or. He was a backward child, and at the age of twelve
was practically adopted by his maternal grandfather, Bauer, at
Aschersleben, who sent him to the _Paedagogium_ at Halle. Hence in 1764 he
passed to the university, as a student of theology, which, however, he soon
abandoned for the study of jurisprudence. Here he fell under the influence
of C.A. Klotz (1738-1771), who directed Buerger's attention to literature,
but encouraged rather than discouraged his natural disposition to a wild
and unregulated life. In consequence of his dissipated habits, he was in
1767 recalled by his grandfather, but on promising to reform was in 1768
allowed to enter the university of Goettingen as a law student. As he
continued his wild career, however, his grandfather withdrew his support
and he was left to his own devices. Meanwhile he had made fair progress
with his legal studies, and had the good fortune to form a close friendship
with a number of young men of literary tastes. In the Goettingen
_Musenalmanach_, edited by H. Boie and F.W. Gotter, Buerger's first poems
were published, and by 1771 he had already become widely known as a poet.
In 1772, through Boie's influence, Buerger obtained the post of "_Amtmann_"
or district magistrate at Altengleichen near Goettingen. His grandfather was
now reconciled to him, paid his debts and established him in his new sphere
of activity. Meanwhile he kept in touch with his Goettingen friends, and
when the "Goettinger Bund" or "Hain" was formed, Buerger, though not himself
a member, kept in close touch with it. In 1773 the ballad _Lenore_ was
published in the _Musenalmanach_. This poem, which in dramatic force and in
its vivid realization of the weird and supernatural remains without a
rival, made his name a household word in Germany. In 1774 Buerger married
Dorette Leonhart, the [v.04 p.0813] daughter of a Hanoverian official; but
his passion for his wife's younger sister Auguste (the "Molly" of his poems
and elegies) rendered the union unhappy and unsettled his life. In 1778
Buerger became editor of the _Musenalmanach_, and in the same year published
the first collection of his poems. In 1780 he took a farm at Appenrode, but
in three years lost so much money that he had to abandon the venture.
Pecuniary troubles oppressed him, and being accused of neglecting his
official duties, and feeling his honour attacked, he gave up his official
position and removed in 1784 to Goettingen, where he established h