MOSER, JUSTUS

born Dec. 14, 1720, Osnabrck, Mnster [now in Lower Saxony, Germany] died Jan. 8, 1794, Osnabrck German political essayist and poet who was a forerunner of the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement of rebellious young German writers. Trained in jurisprudence at the universities of Jena and Gttingen, Mser was named state's attorney at Osnabrck (1747), a prince-bishopric, and from 1764 he was very influential as an adviser to the estates and government. Mser also served as chief justice of the criminal court (176268), privy councillor of justice (1768), and councillor of justice (1783). In Mser's collection of weekly papers, Patriotischen Phantasien (177476; Patriotic Ideas), he called for the national organic development of a state rather than a system of arbitrary laws imposed by a sovereign; J.W. von Goethe compared the Phantasien to analogous writings by Benjamin Franklin. Mser's Osnabrckische Geschichte (1768; History of Osnabrck) was a pioneer work, showing the influence of folk traditions on the customs and government of a community. His complete writings, including essays, poems, and a tragedy, are available in Smtliche Werke, 14 vol. (194390; Collected Works).