Otto Flake

Otto Flake (born October 29, 1880 in Metz , † November 10, 1963 in Baden-Baden ) was a German writer .

Life

Flakes desk in the literature museum in Baden-Baden

Before 1914

Flake was born in Metz on October 29, 1880 . He attended high school in Colmar and then studied German, philosophy and art history in Strasbourg . There he belonged to the artist group The Youngest Alsace (also Der Stürmerkreis ).

His first professional positions were in Paris and Berlin , where he worked as a regular employee of the Neue Rundschau and later was one of the authors with the highest circulation in the Weimar Republic . During this time he made numerous trips, which he reported on in his collection of essays, Das Logbuch (published in 1917 by S. Fischer ). During a visit to Constantinople, he met Friedrich Schrader and Max Rudolf Kaufmann , both known at the time for their translations of modern Turkish literature and numerous articles on Ottoman culture in the features of the Frankfurter Zeitung .

First World War

During the First World War Otto Flake worked in the civil administration in Brussels . There he had contact in the house of Carl and Thea Sternheim with the writers Gottfried Benn , Friedrich Eisenlohr and Carl Einstein , the art historian Wilhelm Hausenstein , the publisher Hans von Wedderkop and the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim . At the beginning of 1918 he worked for a short time for the newly founded Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin as head of the feature pages. Deputy editor-in-chief of the DAZ was Max Rudolf Kaufmann, whom Flake knew from Constantinople, until 1920. Towards the end of the war, Flake settled in Zurich and joined the circle of Dadaists .

Weimar Republic

In 1920 he submitted a German translation of Honoré de Balzac's famous novel , Lost Illusions . In the same year, at the same time as Eduard Korrodi , he recognized Hermann Hesse's authorship of Demian . After his expulsion from South Tyrol (where he lived on the Renon ), he lived with his family in Baden-Baden since 1928 .

Tucholsky wrote about his colleague to Die Weltbühne :

"Flake, our most important essayist alongside Heinrich Mann, a German pioneer, a spiritual benefit [...]."

Stefan Zweig stated:

“Flake is completely alien, I know, completely isolated with this kind of its kind in our newer literature, but necessary, very necessary, because it proves to the Germans, for whom poetry is almost always one with twilight, that art can also be intelligence can and cleverness with strength. "

Flakes grave in the main cemetery in Baden-Baden

National Socialism

In 1933 Flake, like 87 other German writers, signed an address of allegiance to Adolf Hitler , the pledge of the most loyal allegiance that his publisher Samuel Fischer had asked him to support his publishing house (Fischer was considered a Jew according to the Nazi categories). In addition, Flake's fifth wife was a "half-Jewish" in Nazi terminology , and he believed he was protecting her too. For this signature he was sharply criticized by Thomas Mann , Bertolt Brecht and Alfred Döblin, among others .

After the Second World War

After the war ended in 1945, Flake was appointed to the Baden-Baden Cultural Council by the French occupying forces , which was responsible for holding exhibitions and lectures. As a native of Lorraine , he campaigned for the reconciliation of the Germans and the French. As an author, he was initially barely noticed after 1945 and wrote under a pseudonym. In 1954 Otto Flake received the Johann-Peter-Hebel-Prize of the state of Baden-Württemberg . In 1958 Bertelsmann reissued several titles by the impoverished and depressed author and sold around 1 million copies in 28 months, which came as a surprise.

Otto Flake died on November 10, 1963 in Baden-Baden. His estate is in the Baden-Baden City Library . Otto Flake was married five times, including twice with the mother of his daughter. The daughter Eva Maria Seveno died on February 21, 2010 at the age of 89 near Lübeck.

Friedrich Sieburg describes Flake as a moralist with the urge to form human nature, [...] as a prophet who was not believed, a teacher who was not followed. In the GDR , Flakes The End of the Revolution (1920) was placed on the list of literature to be sorted out.

Works (selection)

• The Alsatian question as a cultural problem , in: March. Half-monthly publication for German culture . 1st year 1907
• Strasbourg and Alsace. With eight full frames. 1908
• All about the Alsatian question . 1911
• The French novel and the short story. Your story from the beginning to the present. 1912
• Step by step. Novel 1912
• Friday child. Novel. 1913
• Caramba. Narrative. New Rundschau . Volume 24 of Freie Bühne (magazine) . 11th issue, November 1913.
• The Prophecy and Other Fiction. 1915
• Horn's ring. Novel. 1916
• The logbook. Berlin 1917
• Step by step. Novel. Berlin 1917

• Change. Novella. Steegemann, Hanover 1919

• • again in: New German storytellers, 1. ( Max Brod et al.) Paul Franke, Berlin undated (1930)
• The city of the brain. Novel. 1919
• Politicization more than ever , essay, in: Das Ziel. Spiritual Politics Yearbooks. Ed. Kurt Hiller . Yearbook 3, 1st half volume, 1919
• The end of the revolution 1920 online
• Ulrich von Hutten . With 8 picture additions. 1920
• Republic of Germany , in: Der Neue Merkur. Monthly magazine for spiritual life. Ed. Efraim Frisch u. a. 4th volume issue 8, November 1920
• No and yes. 1920
  • again as no and yes. Novel of 1917. Definitive version 1923
• The five notebooks. 1920; also as things of the time 1921
• The little logbook. 1921 online
• Empress Irene. In four elevators. 1921
• Pandemonium. A philosophy of the identical. 1921
• The moral idea. A critical investigation. 1921
• The new ancient worldview. 1922
• The Simona (excerpt from "Die Stadt des Hirns") 1922
• The novels about Ruland: Ruland (1922); A childhood ; The good way ; Villa USA (1926); Friend of the World (1928)
• Stories 1923
• The incompleteness of the world. A chemistry of God. 1923
• The Germans. 1923
• The second youth. Story 1924
• The good way. Novel 1924
• To the good European. Twelve Chronicles of Werrenwag. 1924
• Summer novel 1927
• The knower. Philosophy of Liberation. 1927
• Our time. 1927
• The erotic freedom. 1928
• It's time ... 1929
• Great ladies of the baroque. Historical portraits. 1929
• Marquis de Sade . With an appendix on Retif de la Bretonne . 1930
• Exit and stop. Stories and travel sketches. 1930
• Christa. A children's novel. 1931
• The story of Marietta. 1931
• Balance sheet. Attempt to reorganize the mind. 1931
• Maria in the roof garden, and other fairy tales. 1931
• Montijo or The Search for the Nation. Novel 1931
• The French revolution. 1932
• Hortense or the return to Baden-Baden. 1933
• The Strassburger Zuckerbeck and other fairy tales. 1933
• The daughters of Nora. 1934
• The Young Monthiver. 1934
• Anselm and Verena. 1935
• Scherzo. 1936
• Starry nights on the Bosphorus . 1936
• Nice Bärbel von Ottenheim . 1937
• Türkenlouis. Painting of a time. 1937
• The four days. 1937
• Persons and personalities. Novel. 1938
• Strasbourg. History of a German city. 1940
• The merchant. 1940 novel
• The quintet. 1943
• The Germans. 1946
• Nietzsche. Review of a philosophy. 1946
• Attempt via Stendhal . Munich 1946
• Try on Oscar Wilde . Munich 1946
• Prince Pückler-Muskau . In: Carousel. Literary monthly. 1st year 1946, issue 5
• Fortunat. (In two volumes: "Mountains and valleys stand still", "People meet") 1946
• A man of the world (In two volumes: "Fluctuat nec mergitur", "Coat of arms of Paris") 1947
• Amadeus. 8 stories. (= The stories in two volumes, 1) 1947
• The sons. 7 stories. (= The stories in two volumes, 2) 1947
• The traveling companion. Stories 1947
• Old Man. 1947
• The man in the moon and other fairy tales , 2nd edition 1947
• From pessimism. 1947 (under the pseud. Leo F. Kotta)
• Jakob Burckhardt . 1947
• Treatise on Eros . Essay 1947 (under the pseud. Leo F. Kotta)
• Assignments. Essays and essays. 1948
• Kinderland. Seven fairy tales. 1948
• Kamilla. 1948
• When the cities were still standing. Little prose. 1949
• Otto Flake on his seventieth birthday. 1950
• Treatise on the intensive. 1950 (under the pseudonym Leo F. Kotta)
• The hourglass. Novel. 1950
• Kaspar Hauser . Prehistory, history, post-history. The factual report. 1950
• The books of Lake Constance. 1950
• The Monthiver Girls. 1950
• Ortenau Castle. 1955
• The pianist. Narrative. 1960
• Finnish nights. The stories. 1960, preface by Friedrich Sieburg
• It is evening. Report from a long life. Autobiography 1960
• About women. Aphorisms. 1961
• The temptation of the judge. Short story
• Liberty tree and guillotine. Essays from six decades. Eds. Rolf Hochhuth , Peter Härtling , approx. 1969 blurb

Translations, introductions

• Alexandre Dumas : The Lady of the Camellias. Novel. German translation by Otto Flake, 1907
• Alain-René Lesage : The Limping Devil . Novel. Trans. V. G. Fink. Illustrated by Fritz Fischer. New ed. u. a. by Otto Flake. 1910
• Benjamin Constant : Adolf. From the papers of a stranger. Translated and introduced by Otto Flake. 1910
• Michel de Montaigne , Collected Writings. Historical-critical edition with introductions and notes based on the translation by Johann Joachim Bode, edited by Otto Flake and Wilhelm Weigand. 8 volumes. 1911
• Mirabeau : Mirabeau's letters to Sophie from the dungeon at Vincennes. German. With an introduction by Otto Flake
• Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux : stories. German by Otto Flake. Two volumes 1913
• Jean de La Bruyère : Characters. New German edition. Edited by Otto Flake.
• Honoré de Balzac : Cousin Pons. Translated by Otto Flake. circa 1920
• Honoré de Balzac: Lost Illusions. Translated by Otto Flake, ca.1920
• Denis Diderot : The novels and stories. 3 volumes, 1920. Transferred by Hans Jacob and Else Hollander. With an introduction by Otto Flake
• André Suarès : Portraits. Transmission and afterword by Otto Flake. 1922 ( online at archive.org )
• Honoré de Balzac: Parisian novellas. Translated by Otto Flake. 1923
• Anker Kirkeby: Russian Diary. Introduction by Otto Flake. 1924
• Arthur de Gobineau : The Renaissance. Historical scenes. German by Otto Flake.
• Heinrich Heine : poems, prose, letters. A breviary, selected and introduced by Otto Flake. 1947

Secondary literature

• Peter de Mendelssohn : On Otto Flake's 100th birthday. (Afterword in Es wird Abend. ) Fischer TB, 1980, pp. 609-614
• Ferruccio Delle Cave (ed.): The incompleteness of the world. A symposium . (via Flake) Edition Rætia, Bozen 1992
• Friedrich Sieburg: Otto Flake and the Germans. Epilogue in: Otto Flake: Ortenau Castle. Summer novel. Old Man. Three novels. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1974 ISBN 9783100211033 pp. 777-781
• Michael Farin , Raoul Schrott (eds.): Otto Flake and Dada: 1918–1921 (= forgotten authors of modernity; vol. 56). University of Siegen, 1993

Web links

Wikiquote: Otto Flake  - Quotes

Commons : Otto Flake  - Collection of Images

• Literature by and about Otto Flake in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Otto Flake at Open Library
• Newspaper article about Otto Flake in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
• Ignaz Wrobel (pseudonym of Kurt Tucholsky): Otto Flake in: Die Weltbühne, October 27, 1921, No. 43, p. 422
• Leveraging Prize Winner 1954 Otto Flake
• Biography at LeoBW

Individual evidence

1. ↑ He describes the forays with the two of them in the chapter "From Constantinople": About Schrader: "He had been in the country since his youth and knew it better, much better than any Turk - as well as a German with philological inclinations and German devotion a country can know about foreign conditions. He was a complete scholar, mastering all the languages ​​and all literatures of this empire, a connoisseur of the history and culture of centuries past. Instead of being a journalist in Constantinople, he would have to be a professor at a university. ”- Otto Flake, 1914, From Konstantinopel: Neue Rundschau, 15th vol., Vol. 2, pp. 1666–1687 (quotation on pp. 1678f.). Max Rudolf Kaufmann mentions Flake in connection with his stay in Istanbul as a "young Swiss journalist" in his autobiography "Es wird Abend".
2. ↑ Otto Flake: It is evening. An autobiography . Pp. 230-231. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1980
3. ↑ cf. the translation by Hedwig Lachmann 1909: http://stabikat.de/DB=1/SET=1/TTL=31/SHW?FRST=33
4. ↑ limited preview in the Google book search
5. ↑ Tucholsky reviews 1921/22 on: The end of the revolution and the small logbook
6. ↑ Otto Flake's daughter died yesterday. In: Goodnews4Baden-Baden from February 22, 2010, accessed on October 2, 2016.
7. ^ Friedrich Sieburg: Not a word is lost. Disputations with advanced readers , Stuttgart 1966, p.
8. ↑ online
9. ↑ Contents: Caramba; The Prophecy; Between battles; Mercy, apprenticeship, brother, moments
10. ↑ an early experimental novel; is considered by some to be an important expressionist novel in German literature. Excerpt see 1922
11. ↑ A novel about the Zurich Dada scene
12. ↑ here Flake describes his relationship to Expressionism and Dadaism
13. ↑ contains: Between the Battles, The Cheetah, The Boy, Brother, The Empress, Byk
14. ↑ Excerpt from it as The Divorce 1929. Again in the anthology, together with "Schloss Ortenau" and "Old Man" by S. Fischer, 1974 ISBN 9783100211033 . Short afterword by Friedrich Sieburg
15. ↑ This book was the reason why his books were no longer allowed to be included in libraries across the empire. It wasn't forbidden, but Flake was now largely hushed up
16. ↑ According to the title, a support for the German conquest of Alsace. Titles do not necessarily come from the author of a book
17. ↑ also in the anthology of 3 novels, see summer novel
18. ↑ on Jacob Burckhardt, Pückler-Muskau, Henri Beyle , Iwan Turgenjew , Heinrich Heine , Friedrich Nietzsche ; respective individual issues see previous years
19. ↑ Article on Flake by Willi Drost ; two contributions from Flake. bibliography
20. ↑ Later edition in Bertelsmann Lesering o. J. with additional. Epilogue pp. 475–478 on the occasion of the novel
21. ↑ frequent editions, some with afterword by the author, Meine Baden Romane , this in three versions (1936, 1947, 1959); for example in: Bertelsmann Lesering 1959 and o. J. (1975)
22. ↑ see the note on "Sommerroman", anthology