Carl Friedrich Müller-Palleske

Carl Friedrich Müller-Palleske , also Karl F. Müller-Palleske (* 1856 , † after 1918) was a German playwright and pedagogue .

Life

Carl Friedrich Müller had used the double name Müller-Palleske since he married a daughter of the celebrated actor and Schiller biographer Emil Palleske , whose son was killed in the war in 1870/71. Until 1893 he was director of the "Anglo-German School" in Brixton, now the London Borough of Lambeth . Inspired by his father-in-law, he made a name for himself as a Schiller researcher and was consulted by contemporary authors as an authority on biographical questions about Friedrich Schiller . 1893 Müller-Palleske received the post of Director of the later Max Slevogt High School renamed the Higher School for Girls in Landau . In the spirit of his predecessor, the historian Christian Friedrich Maurer , who made religious instruction possible there for both Jewish and Christian students, he maintained close contacts with the school's rabbi . In order to evade police investigations initiated against him for homosexuality , Müller-Palleske fled to Switzerland in 1911, where he lived in exile in Zurich until 1918 . The family then returned to Germany, where they received new registration and identification papers.

Dramatic and literary work

Since the 1890s, Müller-Palleske published several dramas, which were performed in the Bavarian Palatinate in particular . The themes of his dramas are mainly historical subjects, whereby he often used memorial days such as dynastic anniversaries and anniversaries as an opportunity to write plays. So in 1895 a “festival” was created for Otto von Bismarck's 80th birthday . In addition to his dramatic work, Müller-Palleske contributed numerous articles to scholarly journals, with German classical music being a focus of his work. In addition, he wrote a collection of 1385 pages of material about the life and work of his father-in-law, the manuscript of which remained unpublished, but is still an important source for research on Emil Palleske and his environment. The work "gives, with admirable diligence and loving urgency, a view of Palleske's relationship to his family, friends and his professional activity," by building on letters and quotes from him. Parts of Müller-Palleske's written estate, including letters, are in the German Literature Archive in Marbach.

Women's education and women's rights

Müller-Palleske was active in numerous cultural initiatives and particularly took on women's education and women's rights . In 1898, for example, from the proceeds of a Schiller celebration organized by him, he donated a so-called “Landau Prize”, which was awarded by the German Schiller Society in Marbach am Neckar until the 1930s. As a prize, only school girls with outstanding achievements received book grants for Schiller literature. In 1900 Müller-Palleske became involved in a committee that promoted the erection of a memorial for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's wife Christiane von Goethe . Müller Palleske was of the opinion that one should appreciate the part of Goethe's wife, who many contemporaries considered to be an improper partner to the poet, in the work and the importance of her husband. He also supported the Landau branch of the "Association for Women's Interests" founded by Ika Freudenberg . He wanted to arouse interest in science and art in the students at his school. He promoted, for example, the future novelist Martha Saalfeld , who, as a student of Müller-Palleske, played a leading role in the world premiere of his drama about the poet's last lifetime, which was premiered on the 100th anniversary of Friedrich Schiller's death.

Homosexuality scandal

In 1911, Müller-Palleske was accused of homosexual contacts that were forbidden at the time, a topic that Germany was very much aware of in the years following the Harden-Eulenburg affair . After initiating police investigations, the Mayor of Landau suspended him from teaching and subsequently appointed the historian Adam Sahrmann as his successor. Müller-Palleske evaded further police investigations and legal proceedings by fleeing to Switzerland. The early homosexual activist Adolf Brand contributed to publicizing the case of the “fugitive school principal” throughout the German-speaking area. Brand and the magazine Der Eigen , which he published, pursued the strategy of spreading news about the homosexuality of politicians, writers and other public figures against their will, in order to achieve long-term acceptance of different gender orientations. It is not clear whether the investigations into Müller-Palleske were based on true claims. The fact that he had homosexual or bisexual inclinations is just as possible as the idea that opponents wanted to harm the versatile Jewish and women friend through rumors of unauthorized sexual inclinations.

Dramatic works (selection)

• Festival for the 80th birthday of Prince Bismarck in 1895
• Schiller in Oggersheim. Time picture in 3 lifts. Landau 1898
• Bavaria and Palatinate! God keep it! Folk festival to celebrate the 80th birthday of Sr. Kgl. Highness of the Prince Regent Luitpold. Landau 1901
• From night to light: time images in 4 departments. Festival for the 100th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Landau in 1897
• A triple alliance from Elysium: Hans Sachs, Frau Rat Goethe and Lieselotte von der Pfalz. Landau 1900

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Julius Petersen: Schiller's personality. Judgments of contemporaries and documents. Weimar 1904, pp. 301-319.
2. ↑ Arthur Singer: Bismarck in literature. Vienna 1912, p. 207
3. ↑ Maximilian Weller: The Five Great Drama Readers. On the stylistics and cultural history of the German poetry lecture 1800-1880. Würzburg 1939, p. 276
4. ^ Society for Pomeranian History: Baltic Studies 1957, p. 121
5. ↑ "Comité for the erection of a Frau-Rath monument in Frankfurt" - Müller-Palleske also wrote a one-act play, premiered in 1900, about Goethe's wife "Bei Frau Rath".
6. ^ Carl Friedrich Müller-Palleske: New Year 1805 in Schiller's family. Depiction of a dramatic painting from Schiller's last lifetime. Landau: Verlag Kaussler 1905
7. ↑ Adolf Brand: “A volatile school director.” In: Extrapost des Eigenen 1911, p. 110.