Wroclaw Poetry School

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The Breslau Poetry School was a literary group that was founded in Wroclaw in the mid-19th century . It was first mentioned publicly in 1859 and existed until 1935 .

Head of the 1878 volume of the monthly reports (later monthly pages )

founding

Ludwig Sittenfeld traces the beginnings of the Breslau poetry school back to literary circles that came together in 1846 at the suggestion of the scientist and Vormärz liberal Nees von Esenbeck . Carl Krause († 1879), later editor of the Frankfurter Oder-Zeitung, and Ernst Falkenhayn († 1863) are named as the founders of an association called Schlesisches Dichterkranzchen , which already existed in the summer of 1859. The later foundation festivals of the association related to the 13./14. February 1859 as the founding date.

First activities and divisions

Originally, the poets' wreath was a training circle for budding speakers; Presidents of the day were elected for each of the meetings. After creating a permanent office, Rafael Finkenstein (born November 10, 1828, † July 31, 1874) became the first chairman. The first public activities of the association were related to the Breslau celebrations on November 10, 1859 for the hundredth birthday of Friedrich Schiller . The association also went on trips such as the one to Odernigk, which the Schlesische Zeitung reported on August 13, 1859.

In May 1861 there was a split and the establishment of a separate association, the Breslau Poet School , based on the so-called first and second Silesian poetry school of the Baroque period . This differed from the Dichterkranzchen in that only literarily active members were accepted. The aim of the association was to promote literary life in Wroclaw. The meetings, which take place almost weekly, were attended by an average of 20 participants of different professional positions, political convictions or religious beliefs. Women were also allowed. Readings of poems and lectures were registered in advance and the contributions were critically discussed.

To celebrate Schiller's birthday in 1864, the poet school and poet's wreath were reunited under the name Verein für Poesie . Finkenstein was also in charge of the new association, but his offensive remarks caused a larger number of members to leave. Those who had left joined the Dintenfaß Young Academy Association , to which Max Kalbeck and Kurd Laßwitz belonged. On April 9, 1872 it was again merged under the final name; two weeks later a new statute was adopted.

Foundation of the monthly sheets

In 1875 the association founded a magazine , initially called the monthly report . The first five numbers appeared as facsimiles of manuscripts and contained a history of the association as well as a comparative analysis of the war songs of 1813/15 and 1870/71 by the poet Theobald Nöthig . In December 1875, a five-person editorial committee was set up, which published the eight-page sheet in print. Ludwig Sittenfeld had been in charge of the paper since 1876, and it soon had 350 subscribers.

Competition

In 1878 a foundation fund was set up and a memorial plaque for deceased members commissioned, which was inaugurated on February 18, 1878. In the same year two poetry awards were announced. Among the 700 entries were selected broadcast of max kalbeck the best lyrical poem. The award for the best epic poem was shared between Ella by Carl Biberfeld and Die Grete and her child by Hedwig Nies .

Opening up to the modern

In the year 1880/81, 54 well-attended meetings took place. Through the competition and the subscription distribution of the monthly newspapers, the initially regionally oriented association opened up to external members such as Johannes Reinelt (Philo von Walde), the American Konrad Nies , John Henry Mackay and Detlev von Liliencron . On April 5, 1881, nineteen-year-old Gerhart Hauptmann read poetry, who was then attending the Royal Art and Trade School in Breslau. Other well-known members of the poet school were Hermann Stehr , Carl Hauptmann , Wilhelm Arent , Arthur Silbergleit , Paul Mühsam , Walter Meckauer and Werner Milch . Many artistically gifted women such as Hedwig Wigger , Paula Ludwig , Marie Muthreich and Bertha Badt-Strauss also joined the association.

From 1889 to 1893 the monthly sheets were looked after by Paul Barsch , who as a journeyman craftsman had sent his first poems to the Wroclaw School of Poetry and had been invited to a reading. Under his editorship, Rainer Maria Rilke , Stefan Zweig and Karl Kraus published their debut and early works in the organ of the association. There are also works by Otto Julius Bierbaum , Richard Dehmel , Otto Ernst , Karl Gerok , Karl Henckell and Ludwig Jacobowski in the magazine. Later the young, then unknown authors Armin T. Wegner and Max Herrmann-Neisse were sponsored by Barsch. The era of his editorial office is considered to be the "period of splendor of the association organ". In 1901 the paper was renamed Der Osten , and from January 1, 1904, Barsch took over the editorial office again, but only nominally.

Decline

Despite extensive literary contacts and numerous activities, which primarily served to host poets' anniversaries, the number of members fell. In May 1906 the association had 76 members, in 1909 there were 67 (35 in Breslau and 32 abroad). In 1907 Carl Biberfeld took over the editorial team for the East ; later he was followed by Fritz Ernst Bettauer and Richard Rieß .

In August 1914, when the First World War broke out , Bettauer published the essay The Poet and the War as a prelude to numerous similar militaristic contributions by Walter Meckauer and Kurt Walter Goldschmidt, among others . In January 1915 there was also a competition for a singable poem that glorified the German deeds of arms. The new chairman, Alexander Kirchner, also published a series of leaflets with war poetry ( armored songs ).

After the war, Armin T. Wegner took over the editorial office of the East , which Max Brod and Arnold Zweig were able to gain as employees. In the summer he was followed by Hugo Singermann, who changed the subtitle to magazine for literature and criticism . The contributors now also included Friedrich Schnack , Will-Erich Peuckert , Reinhard Conrad Muschler and the later Reichsschrifttumskammer functionary Hans Christoph Kaergel , who wrote the only biography of Hitler that was tolerated in the Third Reich . From the 47th volume (1921) until 1927 only single issues were published as annual editions.

After 1923, The New East a bimonthly for culture, art, criticism of Alfons Hayduk had been issued, which rejected the modern trends and the Association for re Heimatkunst wanted to lead, it came in 1924 for cleavage. Henceforth the associations of the Literary Society of the East and the Breslau Poet School went their separate ways. In 1934 a last single issue of Der Osten was published as a commemorative publication to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The last activity of the association was to participate in a celebration for the 70th birthday of Hermann Stehr , who had been a member for fifty years. Until January 1935 it was led by Waldemar von Grumbkow and, after his forced dismissal, by the SS man Jörg Breuer , who probably also carried out the dissolution.

After the Second World War , the Wangener Kreis , which was named Society for Literature and Art "Der Osten" e. V. leads to continue the tradition of the Wroclaw Poetry School.

Association organ

  • Monthly report of the Breslauer Dichterschule association. Jgge. 1 (1875) to 26 (1900); Title from vol. 6 (1880): Monthly sheets of the Breslau poet school. G. Raabe, D. Herz, J. Max & Co., Th. Schlatzky's Buchdruckerei, Lindner Buchdruckerei; M. Schlesinger, Neisser & Co .; S. Lilienfeld, E. Peterson, R. Dülfer, Breslau; new episode: The East. Organ of the “Breslauer Dichterschule” association. Journal of Literary Culture. Vol. 27 (1901) to 52 (1927). R. Dülfer, Breslau.

Further publications of the association

  • Silesian Muses Almanac for 1862. Published by the Silesian Poet's Crown in Breslau. Wroclaw 1862.
  • From the heart and the world. Seals in original articles; collected and ed. from the Wroclaw Poet School. Korn, Breslau 1863.
  • Songs and ballads. New collection of original articles. Edited by the Breslau Poet School. Wroclaw 1864.
  • Silesian poets album. Edited by the Poetry Society in Breslau. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1866 (5th collection); ed. from the Association for Poetry, Mälzen, Breslau 1868 (6th episode); ed. by the Wroclaw Poetry Society under the personal editing of chairman R. Finkenstein, Breslau 1870 (7th episode); ed. from the Breslauer Dichterschule, Breslau 1870 (7th episode)
  • Statutes of the association “Breslauer Dichterschule”. o. V., Breslau, April 1876; Addendum to the statutes of the Wroclaw Poetry School. Ibid, July 1878.
  • Contributions to the commemoration for Dr. Robert Rößler, organized by the "Breslauer Dichterschule" association on May 28, 1883. Lindner printing works, Breslau 1883.
  • Autumn leaves. Sketches and celebratory poems for Max Heinzel's sixtieth birthday. Collected by Carl Biberfeld, Breslau 1893, on behalf of the Breslau Poetry School.
  • The East. A Silesian anniversary almanac. Edited by Carl Biberfeld on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Breslau Poetry School. Koebner'sche Buchhandlung, Breslau 1909
  • Armored songs. Leaflet of the literary association of the Breslauer Dichterschule. Fleischmann, Breslau 1914–1915.
  • Wroclaw Literary Association. Yearbook. Vol. 1, Schweidnitz 1910. Dedicated to Paul Barsch on the occasion of his 50th birthday.

literature

  • Ludwig Sittenfeld: The history of the association "Breslauer Dichterschule". In: Der Osten, vol. 35 (1909), no. 2, pp. 28-49.
  • Marie Muthreich : friend among friends. Written to Paul Barsch. Self-published, Neuenrade 1955
  • Ernst Josef Krzywon: From the “Dichterkräzchen” to the literary society “The East”. On the history of the Breslau school of poets. In: Eugeniusz Tomiczek, Irena Światłowska, Mark Zybura (eds.): Vita pro litteris. Festschrift for Anna Stroka . Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw, Breslau 1993 pp. 55-78, ISBN 83-01-11258-1 .
  • Ernst Josef Krzywon: Gerhart Hauptmann and the Breslau poet school. In: Edward Białek, Eugeniusz Tomiczek, Marek Zybura: Life - Work - Lifetime Achievement. A Gerhart Hauptmann commemorative volume. Nauczycielskie Kolegium Jezyków Obcych, Liegnitz 1997 (Orbis Linguarum, supplement), pp. 127–159, ISBN 83-85699-30-9 ; that. in: In: Cezary Lipiński (Ed.): "Forgive me, oh master, surrounded by glory and glamor ..." Explorations about Carl and Gerhart Hauptmann. Neisse Verlag, Dresden 2009, pp. 119–166, ISBN 978-3-940310-73-6 .
  • Till van Rahden : Jews and other Breslauers. The relations between Jews, Protestants and Catholics in a major German city from 1860 to 1925. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, p. 111, ISBN 3-525-35732-X (web resource)
  • Christian Gürtler: Association and national movement in Breslau 1830–1871. Wroclaw's contribution to the movement for freedom and democracy in Germany. P. Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2003 (European University Theses Series 3, History and its Auxiliary Sciences Vol. 969), ISBN 3-631-51426-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludwig Sittenfeld: The history of the association "Breslauer Dichterschule". In: Der Osten, vol. 35 (1902), no. 2, p. 40