The apostle (captain)

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The Apostle is a novella by the German Nobel Prize winner for literature Gerhart Hauptmann , which appeared in the spring of 1890 in the journal Moderne Dichtung in Brno .

Gerhart Hauptmann on a painting by Lovis Corinth from 1900

background

In 1888 Gerhart Hauptmann heard lectures from Auguste Forel in Zurich , sat in on his mental hospital in Burghölzli and met the Diefenbach student Johannes Guttzeit on Whitsunday in 1888 .

content

Whitsun in Zurich: early in the morning the traveler looks at himself in the mirror with pleasure. The sandals are tightly laced for the hike. In the white frieze habit, with a rope around his waist and the string around his head he really feels like an apostle before. Arriving from the Italian , he had reached Zurich on the disgustingly jarring train through the Gotthard . The rest of the way to Germany should be covered on foot.

Why did he climb the mountains early in the morning from Zurich? Well, marveling at the wonders of nature gave him religious shivers. Just regrettable that he could not admire his own noble gait from an external position on the comfortably satisfied climb. The strange chatter in his ear was annoying, and it was bothering him - as it had been for weeks. Soon it appeared to him from the heights of Zurich as a disgusting pile of stones; inoculated into the paradisiacal nature - this city, made by humans, the "most dangerous vermin". He felt the ascent as a godlike elevation. While he did not look back and down, the state of the world only met “a single, wonderful word jewel: Peace!” He loved this world, especially this vermin man mentioned above, and called humanity in pain and desperation to be “come all you arduous and laden, and follow me! ”.

On the way back, while marching into a suburb of Zurich, he remembered his time as a lieutenant. So many talents were in him - such as the musical. He could have become a great composer. Nonsense - he was called to higher things; wanted to do something wonderful right away. A crowd of children followed him right down to the Limmatquai . There had to be something special about him. He pricked up his ears. What was being said around him? He heard “ Lord Jesus ” clearly . The abuse, taught earlier, came to mind. No matter - this happened to a prophet who he apparently was. Whitsun on the Limmat in Zurich: How gladly did he hear himself talk. He had never spoken - like a disciple of Jesus - with such a fiery tongue. Screaming was not his style. Only the “gem” came softly from his lips: “World peace”.

At noon he woke up on a bench. Was it all a dream? Error, "he had something like an enormous diamond in his head, the light of which made all black depths and abysses bright: there was no more darkness in his area ... The great knowledge had dawned." He smiled and realized the origin of that strange one , chatting in the ear for weeks: God the Father is talking to him - to his own son.

reception

  • 1995, Leppmann: Gerhart Hauptmann paint the archetype of a prophet and describe religious madness.
  • 1998, Marx: The “psychopathological case study of religious delusions” reminds in part of Dostoyevsky's idiot .
  • 2012, Sprengel: In July 1890, Guttzeit complained indignantly to Hauptmann about his portrayal. In a replica, Hauptmann rejects the presumed blank copy. The text is more: also a reference to Büchner's Lenz and reflection on Nietzsche's mental derangement in the previous year 1889. In addition, Sprengel places the text in Hauptmann's "Jesus-Dichtungen".

literature

expenditure

First edition:
  • The apostle. Railway attendant Thiel. S. Fischer, Berlin 1892
Output used:
  • The apostle. P. 53–64 in Gerhard Stenzel (Ed.): Gerhart Hauptmann's works in two volumes. Volume II. 1072 pages. Verlag Das Bergland-Buch, Salzburg 1956 (thin print)

Secondary literature

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leppmann, p. 275, 4th Zvu
  2. ↑ Modern poetry
  3. ↑ Marx, p. 275
  4. ↑ Marx, p. 275, 1. Zvo
  5. ↑ Edition used, p. 56, 3rd Zvu
  6. ↑ New Testament : ( Mt 11,28  EU ): “All come to me who toil and have to bear heavy burdens. I will give you rest. "
  7. ↑ Edition used, p. 64, 11. Zvu
  8. ↑ Leppmann, p. 276, 1. Zvo
  9. ↑ Walter Reguardt (* 1903) and Martin Machatzke quoted in Marx, p 275, 19. ZVO
  10. ↑ Marx, p. 275, 10. Zvo
  11. ^ Sprengel, p. 146
  12. ↑ Sprengel, p. 179 middle
  13. ^ Sprengel, p. 241 middle
  14. ↑ The Apostle Entry at HathiTrust
  15. ↑ Marx, p. 276 below