The owners of the new Hamburg National Theatre hired Lessing as the theatre's critic of plays and acting, an activity later known as dramaturgy (based on his own words), making Lessing the very first …

Jan 19, 2026 · Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German dramatist, critic, and writer on philosophy and aesthetics. He helped free German drama from the influence of classical and French models and …

Lessing was a poet, philosopher and critic, and was an outstanding representative of the German Enlightenment. His theoretical and critical writings are remarkable for their often witty and ironic style …

In his dramatic poem Nathan the Wise (1779), Lessing presented his vision of a religious truth based on justice, reason, and charity. Lessing modeled the title character on his lifelong friend Moses …

In short, Lessing raised Judaism in the esteem of the European nations not only by showing its close connection with Christianity, but also by demonstrating the importance of Mosaism in the general …

Lessing's writings on art and literature do not constitute a serious analysis and critique of aesthetic experience. But his work was directed toward liberating the artist from all the limiting rules and …

The Lessing Society supports research on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), one of the key authors of the Enlightenment, and the wide range of his works, i.e., his literary texts as well as his …

Apr 13, 2008 · Lessing was among the first Germans to succeed at supporting himself almost completely through his writing. He embraced the principles of the Enlightenment wholeheartedly and …

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81) Lessing can be considered as the founder of modern German literature because his plays established a new genre, Bürgerliches Trauerspiel; bourgeois tragedy...

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing occupies a central place in eighteenth-century European belles-lettres. He was a significant religious and theological thinker whose work puzzled his contemporaries and still …