David Kalisch

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David Kalisch, 1867. Graphic by Adolf Neumann.

David Kalisch (born February 23, 1820 in Breslau , † August 21, 1872 in Berlin ) was a German writer .

Life

The early death of his father made it impossible for David Kalisch to continue attending grammar school for financial reasons. Kalisch regretted all his life that he had to start a commercial apprenticeship at the age of 15.

Although he was successful as a merchant, he gave up his position in 1844 and went to Paris with the stated goal of becoming a writer. There he wrote for various German magazines and met a. a. Georg Herwegh and Karl Marx . He also made friends with Heinrich Heine and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon . Since Kalisch was plagued by financial worries, he also worked as a tour guide and temporarily took a job as a salesman again.

1846 returned to Germany and Kalisch wrote in Leipzig for the Charivari of Eduard Maria Oettinger . For some time, however, Kalisch was again in a commercial position in Berlin. There, his local farce, 100,000 thalers , brought him the breakthrough. Kalisch also married Sophie Albrecht in Berlin. With her he had two daughters and three sons. One of his daughters-in-law becomes the singer Lilli Lehmann , one of his sons-in-law the writer Paul Lindau .

Grave in the old St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof in Berlin-Schöneberg
Joachim Ringelnatz's father , Georg Bötticher , mentions David Kalisch in his poem about life in a small town .

During his time in Paris, Kalisch got to know the French theater better - his successful play was based on a French model, but this did not detract from its success. Kalisch portrayed the Berlin milieu so vividly in his pieces that even some quotes from the pieces were taken over into colloquial Berlin language .

In 1848 Kalisch founded the liberal National-Zeitung together with the publisher Bernhard Wolff and others and the magazine Kladderadatsch together with the publisher Heinrich Albert Hofmann ; Kalisch worked full-time for this weekly magazine for the next 24 years. Of the three scholars of Kladderadatsch , he was probably the most productive next to Ernst Dohm and Rudolf Löwenstein . In 1852 David Kalisch converted from the Jewish to the Protestant religion.

David Kalisch died in Berlin on August 21, 1872. He was buried in the old St. Matthew Cemetery in Berlin-Schöneberg . His grave was dedicated to the city of Berlin from 1958 to 2014 .

meaning

Gottfried Keller 1851 on the Berlin local posse and David Kalisch:

“In the meantime, it has at least been an important spectacle to see the population of such a smart metropolis as Berlin gathered in front of the stage and eagerly listen to and cheer the wanton actor who sings his allusions to her in a melancholy mood. [...] The comedians excel at the presentation of the couplets , which contain the respective criticism of the misery of the day, the political and moral nonsense. [...] I have vividly felt how in such moments the poor people and the self-desperate Philistine find satisfaction for the injustice done, even how such light blows of air can penetrate deeper and have a more lasting effect than many a chamber speech. [...] For it is a lie what the literary sleepyheads claim that the affairs of the day have no poetic and lasting value. In Berlin it is the poet Kalisch who is doing the best possible for now. His things are given at the Königstädtisches Theater [...]. "

Works

literature

Web links

Commons : David Kalisch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Daniel Sander's pocket dictionary
  2. ^ To Hermann Hettner , March 4, 1851. In: Gottfried Keller. Collected letters. Edited by Carl Helbling, Bern 1950, Volume 1, p. 355 f.
personal data
SURNAME Kalisch, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1872
Place of death Berlin