born at [[Mühlental|Marieney]] in the Saxon [[Vogtland]], the son of Johannes Gottlob Moses, the [[Cantor (church)|cantor]] and schoolmaster of Marieney. He studied at the ''[[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]]'' in [[Plauen]] from 1817 to 1822, and afterwards studied law at the [[University of Jena]]. During a two-year-long visit to [[Italy]], he received the inspiration that resulted several years later in his major works (''Ritter Wahn'', ''Cola Rienzi'', ''Der Kongreß von Verona'').
[[File:MWP Letzten Zehn.JPG|thumb|upright|A steel engraving inspired by Mosen's "Die letzte zehn" poem]]
On his return, he finished his law studies at [[Leipzig]], where he then worked as a lawyer. From 1835 to 1844 he was an independent advocate in [[Dresden]]. He had meanwhile shown great literary promise in his ''Lied vom Ritter Wahn'' (1831). This was followed by the more philosophical ''Ahasvar'' (1838), and by a volume of poems, ''Gedichte'' (1836, 2nd ed., 1843), among which ''Andreas Hofer'' and ''Die letzten Zehn vom vierten Regiment'' became popular. As an active [[freemason]] in Dresden he encountered several important literary figures, including [[Ludwig Tieck]], [[Ludwig Uhland]], [[Georg Herwegh]], [[Richard Wagner]] and [[Gottfried Semper]], and was soon himself reckoned to be among the best-known German poets.

He also wrote the historical plays ''Heinrich der Fünfte'' (Leipzig, 1836), ''[[Cola di Rienzi|Cola Rienzi]], Die Bräute von Florenz, Wendelin und Helene'' and ''Kaiser Otto III'' (the four last being published in his ''Theater'' 1842). His tragedies were very well received and were performed at the Dresden court theatre (''Dresdner Hofbühne''). For his services to German theatre the faculty of Philosophy at the University of Jena awarded him an honorary doctorate.

In addition he tried his hand at fiction, in his only novel, the politico-historical ''Der Kongress von Verona'' (1842), and in a collection of short stories published in 1846, ''Bilder im Moose''.

In 1844 the Grand Duke [[:de:Paul Friedrich August (Oldenburg)|Paul Friedrich August von Oldenburg]] offered him the appointment of dramaturgist at the Court Theatre in [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]], which he accepted, in the hope of putting into practice his vision of German national theatre. In the same year he had his family name changed from "Moses" to "Mosen" by Dresden ministerial decree. In 1846 he was stricken with paralysis as the result of a rheumatic illness, and after remaining bed-ridden for the rest of his life, died at Oldenburg on 10 October 1867. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Gertrude's Chapel (''Gertrudenfriedhof'') in Oldenburg.

Of his later works may be mentioned ''Die Dresdner Gemäldegallerie'' (1844), and the tragedies ''Herzog Bernhard'' (1855) and ''Der Sohn des Fürsten'' (1858). A collection of his works, ''Sämtliche Werke'', appeared in 8 volumes in 1863 (a new edition was produced by his son, with a biography, in 6 volumes in 1880).