Bonifazius Kiesewetter

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Bonifazius Kiesewetter (also Bonifacius ) is a fictional character in shoddy nonsense poems that were written during the German Empire . She is the alter ego of her creator Waldemar Dyhrenfurth . The "figure" is probably still used today as a template for similar verses.

Comparable are the medical corporal Neumann and the landlady .

shape

The poetic form of the Bonifazius-Kiesewetter verses is stable and strictly adhered to: First the report in three times two trochaic eighth lines in pair rhyme (mostly catalectical = masculine ending), then the headline " Moral :" and finally a trochaic four- point rhyme (also mostly with a catalectic = masculine ending).

An introductory text circulates in slightly different versions of the verses by Bonifazius Kiesewetter, which, in a kind of framework plot, depicts a grandmother telling her little grandchildren on cold winter evenings who is "the biggest pig in the country":

When the wild north wind sweeps rough on long winter days,
and the winter storm and rain beat icy on the windows,
When the children sit in front of cozy chimneys listening
then the aunt tells them who Bonifazius was once,
how he spent his days and nights with the countess,
like him - unfortunately! - more often the power of evil was inferior.
But morality draws wise sense from every way,
remember it, dear little children, then you will profit from it!
Every child knows who is the strongest man in the world.
Likewise, without a doubt, Rothschild has the most money.
And it's also without a doubt who is the biggest pig in the country:
Bonifazius Kiesewetter is called the beet pig.

The following example from the faecal area is often at the fore in collections:

Bonifazius Kiesewetter has always been a pig.
And so he secretly shit in the wallet of the baroness.
Meanwhile, she directs her step to a bookstore,
Because she was highly educated, bought something very aesthetic.
When the lady wanted to pay, and she always paid in cash,
she grabbed the bare shit, which she was extremely embarrassed.
Morality and Christian use:
The trader is reluctant to take
shit instead of cash.

The following example shows the usual form. The content is atypical, because it is not directed against “fine people” as usual, but against the (misunderstood) denazification practice in the post-war period .

Bonifazius Kiesewetter was recently interned,
because he collects money for the NSV under Adolf Hitler .
In the big questionnaire that the CIA invented,
instead of the correct answer he wrote “shit” three times in the margin.
This outraged the interrogator. Captain Coogan blushed
and he shot Boniface mouse dead on the spot.
Moral:
Little sensitivity proves
who shits on questionnaires.

content

Similar to a joke or nonsense story, the Bonifazius-Kiesewetter verses serve the need for an occasional escape from the " comment " or other applicable rules of propriety . The regularly appended “morality” mocks similar sayings that doctrinally proclaim supposedly proven rules of life.

A report in neat language about the most distinguished people possible initially seems to provide a background of common correctness. But this quickly turns into a crude caricature, which depicts obscene words and behaviors in the same tone .

At the end, under the heading “Morals” or “Morals and Christian Usage”, there is a two-line line from which the listener expects a moral correction of what has just been heard. But the expectation is badly disappointed: Usually a cynical comment on the depicted situation or even another obscene aspect of the story follows.

Boniface violates the basic manners of his time and social class. He lives out his sexuality through sexual intercourse with humans, animals and objects as well as through masturbation and this completely outrageously in public. He handles faeces carelessly and gleefully to the detriment of himself or other people. He has no concerns and does not take into account any disadvantages of his own social or physical nature. His behavior seems like the defiant reaction of a narrowed mind to the strict moral and etiquette regulations of the Wilhelmine culture.

In the Wilhelmine era, the verses were very popular, especially in academic circles. They drew their charisma from the contrast between the social reputation of the people involved and the outrageous obscenity of their alleged behavior: dealing with faeces and sexuality beyond all convention. Bonifazius appears as a representative of the establishment in the German Empire in various roles: as a corps student , lawyer , civil servant and officer . He frequented aristocratic circles . A Baroness or Countess Ziegler is often mentioned as a sexual partner.

history

Dyhrenfurth around 1870

The Prussian public prosecutor Waldemar Dyhrenfurth is considered the inventor and main author of the known form . At the beginning of his law studies in 1868 he joined the Corps Borussia Breslau , a striking student association that belonged to the green circle within the umbrella organization Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) , which was regarded as extremely elegant . These corps were often recruited from the landed gentry and liked to act rustic. Dyhrenfurth joined two other ("blue") corps. Some of the Kiesewetter stanzas refer specifically and knowledgeably to corps studenthood.

Waldemar Dyhrenfurth is said to have been a member of the literary society "Der Osten", the Third Silesian Poet School , a Wroclaw association of (hobby) authors who referred to the great times of Silesian poetry ( see also: Silesian Poet School , Second Silesian School ) . The company was founded in 1859 and had to give up its activities in 1934 under the pressure of national socialist rule.

The texts that were later added to the original verses like folk song stanzas can best be assigned to student songs and nonsense poetry . Nowadays you will find quite a few reciters, including a non-public audience, among soldiers (presumably of all ranks), craftsmen, carters and other groups of men.

At first the verses were only passed on orally, but books have also been published since the end of World War II. In 1968, an erotic film with the title character was produced in a German-Italian cooperation, which dealt with the brothel visits of a Bonn medical student.

Winged words

Individual "moral" rhymes are occasionally quoted as a winged word without reference to Bonifazius:

Sch. on the cemetery wall is a sign of real sadness .
Sch. Fortunately, it rarely occurs in the trumpet reed .
…… .and it happens anyway, is Sch. in the trumpet reed
The trader is reluctant to take Sch instead of hard cash. on .
Sch. on the sofa cushion will have to be removed .
Sch. peeling on the top of the church tower in the heat .
Sch. in the coat pockets keeps the children from snacking .
Sch. in the lampshell there is subdued light in the hall .
Sch. there are brown stripes on the car tire when braking .
Sch. Shot through a sieve gives the most beautiful freckles .
Sch. on the edge of the plate is not recognized as mustard .

literature

  • Wolfgang Kraus : Bonifazius Kiesewetter. A heroic life Purrs, pranks, anecdotes. Reported by Wolfgang Kraus. Vol. 1. Berlin 1951
  • Wolfgang Kraus: Bonifazius Kiesewetter. A heroic life. The bank of scoffers. Reported by Wolfgang Kraus. Vol. 2. Berlin 1954
  • Curt Seibert : The poetic wooden leg. A book of happy nonsense. Bonifazius Kiesewetter / The landlady of the Lahn / The hospital assistant Neumann . Parodied by Curt Seibert. Cover drawing by Hans Thiemann. Berlin 1954
  • o. A .: Bonifazius Kiesewetter: Moral poems . Hanau 1966
  • Bodo Baumann: Donnerwetter, Donnerwetter, Bonifazius Kiesewetter. The book for the film of the same name . Rastatt 1969
  • Peter Schalk (ed.): Bonifazius Kiesewetter. Munich 1980, ISBN 3-453-50011-3
  • WK (selection): Bonifazius Kiesewetter. Mean verses from the old days. Mostly in an enthusiastic group of men - often at a late hour - but always presented , print: RD (Rolf Dettling), P. (Pforzheim) 1991
  • Wolfgang Schwarz: The Third Silesian Poet School (From a diary 1991). Germanica Wratislaviensia 99 (1993), pp. 339-347
  • Rudolf Neugebauer: Bonifazius Kiesewetter. Provocation and social criticism in the poetic work of Waldemar Dyhrenfurth. Einst und Jetzt , Vol. 45 (2000), pp. 139 ff., With a note by Wolfram Dürbeck in: Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 47 (2002), pp. 355 ff.

Movie

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