Agnes Bernauer (Hebbel)
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| Title: | Agnes Bernauer |
| Genus: | German tragedy in five acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Friedrich Hebbel |
| Publishing year: | 1851 |
| Premiere: | May 25, 1852 |
| Place of premiere: | Munich |
| Place and time of the action: | Bavaria between 1420 and 1430 |
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Agnes Bernauer is a drama of realism by Friedrich Hebbel . The work was completed in December 1851 after only three months of work and premiered on March 25, 1852 in Munich. In 1855 it appeared in print after a resounding success.
content
During a tournament, the son of Duke Ernst von Bayern-Munich Albrecht falls in love with the middle-class Agnes Bernauer, daughter of the simple baker Caspar Bernauer from Augsburg. When Albrecht met Agnes at a ball, he asked for her hand. In order to protect her from the consequences of this wedding, Caspar tries to arrange a marriage with his journeyman Theobald, which Agnes refuses. At the same time Albrechts Ritter Nothracht and Frauenhoven try to dissuade Albrecht from his idea. Nevertheless, Albrecht finally succeeds in convincing Agnes and Caspar as well of the secret wedding.
Ernst laments the division of Bavaria and has arranged a marriage between Anna of Braunschweig and Albrecht, which would restore peace between these duchies. He is convinced that Albrecht would accept this wedding and sends his Chancellor Preising to inform him about it. Albrecht refuses this marriage against all of Preising's objections, but promises to appear at a tournament. At this tournament, at which Ernst actually wanted to announce the wedding, Albrecht confirmed the rumors about his marriage to Agnes, whereupon he was disinherited by his father in favor of his cousin Adolph.
However, after three years Adolph dies. Despite doubts, Ernst then signs a death sentence against Agnes, which was made shortly after the tournament. Otherwise he would have to fear for the succession because Albrecht - now his only heir - could not ascend the throne with a middle-class woman. In addition, without heir to the throne, a war over Munich-Bavaria would break out, which Ernst is trying to prevent. However, since Albrecht would never allow the execution of the death sentence, Ernst lures him away from her with an invitation to a tournament. Meanwhile soldiers storm his castle and take Agnes prisoner. Chancellor Preising then makes one last attempt to save Agnes from death by demanding that she part with Albrecht. This refuses, however, and is then drowned in the Danube.
When Albrecht learns of Agne's death, he sets fire to several villages and also wants to devastate Munich. Only when a messenger from the emperor and an envoy from the church order him to submit to Ernst does he calm down and finally get on with his father, who then appoints him duke and goes to the monastery himself.
shape
The structure of the “German tragedy in five acts” is based on the classic model , as it is divided into five acts . Otherwise, the most important features of the Aristotelian drama are not observed: the action takes place in several places , the class clause is circumvented, since lower social classes - embodied in particular by Agnes - play an important role and the three-year leap in time creates unity missed the time. There is a retarding moment in the fifth act, when Agnes misses the last chance to be saved.
The work can thus be assigned to the literary form "Realistic Drama" in terms of form, content and time. The conflict between the individual and society is presented and reference is made to a historical background, which is however reproduced artistically.
background
The drama is based on the historical figure Agnes Bernauer (* around 1410, † October 12, 1435). That Albrecht III. von Bayern had a relationship with Agnes Bernauer is considered proven, but there is no concrete evidence of a marriage. Around 1430 Agnes Bernauer was a fixture at the Munich court and probably lived with Albrecht at Blutenburg Castle from 1433 . As described in the work, she was drowned on October 12, 1435 near Straubing in the Danube, because Duke Ernst saw his succession endangered by her. The story of Agnes Bernauer has been processed in numerous literary works: Among the best known is Hebbel's work " Die Bernauerin " by Carl Orff .
Hebbel took the characters in his drama from historical sources on the Bernauer story and general historical works, but drew his main characters with a stronger profile of the characters. For dramaturgical reasons, he did not exactly follow the historical facts; for example, he combined the death of Adolph with the fate of the woman from Bernau. In addition, it is unlikely that the daughter of a common bathing attendant will attend a ball that a duke's son is expected to attend.
criticism
Hebbel's Agnes Bernauer was controversial right from the start: After the Munich premiere, Georg Herwegh accused the author of having "taught the naked clarity of injustice [...] as right" and advised him to give up writing. However, performances in Weimar and Stuttgart were very well received by the public, Agnes Bernauer was read in schools and was still often played in the 20th century. Such lasting success was not granted to any of Hebbel's immediate successors. The dramas by Melchior Meyr , Leo Goldammer , Hermann Eduard Jahn , Emanuel Hiel and Arnold Ott were performed several times, but soon disappeared from the stage. Also of the many lyrical and epic arrangements from the second half of the 19th century, only a few were able to win over a second generation of readers. Neither the extensive historical-romantic time and morals painting by the accountant Friedrich Wilhelm Bruckbräu, nor the Lied der Liebe by Emil Seippel or Adolf Stern's novella Das Fräulein von Augsburg became classics like the dramas Toerrings and Hebbels.
Literature and Sources
- ^ Friedrich Hebbel: Agnes Bernauer. A German tragedy in five acts . Tendler, Vienna 1855 (first performance Munich 1852; online ). In addition Werner Schäfer, Agnes Bernauer. History - Poetry - Picture , pp. 130–140; Materials and interpretative approaches, among others, from Hermann Glaser (Ed.): Agnes Bernauer. Poetry and Reality . Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1964.
- ^ Friedrich Hebbel: Agnes Bernauer . Comments by Karl Pörnbacher. Reclam, Stuttgart 2009, 95 pp., UB 4268
- ↑ Werner Schäfer: Agnes Bernauer. History - poetry - picture . Attenkofer, Straubing 1995
- ^ Marita A. Panzer: Murder of Agnes Bernauer , in: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
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↑ Literary adaptations from Hebbel to Stern:
- Herwegh's Hebbel criticism quoted from Werner Schäfer and Agnes Bernauer. History - Poetry - Picture , p. 134.
- Melchior Meyr: Agnes Bernauerin. Tragedy . Gubitz, Berlin 1852 (revised as Duke Albrecht in 1862. Dramatic poetry ).
- Leo Goldammer: Agnes Bernauer. Tragedy in five acts . Schiementz, Berlin 1862.
- Hermann Eduard Jahn: Agnes Bernauer. Tragedy in five acts . Meyer, Rostock 1881.
- Emanuel Hiel: Agnès Bernauer de engel van Augsburg. Lyric monodrama . Siffer, Gent 1889.
- Arnold Ott: Agnes Bernauer. Historical folk drama in five acts . Bonz, Stuttgart 1889.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bruckbräu: Agnes Bernauer, the angel of Augsburg. Historical-romantic painting of the times and customs from the fifteenth century . Fleischmann, Munich 1854.
- Emil Seippel: Angel Agnes. A song of love. Poems . Langewiesche, Barmen 1851.
- Adolf Stern: The Miss of Augsburg. A story from the 17th century. Novella . Weber, Leipzig 1868.