Alfred Lichtenstein

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Alfred Lichtenstein (1914)

Alfred Lichtenstein (born August 23, 1889 in Wilmersdorf ; † September 25, 1914 at Vermandovillers , Somme department , France ) was a German expressionist writer .

Life

As the eldest son of the textile manufacturer David Lichtenstein and Franziska Lichtenstein, born Merzbach, Alfred Lichtenstein grew up with four siblings in Berlin . He attended the Luisenstädtische Gymnasium , which he graduated from high school in 1909. First he studied law in Berlin, later in Erlangen . In 1910 he began to publish poetry. First they appeared in the Berlin magazine Der Sturm , from 1912 also in Aktion , in which his well-known poem "Punkt" appeared in January 1914. In 1913 he brought out a collection of poems entitled “The Twilight”, which includes his poem “The City”, and in the same year he received his doctorate in law from the University of Erlangen .

In October 1913 he joined the Bavarian 2nd Infantry Regiment in Munich as a one-year volunteer . From the beginning of the war on August 1, 1914, he took part in the First World War. He expressed his despair over the war experience and his premonition of death in poetry. In the poem Farewell it says: “Maybe I'll be dead in thirteen days.” Alfred Lichtenstein died on September 25, 1914 near Vermandovillers (Somme department) on the Western Front .

Complete works

Lichtenstein wrote strongly grotesque poetry and prose . A well-known poem by Lichtenstein is The Twilight .

In his prose pieces he makes fun of some of his friends and also of himself in the style of Alfred Jarry . To this end, he creates fantasy figures that represent friends and role models such as Georg Heym , Gottfried Benn and Jakob van Hoddis . Lichtenstein, in the form of his character Kuno Kohn , which he created and who is supposed to represent himself, said:

“The only consolation is: be sad. When sadness turns into despair, one should become grotesque. One should go on living for fun. Should try, in the knowledge that existence consists of nothing but brutal, wicked jokes, to find elevation. "

- Alfred Lichtenstein

Selected Works

  • Seals. Complete edition. Edited by Klaus Kanzog and Hartmut Vollmer. (Arche editions of Expressionism. Edited by Paul Raabe ). Contains the Collected Poems and the Collected Prose as well as unpublished poems from the estate. With bibliography and a longer essay on Lichtenstein by Hartmut Vollmer as well as illustrations. Arche, Zurich 1989 ISBN 3-7160-2089-3 .
  • I lift my eyes to the world: grotesque poems and a prose text by Alfred Lichtenstein. Audio book with Barbara Wittmann and Detlef Bierstedt with music by and with Aki Takase and Michael Griener . hoerbuchedition words & music, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9811778-2-4 .
  • The drive to the insane asylum. A selection of poems. hochroth Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812619-0-5 .
  • The dawn. Poems and interpretations. Volume 5: From Naturalism to the Middle of the Century (p. 148), Philipp Reclam jun. 1998, ISBN 978-3-15-007894-5 .

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Alfred Lichtenstein  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Alfred Lichtenstein  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lichtenstein, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German expressionist writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilmersdorf
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1914
Place of death near Vermandovillers , Somme department , France