Zacharias Werner

Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (18 November 1768 – 17 January 1823) was a German poet, dramatist, and preacher.

In 1805 he obtained a government post in Berlin, but two years later he retired from the public service in order to travel.

In the course of his travels, and by correspondence, Werner became acquainted with many eminent literary figures of the time, for example Goethe at Weimar and Madame de Staël at Coppet.

He was consecrated a priest in 1814 at Aschaffenburg, and, exchanging the pen for the pulpit, became a popular preacher in Vienna, where, during a congress in 1814, his eloquent sermons were listened to by crowded congregations.

Februar, thus titled because his mother and an intimate friend died on that day, introduced the era of the so-called "tragedies of fate."