View source for Levin Schücking

{{Short description|German novelist (1814–1883)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2022}}
[[Image:Levin Schuecking.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Levin Schücking, 1848]]
'''Levin Schücking''' (full name: ''Christoph Bernhard Levin Matthias Schücking''; September 6, 1814 in [[Sögel]] – August 31, 1883 in [[Bad Pyrmont|Pyrmont]]) was a  German novelist. He was born near [[Meppen]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], and died in [[Bad Pyrmont]], [[German Empire]]. He was the uncle of [[Levin Ludwig Schücking]].

==Biography==
Born into the [[Westphalia]]n [[German nobility|nobility]] on the estate of [[Clemenswerth Palace|Clemenswerth]], near [[Meppen, Germany|Meppen]], his mother, [[Katharina Sibylla Schücking|Sibilla Katharina ''née'' Busch]] (1791–1831) was a poet who occasionally published, while his father was [[Paulus Modestus Schücking]]. Levin's mother became friend of the poet [[Annette von Droste-Hülshoff]], who wrote her son a letter of introduction when he left home for the [[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] in Münster. Shortly after he left home, his mother died, and Baroness von Droste-Hülshoff did her best to fill this void in his life.

After studying law at [[university of Munich|Munich]], [[university of Heidelberg|Heidelberg]] and [[university of Göttingen|Göttingen]], Schücking wished to enter the government judicial service, but, confronted by serious difficulties, abandoned the legal career, and settling at [[Münster]] in 1837, devoted himself to literary work. In 1841 he removed to [[Schloss Meersburg]] on the [[Lake of Constance]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1843, Schücking married Baroness [[Luise von Gall]].{{sfn|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905}}
Up to this time, Droste-Hülshoff had been a major inspiration in his life, but she and his wife did not get along. 
Droste-Hülshoff felt he neglected her and that his head was too turned by the revolutionary "[[Young Germany]]".  
And then Schücking published a novel on the Westphalian nobility, which did not depict them favorably, and Droste-Hülshoff's friends, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, traced many of the depictions back to Droste-Hülshoff.  
This annoyance led to her avoiding Schücking for the rest of her life.

Also in 1843, he joined the editorial staff of the ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' in [[Augsburg]], and in 1845, he joined that of the ''Kölnische Zeitung'' in [[Cologne]] as a literary editor and occasional foreign correspondent. In 1852 he left his career in journalism for his estate in [[Sassenberg]] near [[Münster]] to have more time for writing.  He died at Pyrmont on 31 August 1883.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Works==
His first efforts were descriptive:
*''Das Malerische und romantische Westfalen'' (1842)
*''Der Dom zu Köln und seine Vollendung'' (1842)

Among his numerous romances, which are distinguished by good taste and patriotic feeling, largely reflecting the sound, sturdy character of the Westphalians, the most noteworthy include:
*''Ein Schloss am Meer'' (1843)
*''Ein Sohn des Vosges'' (1849)
*''Ein Staatsgeheimnis'' (1854)
*''Verschlungene Wege'' (1867)
*''Die Herberge der Gerechtigkeit'' (1879)
Schucking wrote a number of short stories:
*''Aus den Tagen der grossen Kaiserin'' (1858)
*''Neue Novellen'' (1877){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In ''[[Annette von Droste-Hülshoff]]'' (1862) he gives a sketch of this poet and acknowledges his indebtedness to her beneficial influence upon his mind. There appeared posthumously, ''Lebenserinnerungen'' (1886) and ''Briefe von Annette von Droste-Hülshoff und Levin Schücking'' (1893).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His wife, Luise (1815–1855), daughter of the General Freiherr von Gall, in the Hessian service, published some novels and romances of considerable merit. Among the latter may be mentioned ''Gegen den Strom'' (1851) and ''Der neue Kreuzritter'' (1853).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}  She also wrote a successful comedy, ''Ein schlechtes Gewissen'' (1842).

Schücking's ''Gesammelte Erzählungen und Novellen'' appeared in 6 vols (1859–1866); ''Ausgewählte Romane'' (12 vols, 1864; 2nd series, also 12 vols, 1874–1876).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Several of Schücking's works appeared in the popular German weekly ''[[Die Gartenlaube]]'' (such as ''"Pulver und Gold"'' in January 1871).

==Sources==
* {{Cite ADB|32|643|647|Schücking, Christoph Bernhard Levin|Hermann Hüffer|ADB:Schücking, Levin}}
* [[Carl Schurz]], ''Reminiscences'' (3 vols.), New York:  McClure Publ. Co., 1907, Vol. 1, Ch. 3, p.&nbsp;65.  Schurz recalls how, as an aspiring writer attending a gymnasium in Cologne, he sent a manuscript to Schücking requesting an appointment to get his opinion on the work.  Schücking granted the appointment, but told the disappointed boy he should regard the work as a "study."  Schurz later appreciated the wisdom of this advice.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
'''Attribution:'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Schücking, Levin|volume=24|page=382}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Schücking, Levin|year=1905}}

==External links==
* {{DNB portal|118762109|TYP=}}
* [http://www.schuecking-museum.de Schücking Museum] {{in lang|de}}
* {{BBKL|s/s1/schuecking_c_b_l_m|band=20|autor= Heinz Thien |artikel= Schücking, Christoph Bernhard Levin Matthias |spalten=1313-1319}}
* ''"Pulver und Gold"'', ''[[Die Gartenlaube]]'', January 1871, Commons page-image: [[:File:Die Gartenlaube (1871) 001.jpg|Comm-Pulver]], Wikisource: [http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Seite:Die_Gartenlaube_(1871)_001.jpg WikiS-Pulver].
*[http://www.schuecking-museum.de/ausstellungen.htm "Levin Schücking (Christoph Bernhard Levin Matthias)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719083336/http://www.schuecking-museum.de/ausstellungen.htm |date=2011-07-19 }} (schuecking-museum.de)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schucking, Levin}}
[[Category:1814 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Meppen]]
[[Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Journalists from the Kingdom of Prussia]]
[[Category:Novelists from the Kingdom of Prussia]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Göttingen alumni]]
[[Category:German male journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century German journalists]]
[[Category:German male novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century German novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger people]]