The Grand Prince and the Court
The Grand Tyrant and the Court is a novel by Werner Bergengruen that was written between 1929 and 1934 and first published in Hamburg in 1935. Bergengruen wanted to communicate "about the temptations of the mighty and the easy seduction of the impotent".
time and place
The Grand Prince (ruler) has confidante at the Signoria in Venice . So the novel is set between the 13th and 15th centuries. The action takes place in the northern Italian city-state of Cassano on Monte Torvo. A rider needs a day from Bologna to Cassano, and more than two days from Venice. Although Cassano is considered fictional, Cassano d'Adda could still be meant.
action
The work is divided into five books: Nespoli , Vittoria , Diomede , The Dyer and The Grand Prince and the Court , each named after one of the main characters. The novel begins with the monk Fra Agostino being found stabbed to death in the garden of the Grand Prince (the local ruler).
Massimo Nespoli , "Head of the Security Authority" in the city-state, is called to the scene. The Grand Prince wants the perpetrator from Nespoli in three days; was the murdered “chargé d'affaires” and “most skilled negotiator” of the “power holder”. Nespoli fails. The Grand Prince extends the deadline, but threatens to be impeached after another failure and does not rule out even more drastic punishments - such as execution. Nespoli wants to leave for Venice. The Grand Prince does not allow this, as the childless Nespoli cannot leave a hostage behind. So the humiliated Nespoli has to present a perpetrator. In an emergency, he accuses a recently deceased pregnant woman. The Grand Prince rejects the mindless web because the pregnant woman was seen alive at the time of the crime, far from the scene.
The widower Nespoli has a lover, the young Vittoria Confini . Nespoli carefully included her elderly husband, the sick Pandolfo Confini, among the suspects. Vittoria would like to help the beloved, this "strong, fully valid man". After Pandolfo died, a fragment of a letter was "accidentally" found in his deathbed, in which Pandolfo, in the face of death, voluntarily and without necessity, accused himself of murdering Fra Agostino. The Grand Prince quickly comes into possession of the manuscript and wants to have it checked for authenticity . In addition, the ruler does not release the corpse for burial, because in such a case there is a risk of the property being confiscated in favor of the state (i.e. the Grand Prince), division into quarters and burial of the remains on the Schindanger .
Diomede Confini , the dead man's son, Studiosus of the Right in Bologna, rushes over and is determined to rehabilitate his father. So he constructs an alibi for the dead father: At the time of the crime, he was lying with the guinea fowl , a light girl. The Grand Prince sees through the lie. In addition, with this shoot Diomede calls his aunt Mafalda on the scene. Mafalda, the only woman the Grand Prince fears, firmly believes that her brother was always an honorable man during his lifetime. Mafalda vigorously causes the guinea fowl to revoke its false alibi.
The Grand Prince even tries Don Luca , the priest who made Pandolfo's last confession. Don Luca does not let the secret of confession be shaken. When the “tyrant” threatens the racket , the priest's knees tremble, but he resists even now. - The script expert whom the Grand Prince commissioned to check the authenticity of Pandolfo's handwriting tries to blackmail the young widow Vittoria. Because if the letter were a forgery, the widow could keep her handsome fortune. Nevertheless: Vittoria cannot be blackmailed.
Finally, the dyer Sperone , a Jesus-like man who calls his servant "Giovanni" (John, Jesus' favorite disciple), although his name is Antonio, undertakes the murder of Fra Agostino (as it turns out: wrongly, although for good reason). Nevertheless, the case seems to be solved for everyone else!
In the final chapter of the novel, the Grand Prince holds judgment. Only at this point does it become clear that the novel goes beyond an ordinary detective novel - even one with a disguised political motivation - and is ultimately religiously motivated: the central theme is "temptation" and "fault": the main characters of the individual chapters sums up Grand Prince it all happening: Everyone has been tempted and fallen into guilt. This affects all persons, rulers and subjects, even with completely apolitical behavior. The dyer's fault is, for example, "seeing a saint in himself". It was he himself, the Grand Prince, who judged Fra Agostino for treason. But for his part, the Grand Prince feels rightly condemned by the dyer Sperone.
The Grand Prince has all the files on the case burned on the spot and asks for forgiveness from those in the courtroom. The Grand Prince is forgiven. Shaken, he has to admit that the dyer wanted to die for him. The Grand Prince finally wishes that all those affected should also mutually forgive one another. Everything turns out well: Mr. Confini will be buried with honor.
reception
The Völkischer Beobachter is said to have praised the book at the beginning as the “Führer novel of the Renaissance ”. This can be taken as evidence of "how a hidden spelling misses its addressees". Nevertheless, the novel is “one of the few examples of oppositional literature in the Third Reich .” In the year the novel was published - one year after the so-called “ Röhmputsch ” - a picture of Hitler was suspected in the figure of the Grand Prince . The building frenzy and childlessness of the Grand Prince speak for this. As Bänziger proves, this is a mistake. Because the Grand Prince is characterized by “generosity, pride, chivalry” and “honesty”. In addition, "the world in and around Cassano is good and whole, not sick."
Nevertheless, during the Nazi era, the novel was recognized and read as a work critical of the regime (in disputes, among other things, it deals with the contrast between democracy and dictatorship). In addition to their known will, all beings have another will that is often hidden from them. So want z. B. the horse his freedom, but also demanded "to be ridden in glory". He, the Grand Prince, is "the hidden will of the people". As a historical-political detective novel, the book was a great success with the public for decades.
style
The language is archaic. It is told "carried, yes solemn", the dialogues are designed "in aristocratic dignity".
Quotes
- "But power wants to be paid for with loneliness."
- "All fame is dangerous."
reception
Attacking the action concept of inner emigration , the novel was seen as an expression of “fascist followers”.
Schmollinger analyzed: "The Grand Prince becomes guilty as a human being in his imperfection."
Edits
- Dramatization by Günther Fleckenstein , world premiere on January 25, 1963 in Baden-Baden
- Film adaptation by Günther Fleckenstein in 1966
literature
source
- Werner Bergengruen: The Grand Prince and the Court. Novel. Union Verlag, Berlin 1975.
Secondary literature
- Christine Bourbeck: Creation and image of man in German poetry around 1940. Hausmann. Peters. Bergengruen (= religion and poetry. 1, ZDB -ID 846515-0 ). Christlicher Zeitschriftenverlag, Berlin-Dahlem 1947, pp. 122–124, (At the same time: Leipzig, University, dissertation, 1946; manuscript completed in March 1945).
- Peter Baumann: Werner Bergengruen's novels. Wohlen 1954, (Zurich, University, dissertation, 1954).
- Hans Bänziger: Werner Bergengruen. Way and work. 4th, modified edition. Francke, Bern et al. 1983, ISBN 3-7720-1710-X , pp. 75-80.
- Friedrich Denk : Literature critical of the regime in the Third Reich. A sketch of the problem. In: Frank-Lothar Kroll (Hrsg.): Word and poetry as a place of refuge in difficult times. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-7861-1816-7 , pp. 11–33.
- Annette Schmollinger: “Intra muros et extra”. German literature in exile and in internal emigration. An exemplary comparison (= contributions to recent literary history. Volume 3, Vol. 161). Winter, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-8253-0954-1 (also: Heidelberg, Universität, Dissertation, 1998).
- Paul Riegel, Wolfgang van Rinsum: Third Reich and Exile 1933-1945 (= German Literature History. Vol. 10 = German 3350). Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-423-03350-9 , pp. 116-122.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 7
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 13
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 23
- ↑ Riegel and van Rinsum p. 116
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 259
- ↑ Bergengruen, quoted in: Schmollinger p. 116
- ↑ Riegel and van Rinsum p. 122
- ↑ Riegel and van Rinsum p. 119
- ↑ Bergengruen pp. 66, 233
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 146
- ↑ Bänziger p. 79
- ↑ Denk p. 23
- ^ Schmollinger, p. 138.
- ↑ Bänziger p. 76
- ↑ Bänziger p. 77
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 21
- ↑ Bergengruen p. 25
- ↑ Quoted in Schmollinger, p. 116.
- ^ Schmollinger, p. 118.