August Hinrichs

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August Gerhard Hinrichs (born April 18, 1879 in Oldenburg ; † June 20, 1956 in Huntlosen ) was a German writer .

biography

Hinrichs was the son of the master carpenter Hermann Diedrich Hinrichs and his wife Meta nee Siemen. He attended the city boys' school and then learned the carpentry trade from his father. After passing the exam, Hinrichs went on the roll . He wandered all over Germany, Northern Italy and Austria-Hungary . After returning home, he passed the master craftsman's examination and opened his own carpentry workshop in Oldenburg in 1905.

Hinrichs was a good gymnast and a member of the Oldenburg Gymnastics Federation. In this circle he gladly contributed to the entertainment by writing short plays that were performed by the club's amateurs , such as a "festival" for the 21st District Gymnastics Festival of the 5th District of the German Gymnastics Association (1906), his first piece intended for performance. Since his plays were well received and encouraged by the teacher and writer Georg Ruseler , Hinrichs wrote larger plays, such as Kinder der Sehnsucht (1909), Frithjof (1911) and De Aukschon (1913), which were performed in the Oldenburger Hoftheater, today's State Theater and gave him great publicity.

Hinrichs' craft and writing activities were interrupted by the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 he served as a soldier on the Western Front . When he returned, he resumed his work, placing the emphasis of his work more and more on literature. The theater plays Diederk schall freen (1918) and Marie (1922) were now created . However, Hinrichs achieved greater success with his novels : Das Licht der Heimat (1920/1950 and 1954), Der Moorhof (1920), Der Wanderer ohne Weg (1921), Das Nest in der Heide (1922), Die Hartjes (1924/1956 ), Gertraudis (1927), The People by the Sea (1929).

Hinrichs sought community with other authors and joined the Low German writers' association Die Kogge, founded in 1924 . Most of his friends were Waldemar Augustiny , Karl Bunje , Georg Grabenhorst , Friedrich Griese , Moritz Jahn , Alma Rogge , Wilhelm Scharrelmann and Paul Schurek . In 1921 he was one of the founding members of the Heimatverein Ollnborger Kring , which in the same year set up an amateur stage, where Hinrichs worked as a stage worker and dramaturge and his brother Emil (1881-1944) worked as an actor. He wrote the tragic one-act play Marie (1922) for this amateur stage, which in 1923 established a permanent connection with the State Theater as the Niederdeutsche Bühne Oldenburg . After it was founded, the stage took over the world premieres of all the Low German stage plays written by Hinrichs.

In 1925 Hinrichs wrote his second festival for the Oldenburg gymnasts, Neue Jugend . Hinrichs had established himself as a local writer and was able to live from his literary work from 1929 onwards. His real breakthrough came in 1930 with his Swienskomödi (High German: Krach um Jolanthe , made into a film by Carl Fröhlich in 1934. The film has become one of the most played of the 'Third Reich'). The template for this piece was a tax strike from South Oldenburg farmers, which caused a great stir at the time. With the play, Hinrichs had established himself as the leading native writer in northwest Germany. In the period that followed, Hinrichs brought out other comedies , some of which have also remained on the repertoire of the North German theaters today: Freie Bahn dem Tähigen (1931), Nur eine Mark (1932, also made into a film), Wenn de Hahn kreiht (1933 ). Hinrichs' comedies were so popular in Oldenburg and beyond because, in the jargon of the time, they were not “trend pieces”.

To mark the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Altenesch , in which a crusader army destroyed the settlement of Stedingen , Hinrichs wrote the open-air play De Stedinge , which was performed in 1934 at the site of the battle in Altenesch. Even the first performance was used by the National Socialists ideologically and propagandistically for their purposes. From 1935 on, further performances took place on the open-air stage in Bookholzberg (now part of the community of Ganderkesee) built by the then Gauleiter Carl Röver . The performances were thus also major NSDAP events . As a result, Hinrichs was more and more appropriated by the National Socialists. At the urging of his Low German friends, in 1935 he took over the state management of the Reichsschrifttumskammer for the Gau Weser-Ems . In 1936 he joined the Eutin poet circle , one of the "most influential groups of writers in the 'Third Reich'". In 1937 he finally became a member of the NSDAP and in 1941 took part in the Weimar Poets 'Meeting , where the European Writers' Association was founded.

Hinrichs published another comedy För de Katt in 1938 and Petermann goes to Madeira (based on references to the organization " Kraft durch Freude ", filmed in 1936), Tilly before Oldenburg (1939), Der Musterbauer (1949: De latinsche Buer ), Sware Tid (1944).

Also published: On the broad road to West (1935) with which Hinrichs processed his own war experiences, Mein Ernstes Buch (1941), Mein heiteres Buch (1941) and Rund um den Lappan (1943).

Hinrichs was in the Third Reich, several awards and honors, so in 1938 the Stavenhagen Prize , 1939, the Goethe Medal for Art and Science , 1943, together with Bernhard winter the Gaukunstpreis Weser-Ems and 1944, the honorary citizenship of the city of Oldenburg. The Low German amateur stage connected to the Oldenburg State Theater was renamed August Hinrichs-Bühne (AHB) in honor of Hinrichs .

Because of the state leader office and the NSDAP membership, Hinrichs had to undergo a denazification process after the end of the Third Reich . It was found in 1949 that he had not exercised his office politically and had even helped opponents and those persecuted under Nazi rule. The assessment of Hinrich's behavior in the Third Reich was lively discussed on the occasion of the commemoration of his 100th birthday in 1979 in Oldenburg.

After 1945, Hinrichs continued to work as an author and finally published: Das Wunder der Heiligen Nacht (1949), Die Krumme Straße (1949), You Come Tonight (1952) and One Night (1955).

His peasant comedies from the 1930s have continued to be successful with numerous performances up to the present day.

In the Soviet zone of occupation , his writings were published on the broad road to West. War experiences (1935) and Petermann goes to Madeira (1936) as well as in the German Democratic Republic Three cheerful stage plays (1944) put on the list of literature to be sorted out.

On his 75th birthday in 1954, he received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class and was honored by the Oldenburg State Theater and the City of Oldenburg with a ceremony. In addition to plays, novels, novellas and short stories, he also wrote poems, but these are of little importance and largely forgotten.

In his work, Hinrichs oriented himself towards his own areas of life and experience, agriculture and handicraft form the professional and social environment in most of his stage plays and prose works. The struggle for existence combined with interpersonal relationships is the main theme of his poetry. His attachment to his homeland and his homeland as an important factor in people's thoughts, feelings and actions are also reflected in all of his work.

Hinrichs' estate is in the Oldenburg State Library , as is the "August Hinrichs Files" by Hinrichs critic Klaus Dede .

family

Hinrichs married on May 4, 1906 Helene Hanken (1882–1950), the daughter of Hermine Christine Sophie Hanken, married Bruns. The sons Gerhard (1907–1978) and Hajo (* 1911) emerged from the marriage.

Honors

  • He received the Stavenhagen Prize of the Lower Saxony Stage Association in 1938.
  • The August-Hinrichs-Bühne (AHB), as the Low German stage in Oldenburg, has had his name since 1939.
  • He received the Goethe Medal for Art and Science in 1939.
  • He received the Gau Culture Prize in 1943.
  • In 1944 Hinrichs became an honorary citizen of the city of Oldenburg. On September 30, 2015, the city council revoked his honorary citizenship because of his connection to Nazi ideology. This decision was controversial within the city council.
  • The August-Hinrichs-Strasse in Bremen , Neustadt district , Cloppenburg, Oldenburg, Stade , Varel , Wiefelstede, Wildeshausen , Wilhelmshaven were u. a. named after him.
  • In 1954 he received the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st Class
  • The August Hinrichs Foundation was established in 1982.
  • The August Hinrichs memorial has been in Kriegerstrasse (birthplace) since 1999
  • In 2006, a youth development award for the Low German language was donated by the heirs of August Hinrich. The August Hinrichs Prize is awarded by the August Hinrichs Foundation.

Works

Sculpture "Krach um Jolanthe" in Cloppenburg
  • Festival for gymnasts . Oldenburg 1906, E. Bültmann
  • To'r Slumber Tid . Songs and Döntjes . Oldenburg 1906 and 1907, E. Bültmann
  • Frithjof . A saga game in 5 acts. Oldenburg 1911
  • De Aukschon . En Kummedi in 1 uptog. Oldenburg 1913, Bültmann
  • Diederk sound freen . o. O. 1918
  • The Moorhof . Novella. Wilhelmshaven 1920 (Friesland Library, 6th volume)
  • Hikers without a path . Novel. Leipzig 1920. Quelle and Meyer
  • The light of home . Leipzig 1920 Quelle and Meyer
  • The nest in the heather . Leipzig 1922. Quelle and Meyer
  • The Hartjes . Novel. Leipzig 1924, Quelle and Meyer
  • New youth . A festival for gymnasts. Dresden 1925, Limpert
  • Marie . Plattdütsch drama in 1 uptog. Bremen and Wilhelmshaven 1922, Friesenverlag
  • Gertraudis . 3 novellas. Leipzig 1927, Quelle and Meyer
  • The people by the sea . Leipzig 1929, Quelle and Meyer
  • Swienskomödi . A bunker in three Ennens. Hamburg 1930, Quickborn Verlag
    • The butcher soup. Peasant comedy in three acts. Berlin 1931, Drei-Masken-Verlag
    • Quarrel about Jolanthe , Berlin 1933, Drei-Masken-Verlag, and Weinheim 1952, Deutscher Laienspiel-Verlag
  • Krach um Jolanthe , Hessian version 2006, Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich
  • Call to joy . A speaking and movement choir for gymnasts. Dresden 1930, Limpert
  • Free path for the able . (The upright man). Berlin 1931. Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • Jan is king . Litjet Christmas pill. Hamburg 1930, Quickborn publishing house
    • Jan is King , Weinheim an der Bergstrasse 1955, Deutscher Laienspiel-Verlag
  • Just one mark . Acting in 7 pictures. Berlin 1932. Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • When the rooster crows . Comedy in three acts. Berlin 1933, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • De Stedinge . Game of the fall of a people. Oldenburg 1934. Schulzesche publishing bookstore
  • Selected stories . Nordmark book series 20. Hamburg 1934, school edition, Otto Meißners Verlag
  • The popular book of Jolanthe . Preface by Gustav Frenssen. Contributions by Friedrich Lindemann , August Hinrichs and Fritz Hoopts. Berlin 1935, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • The tramp / The miracle of St. Night . 2 novellas. Edited by Maximin Schwuchow. Leipzig 1935, Quelle and Meyer
  • On the broad road to the west. War experiences. Leipzig 1935, Quelle and Meyer
  • Petermann goes to Madeira. A folk piece in 4 pictures. Berlin 1936, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • Tilly in front of Oldenburg . Little game in the Oldenburg Castle. Oldenburg 1939, Edo Dieckmann
  • Steding whitefish . Game of the sacrifice of a people. Berlin 1939, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • Everything for the cat (August Hinrichs)
  • För de Katt . Buernkumedi in dre enn. Hamburg 1943, Quickborn
  • The prototype maker . Comedy in three acts. Berlin 1941, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • My cheerful book . Happy stories. Leipzig 1941, E. Huyke
  • My serious book . Leipzig 1942, E. Huyke (2nd edition)
  • Around the Lappan . Oldenburg anecdotes. Oldenburg 1943, Gerhard Stalling
  • Three peasant comedies (Krach um Jolanthe, Wenn der Hahn kräht, Für die Katz), Leipzig 1943, E. Huyke
  • Three cheerful plays . (Free course for the capable, Petermann goes to Madeira, Der Musterbauer), Leipzig 1944, E. Huyke
  • Hard time . Folk piece in 3 acts. Berlin 1944, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • Alltomal Sünner . Comedy in one act. Hamburg 1951, Quickborn
    • Seventeen and two . Comedy in one act. Weinheim an der Bergstrasse 1955, Deutscher Laienspielverlag
  • The crooked road . Novel. Oldenburg 1949, E. Huyke
  • Are you coming tonight Little love stories. Oldenburg 1952, Huyke
  • The way to freedom . A monument to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. Composed by Hermann Erdlen on behalf of the Deutscher Turnerbund after a poem by August Hinrichs. Cantata for soprano and baritone solo, mixed choir, speaker and orchestra. “Jahn Cantata”. First performance at the German Gymnastics Festival 1953 on Sunday, August 2, 1953, 8 p.m., in the large city hall Uetersen 1953
  • The clever Heini . Little comedy. Weinheim an der Bergstrasse 1954, Deutscher Laienspiel-Verlag.
  • We hewt all kien pure rebels . (Alltomal Sünner, Münsterländer Low German). Translated into the Münsterland dialect by Anton Aulke . Munich 1954, Drei-Masken-Verlag
  • Folk of the sea . (People by the Sea) by Mary M. Whitmore. From the German of August Hinrichs. Ilfracombe / Devon 1954, Stockwell
  • One night . Stories. Bremen 1955, Döll
  • Posh and slight . Hamburg 1959, Quickborn publishing house. Vinyl record. Speaker: Walter Arthur Kreye. Leer 1967, shoemaker
  • Black bread . Selected stories. Hamburg 1960, Schünemann
  • Heini un de Schoolmester . Selected Stories, Volume 2. Oldenburg, Hamburg and Munich 1981, Stalling
  • Jan in the bush . Selected stories. With an introduction by Günter Kühn. Oldenburg, Hamburg, Munich 1982, Stalling

Film adaptations

Radio plays

literature

  • Gerhard Cordes:  Hinrichs, August. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-428-00190-7 , p. 186 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Klaus Dede : August Hinrichs - a "helper of the leader". The "Heimatdicher" - the symbol of the Third Reich and the Republic. Oldenburg 2001.
  • Armin Dietzel: August Hinrichs, 1879–1957 . Exhibition on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birthday in the entrance hall of the Bremer Landesbank. Isensee, Oldenburg 1979 (including the most detailed biography of the poet by Karl Veit Riedel to date).
  • Anke Finster: The Oldenburg writer August Hinrichs (1879–1956). A contribution to the biobibliographical foundations of Low German literary historiography . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1990. (= Name and Word, Vol. 12) ISBN 3-529-04614-0 .
  • Hinrichs, August Gerhard In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 311-313 ( online ).
  • August Hinrichs for his 60th birthday on April 18, 1939. Voices of the Friends, ed. by Heinz Grothe. Quelle and Meyer, Leipzig 1939.
  • Ulf-Thomas Lesle : Low German and the North German stage movement . In: Paula von Sydow (Red.): Regional Fundamentalism? History and homeland movement in the city and country of Oldenburg . Oldenburg 1999, pp. 198-217.
  • Ulf-Thomas Lesle : Identity Project Low German. The definition of language as a political issue . In: Robert Langhanke (Ed.): Language, Literature, Space . Festschrift for Willy Diercks. Bielefeld 2015. ISBN 978-3-89534-867-9 , pp. 693-741.
  • Johann Onnen, Gerhard Preuß: The estate of August Hinrichs in the Oldenburg State Library . Oldenburg 1984. (Writings of the Oldenburg State Library, Vol. 11; Catalogs of the Oldenburg State Library, Vol. 2) ISBN 3-87358-192-2 .
  • Wilhelm Purnhagen: August Hinrichs. A picture of the life and work of the local poet. , ed. from the working group Beacon. Gerd Schmietenknop, Oldenburg 1957.
  • Wilhelm Purnhagen: August Hinrichs. A picture of the life and work of the Oldenburg poet based on notes, poems, stories and excerpts from larger works . Kayer, Oldenburg, 3rd ext. 1979 edition.
  • Eberhard Rohse , Dieter Stellmacher, Dirk Hinrichs, Karl Semmelroggen (eds.): August Hinrichs and Moritz Jahn. A literary comparison 1870-1970. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2011 (= literature - language - region. Contributions to cultural geography, vol. 8) ISBN 978-3-631-60820-3 .
  • Jens Schmeyers: The Stedinger Peasant Wars . True events and historical considerations. In memory of the Battle of Altenesch on May 27, 1234 . Lemwerder 2004. (In it on August Hinrichs: Under the Hakenkreuz pp. 187-252. The work contains a detailed, probably even complete list of literary arrangements on the subject of the Stedinger uprising.)
  • Lawrence D. Stokes : The Eutin Poet Circle and National Socialism 1936–1945 . Neumünster 2001 (= sources and research on the history of Schleswig Holstein, vol. 111).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Kuropka: "Quarrel about Jolanthe" and the end of the Weimar Republic . In: Yearbook for the Oldenburger Münsterland 1994 . Vechta 1993, pp. 161-170. - He played four pieces in Lübeck. Regarding the successful play Krach um Jolanthe , it is reported that Hitler attended three of the more than 150 Berlin performances. The later Lübeck artistic director Robert Bürkner told about the use of a real pig on the Karlsruhe theater stage. See Jörg Fligge: "Beautiful Lübeck theater world." The city theater during the Nazi dictatorship. Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild, 2018. ISBN 978-3-7950-5244-7 . Pp. 277f., 568.
  2. ↑ see the programs for August Hinrichs in the Low German Bibliography and Biography (PBuB)
  3. ↑ August Hinrichs' people by the sea . Article in the Nordwest-Zeitung of September 21, 2013, supplement Nordwest-Heimat , pp. 3–4.
  4. ↑ Ulf-Thomas Lesle: Identity Project Low German. The definition of language as a political issue. In: R. Langhanke (Ed.): Language, Literature, Space. Fs. For Willy Dierks. Bielefeld 2015, p. 727.
  5. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1946-nslit-h.html
  6. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1948-nslit-h.html
  7. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1953-nslit-h.html
  8. ↑ No more Oldenburg honorary citizens NWZ online September 30, 2015
  9. ↑ Website of the City of Oldenburg , accessed on April 4, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Hinrichs, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hinrichs, August Gerhard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1956
Place of death Huntlose