November 28

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

November 28, 1794

Death of Friedrich von Steuben in Remsen, New York (born in Magdeburg, Germany). Steuben was a Prussian officer who was induced by Benjamin Franklin to come to America on the side of the rebelling colonies. Arriving in 1777 he was placed in charge of the troops at Valley Forge. He retrained the forces and wrote a manual, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States. The city of Steubnville, Ohio is named for him.

November 28, 1820

Birth of Friedrich Engels in Barmen, Germany. Engels was the son of a wealthy industrialist who owned a textile factory in Barmen and was a partner in the firm of Ermen and Engels in Manchester. Friedrich Engels worked in his father's business as a young man but developed radical ideas early on. He was strongly influenced by the "Young Hegelians". He began writing radical essays early on under the name of Friedrich Oswald. He had met Karl Marx in Cologne and their friendship continued through Marx's years in Paris and London. He worked closely with Marx on Das Manifest der kommunistischen Partei (1848), and on the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Engels completed Das Kapital after Marx's death from the incomplete manuscript and notes. When Marx went to London, Engels took a position with Ermen and Engels in Manchester the income from which he contributed to Marx's support. By the time of Marx's death he was giving him 350 pounds a year and incidentals. In addition to the materials he wrote with Marx, Engels wrote a great deal under his own name and that of Friedrich Oswald.

November 28, 1881

Birth of Stefan Zweig in Vienna, Austria. Stefan Zweig was a writer who worked in a variety of genres. Noted works by Zweig are, Drei Meister (1920), Der Kampf mit dem Dämon (1925), Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928) and Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925). At the rise of the Nazis he went into exile in 1934. He went first to England and then to Brazil. He committed suicide in Brazil in 1942.

November 28, 1887

Birth of Ernst Röhm in Munich, Germany. Röhm was a member of the National Socialist Party (Nazi) before Hitler. He organized the SA (Sturmabteilung, storm troops; also called the Brownshirts). By 1934 Hitler began to see Röhm as a rival and began to be concerned about the power of the SA. He had Röhm shot.

 

November 28, 1898

Death of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Meyer wrote poetry and novels. Among his works are Das Amulett, Der Heilige, Das Leiden eines Knaben, and Die Hochzeit des Mönchs.

 

November 28, 1912

Death of Otto Brahm in Berlin, Germany. Brahm, a literary critic, cofounded the theater company "Freie Bühne" in Hamburg in 1889 and in 1890 a periodical also called Freie Bühne. The theater company and the periodical were his vehicles to introduce the Naturalist movement into German theater. Freie Bühne changed its name later to Neue Deutsche Rundschau.

November 28, 1914

Death of Johann Wilhelm Hittorf in Münster, Germany. Hittorf was the first to calculate the electricity-bearing capacity of charged atoms and molecules. He was a professor of physics and chemistry at the University of Münster.

November 28, 1989

Chancellor Helmut Kohl presents a 10 point plan for German reunification to the Bundestag.

November 28, 2004

Gesine Schwan, the president of the Viadrina-University (Frankfurt an der Oder) is presented with the Dönhoff Prize for international understanding for her contributions to Polish/German relations.