The owl castle
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| Title: | The owl castle |
| Genus: | Puppet theater |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Franz von Pocci |
| Publishing year: | 1871 |
| Premiere: | December 26, 1869 |
| Place of premiere: | Munich |
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The owl castle. A drama in four acts mixed with unbelievable magic is a puppet comedy by Franz von Pocci designed for the puppet theater and appeared in 1871 in the fourth volume of the funny comedy book by the publishing house of the JJ Lentner'schen Buchhandlung (E. Stahl) in Munich. It was premiered on December 26, 1869 in Josef Schmid's Munich Marionette Theater, at the time located in the courtyard of the Zum Glasgarten inn at Blumenstrasse 18.
Origin context
Franz von Pocci organized puppet theater performances for his children and a small group of guests and residents at Ammerland Castle as early as 1846–1849 , the manuscripts are no longer preserved. In 1855 Pocci's first book appeared exclusively with Kasperliaden, the new Kasperl-Theater , two years earlier he had already published the play Kasperl in Turkey in the volume What you want . Even if Pocci did not initially intend a performance directly, he drew the attention of Josef Schmid with this work , who was planning to found a permanent puppet theater in Munich. With the support of Pocci, who was able to assert both his influence on the minister of education and his reputation as a writer of Punch and Judy plays beyond the fabulous funfair, the puppet theater was opened on December 5, 1858. Since then, Pocci has written numerous Punch and Judy comedies for the theater, which have been preserved in the six volumes of the Funny Comedy Booklet.
action
First elevator
The first scene shows a castle ruin that Kasperl (in the original Casperl ) Larifari reached after he got lost. The audience learns that he had to leave the city due to debts and is now actually looking for an inn. From the wall of the ruin, the knight Kauzenveit addresses him in the form of an owl and claims that he is an enchanted robber baron from the Middle Ages who was turned into an owl due to bad deeds. To prove it, Kasperl should pull out a feather that causes the following sentence to appear on the castle wall: "Every wish is granted to you." Kauzenveit explains Kasperl that the feather will fulfill every "reasonable" of his wishes and at the same time only Kasperl den Could release knight from his enchantment. Kasperl would like an inn that immediately appears to him as "To the golden owl". There he meets the waitress Gretl (in the original also Grethi ). While Kasperl tries all the dishes on the menu, Gretl sings a song for him at his request, "The Owl Castle", which tells how the robber baron Eulenveit was struck by lightning to punish his atrocities. Since then, says Gretl, the castle ruins have been haunted. After Kasperl went to bed in the tavern, Kauzenveit reveals to the audience that with every further feather redeemed by Kasperl, he was getting closer to his transformation.
second elevator
The second elevator shows a furnished, elegant drawing room with a desk covered with files. Kasperl has become Minister of State, but can only carry out his office by repeatedly pulling out a new pen from his secret secretary Eulert (alias Ritter Kauzenveit) in order to make decisions or resolve situations. The farmers Hutzlpeter, Hubertmartl and Knopflbauer from Simpelsdorf come to an audience. They request the construction of a railroad to advance their business with cabbage heads. Kasperl, who has left his pen on the bedside table and therefore has to use his common sense, advises the farmers nonsense and refers them to another office. The peasants do not notice this, but even praise him for his wise judgment and condescending attitude, which distinguishes him as a statesman. Servants come in and bring Kasperl his briefcase, which is described in two senses as a portfolio . Kasperl sings about, among other things, the melody of an aria from La dame blanche , the advantages of his position such as food and a high salary, without having to do anything. Finally, Gretl steps in and accuses Kasperl of having given her the promise of marriage the morning after Kasperl's visit to the pub and not keeping it. Kasperl pretends not to remember anything and describes a connection between her, the simple waitress and him, the high minister, as unthinkable. Gretl leaves crying.
third elevator
Secret secretary Eulert, alone in the salon, says that only a few feathers would have to be used by Kasperl in order for him to transform himself back into his former shape and the ruins of his castle. Kasperl appears and receives the message from Eulert that Gretl wants to keep Kasperl's marriage promise in court. He is initially outraged, but regrets that he did not marry Gretl and asks Eulert for advice. The secretary recommends waiting until a solution can be found. Since Kasperl is supposed to report to the Duke, he needs a new pen - it's the last one.
In the anteroom of the Duke's residence, State Councilor Walter and Privy Councilor Aktenmaier talk about the upstart Kasperl, who is always preferred by the Duke because he feels so well entertained by Kasperl's unwanted jokes. You also notice that Eulert is actually pulling the strings. Kasperl enters, he comes from the Duke, but has left his pen there. The conversation with the two gentlemen is accordingly, Kasperl insults them in the end, whereupon they want to complain to the duke about him. Eulert appears, Kasperl asks him for another quill, relieved, but it was the last one that Kasperl took. With a clap of thunder Eulert transforms into an elegantly dressed baron, Kasperl passes out.
Fourth elevator
The Baron von Eulenschloß (alias Eulert and Kauzenveit) has come to terms with the conditions of society, in view of modern inventions such as the hunting rifle, the railroad and good food, he no longer mourns his former life as a robber baron. It is located in a tavern, whose owner has made Gretl's owl castle. She appears and still mourns the loss of her puppet. Kasperl has not seen Owl Castle either since the transformation. Gretl remains alone in the inn.
Kasperl was dismissed by the Duke and tells how ungrateful the people who had previously shown him respect reacted to his dismissal. It occurs to him how he treated Gretl himself - and suddenly finds himself at the inn where he once asked for Gretl's hand. After a brief dispute with the house servant Hiesl, why Kasperl was hanging around in front of the inn, Gretl asked him into the house. Kasperl initially pretends to be an old beggar and learns Gretl's generosity and that she is still looking for Kasperl. He then reveals himself, they hug each other and sing a duet. Owl Castle joins them and makes friends with both of them. Kasperl promises to marry in 8 days and sees his role as husband as the only real portfolio that he can run alone.
Figure of Kaspers
The name of Kasperl Larifaris comes from Johann La Roche , who named his character as an actor, it is a pure fantasy word that means "nonsense", "stupid stuff". In the characteristics of the character Poccis, different Kasper and Hanswurst traditions flow together. After the contemporary Kasper appeared only as a joke of crude hand puppet pieces at fairs, Pocci had to orientate himself on the Viennese baroque Hanswurst Stranitzkys , who - until he was expelled from the stage by Johann Christoph Gottsched and Friederike Caroline Neuber - an important figure in the actor ensemble depicted. From him, Pocci largely adapted the typical costume for his puppet.
In contrast to Stranitzky, the annual fair and z. For example, the Hamburg beating Kasper in the anonymously published play Kasper should be hanged, but Pocci established a moderate Kasper who rejected violence and obscenities as jokes: “I made him the humorous realist whose purpose in life was pretty much just eating and drinking; but avoided anything obnoxious, of course all the more since the theater initially had the children [blocked in the original] as an audience, although gradually it was no less filled with great people [blocked in the original]. ”On the other hand, jokes by interrogators were taken from tradition , Puns and misunderstandings:
Owl . I know I am an enchanted knight from the Middle Ages.
Casperl . How? a walled ram? It is really amazing.
Owl . Now go on.
Casperl . Well. I go on. (Wants to leave.)
Owl . Stop! I mean that you should hear more.
Casperl . You'd better tell me the closer, it won't take that long.
Another influence on the subject matter and representation of Pocci's puppet plays can be found in the magic and fairy tale games of romanticism . At a time when late Romanticism was ending and bourgeois realism was beginning to emerge, both literary epochs can be found in Pocci's works. In The Owl Castle , however, there are mainly romantic elements, e.g. B. the stylistic device of romantic irony (a showpiece with Hanswurst participation is Puss in Boots by Ludwig Tieck ), by breaking the illusion of the theater:
Grethl . The song is called: "The Owl Castle".
Casperl . That’s what it says on the commodity slip today.
What is noticeable in Pocci's Kasper plays is the often occurring situation of Kaspers as a (pseudo) scholar or short-term superior and his associated style of language, the educational language, and caricatured through incorrectly used or imaginatively combined foreign words as well as through an overemphasis on vowel formation:
Casperl . (Very genteel.) I already got you in the audience reservation bread roll. What do you have to suplixify with me?
With the moderate figure of the Punch, which should be especially suitable for children, a new era of the Punch begins, which establishes itself as a figure of identification for children in the puppet theater. Nevertheless, no strong tendency towards the pedagogical Punch of the 20th century can be seen here.
interpretation
The owl castle was initially listed under Die Eulenburg , later renamed for printing, probably due to the too clear allusion in the title to the Prussian minister Friedrich zu Eulenburg in view of the strict censorship at the time . Pocci had already worked on a similar subject in the sequel picture story Der Staatshämorrhoidarius , which has appeared in the Fliegende Blätter since 1845 , and civil servants, scholars and bureaucracy are also satirically depicted in Das Eulenschloß . The people appearing like Aktenmaier or the farmers from Simpelsdorf seem like stereotypes through their speaking names, they all subordinate themselves to the fixed structure of society and represent their assigned role - the farmers are the simple, simple people, the two councilors are the whole day busy with the administration (of Walter) of files (Aktenmaier). The denounced arbitrariness of rule and regulation of laws is particularly evident in the scene in which the farmers from Simpelsdorf want to apply for the construction of a railway line, but Kasperl only utters nonsense without his wise pen and the farmers ultimately to another Office refers. This approach seems completely natural to the peasants, for them an official must even be “vile” and “condescending”.
This petty-bourgeois, philistine society that is portrayed in the play is not rejected in the figure of Punch and Judy himself. The anarchist character of older Kasper traditions almost disappears here. Even if Kasper still shows little respect for the authorities, he ultimately fits into the given structures as a husband and has thus achieved his goal of a materially secure life with simple needs (food, drink, wife). The Owl Castle also has a moralizing function: Kasperl realizes that the way he treated Gretl was wrong from the moment he thought he was better. This reflective, benign character trait of Kasper is also being redeveloped by Pocci.
Expenses (selection)
- Pocci, Franz von: Kasperlkomödien (= Universal Library Bd. 5247). Ed. V. Karl Pörnbacher. Stuttgart, Reclam 1972. ISBN 3-15-005247-5 .
- Pocci, Franz von: Funny comedy book. Fourth ribbon. After the first edition of 1871 (= Pocci work edition, section I: Dramatic poems, vol. 5). Ed. V. Ulrich Dittmann. Munich, Allitera 2008, ISBN 978-3-86520-409-7 .
- The owl castle in the version from 1871 in the Gutenberg-DE project .
Literature (selection)
- Müller-Kampel, Beatrix: Comedy between cultures. The southern German-Austrian Kasperl and the Czech Kašpárek in comparison. url: http://lithes.uni-graz.at/downloads/bmk_kasperl_kasparek_opt.pdf [25. July 2012].
- Munich City Museum / City Archives Munich (ed.): Kasperl Larifari Blumenstrasse 29a. The Munich Marionette Theater 1858–1988. Hugendubel, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-88034-396-9 .
- Nöbel, Manfred: Kasperl redivivus? About the funny figure at Franz Pocci. In: Pocci, Franz: Kasperl's heroic deeds. Nineteen puppet comedies and puppets. Henschel, Berlin 1981, pp. 5-36.
- Riha, Karl: Kaspers return: from Count Pocci to HC Artmann. In: Miller, Norbert / Riha, Karl (ed.): Punch and Judy Theater for Adults (= it Bd. 339). Insel, Frankfurt a. M. 1978, pp. 425-439, ISBN 3-458-32039-3 .
- Schott, Georg: The puppet shows of Count Pocci. Your sources and your style. Diss. LMU Munich. Schack, Frankfurt a. M. 1911.
- Valenta, Reinhard: Franz von Poccis Munich cultural rebellion. Alternative theater in the time of bourgeois realism (= literature from Bavaria and Austria. Literary historical studies, vol. 4). W. Ludwig, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7787-2117-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Münchner Stadtmuseum / Stadtarchiv München (ed.): Kasperl Larifari. Blumenstrasse 29a. The Munich Marionette Theater 1858–1988. Hugendubel, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-88034-396-9 , pp. 92 and 25.
- ^ Cf. Valenta, Reinhard: Franz von Poccis Münchner Kulturrebellion. Alternative theater in the time of bourgeois realism (= literature from Bavaria and Austria. Literary historical studies, vol. 4). W. Ludwig, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7787-2117-8 , p. 159.
- ↑ Cf. Schott, Georg: Die Puppenspiele des Count Pocci. Your sources and your style. Diss. LMU Munich. Schack, Frankfurt a. M. 1911, pp. 3-9.
- ↑ Cf. Nöbel, Manfred: Kasperl redivivus? About the funny figure at Franz Pocci . In: Pocci, Franz: Kasperl's heroic deeds. Nineteen puppet comedies and puppets . Henschel, Berlin 1981, pp. 5-36, pp. 15f.
- ↑ See Müller-Kampel, Beatrix: Comics between cultures. The southern German-Austrian Kasperl and the Czech Kašpárek in comparison. url: http://lithes.uni-graz.at/downloads/bmk_kasperl_kasparek_opt.pdf [25. July 2012], p. 211.
- ↑ Quoted from: Schott 1911, p. 93.
- ↑ Cf. Riha, Karl: Kaspers return: from Count Pocci to HC Artmann. In: Miller, Norbert / Riha, Karl (ed.): Punch and Judy Theater for Adults (= it Bd. 339). Insel, Frankfurt a. M. 1978, pp. 425-439, ISBN 3-458-32039-3 , p. 428.
- ^ Pocci, Franz von: Funny comedy booklet. Fourth ribbon. After the first edition of 1871 (= Pocci work edition, section I: Dramatic poems, vol. 5). Ed. V. Ulrich Dittmann. Munich, Allitera 2008, ISBN 978-3-86520-409-7 , pp. 162f.
- ↑ Pocci [work edition] 2008, p. 167.
- ↑ Pocci [work edition] 2008, p. 170.
- ↑ See Pocci [work edition] 2008, p. 213.
- ↑ See Nöbel 1981, p. 28.