Bohemia by the sea
Bohemia by the sea is a recurring motif in German literature and art. It goes back to a fictional location in William Shakespeare's comedy A Winter's Tale : “Bohemia. A desert country near the sea. "
The location is an Adynaton : the historical country of Bohemia is characterized by its European inland location and separated from the Baltic Sea , the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea by hundreds of kilometers and several national borders. Historians have pointed out, however, that the sphere of influence of several kings of Bohemia in brief historical moments came closer to a few dozen kilometers of sea coasts: Under Charles IV after the acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg the Pomeranian Baltic coast and under Ottokar II Přemysl , who also over who ruled Carniola , the Trieste or Slovenian Adriatic coast. As kings of both Bohemia and Hungary, the Jagiellonians Vladislav II and Ludwig II ruled parts of the coastal region of Dalmatia until the beginning of the 16th century .
In German literature, Bohemia by the sea is often used as a projection surface for a utopian ideal. Well-known examples are the poem Böhmen lies am Meer by Ingeborg Bachmann (1964) and the essay Böhmen am Meer , which Hans Magnus Enzensberger wrote in his anthology Ach Europa! published. Franz Fühmann took various motifs from Shakespearean comedy for his early story Böhmen am Meer , in which he depicts Sudeten Germans who were expelled from Bohemia to Germany after World War II and settled on the Baltic Sea. In 1989/1990 Volker Braun created the play "Böhmen am Meer".
By Anselm Kiefer , there is a painting from 1995, which "is Bohemia by the sea" the title carries. It can be seen in the Burda Collection in Baden-Baden . A painting of the same name from 1996 is in the Metropolitan Museum .
The formulation is occasionally used as a motto for exhibitions, colloquiums and other cultural events, if these have some kind of European issue.
Works
- Ingeborg Bachmann : Bohemia lies by the sea , poem (1964), in: All poems , Piper Verlag, ISBN 978-3492239851 , p. 177
- Franz Fühmann : Bohemia by the Sea; in: ders .: Erzählungen 1955-1975, Rostock 1982, ISBN 978-3356002652 , pp. 283-318.
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger : Oh Europe! Perceptions from seven countries . Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-518-04432-X ; therein the essay (by the fictional author Timothy Taylor), pp. 449-500.
- Volker Braun : Bohemia by the Sea. Play. , Berlin 1989/90. (First performance 1992, Schiller Theater , Berlin)
literature
- Erich Fried : I border on one word and on another country . About Ingeborg Bachmann - Remembrance, a few comments on her poem Boehmen lies am Meer and an obituary, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-921592-14-3
- Hans Höller and Arturo Larcat: Ingeborg Bachmann's winter trip to Prague. The story of 'Bohemia is by the Sea' . Piper, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-492-97467-7 .
- Stefan Troebst : "Intermarium" and "Marriage with the Sea": Cognitive Maps and History Politics in East Central Europe. In: The order of space: Mental maps in the Baltic Sea region. Edited by Norbert Götz, Jörg Hackmann, Jan Hecker-Stampehl. Baden-Baden 2006 (= The Baltic Sea Region: Northern Dimensions - European Perspectives), ISBN 3-8305-1088-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ [Antigonus] "Thou art perfect then, our ship hath toucht vpon / The Desarts of Bohemia." A Winter's Tale III, 3, line 1439, First Folio Edition 1623
- ^ Ingeborg Bachmann: Bohemia is by the sea
- ↑ Link to the Burda Collection ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
