The Wittiber

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The Wittiber ( High German : The Widower) is a novel by the German writer Ludwig Thoma , published in 1911. The story tells how a widowed farmer ultimately loses his son and farm after a mistake with a maid and the ensuing conflicts in the family.

content

The story begins in autumn with the funeral of the Schormayer farm's wife. She died of tuberculosis and left her 54-year-old husband, the Schormayer farmer, and two children, Lenz (28) and Ursula (24). Even at the funeral feast , guests asked whether the widower Schormayer would look for a new wife. When the farmer comes home, the stable maid Zenzi draws him into conversation in the living room and makes him clear advances, which he hesitantly responds to - the two are interrupted by the returning daughter Ursula, who subsequently reproaches him over and over again about the incident power.

Schormayer got quite out of step with the death of his wife and spends the early winter days in the tavern, where he ponders his unfortunate situation at home, where there is no longer a wife and his son Lenz is only interested in having the regiment in the yard can take over.

One day, when the daughter Ursula is visiting relatives (and looking for a possible husband), Schormayer goes to a neighboring town to look for cattle for sale. On the way he meets the cattle dealer Tretter, who accompanies him and persuades him to remarry. He also suggests a candidate at whose court the two of them drop by. There Schormayer realizes that he is considered a good match because of his large and well-run farm; one begins with probing the assets and faces serious negotiations; Schormayer makes fun of playing along and feigning serious interest, even though the (sharp-tongued and not very handsome) candidate doesn't appeal to him from the start.

He returns home feeling exuberant and aware of its importance; his daughter has not returned yet, and Schormayer penetrates the maid Zenzi's chamber, who offers him little resistance. Ursula comes home an hour later, Zenzi denies her access to her room because the farmer is sleeping in it. When he moves into his own room, Ursula clearly hears him in the hallway and makes her sense of what is going on.

Schormayer is then actually determined to get rid of Zenzi immediately. But when his daughter reproaches him violently for his misstep, he decides, in order to preserve his authority, to keep her until the regular appointment for the change of servants to Mary Candlemas . He also gets into an argument with his son Lenz, who fears for the reputation of the court. The old Schormayer threatens him with disinheritance. The mood is increasingly tense and irritable - Ursula tries to annoy Zenzi, and Schormayer is afraid of the handover. Zenzi reports to the farmer that she is pregnant and that only he could be the baby's father.

Meanwhile, Ursula, with her father's blessing, becomes engaged to a foreign farmer. The tensions in the court are fueled on all sides because everyone involved is encouraged by their confidants for their attitude. Schormayer tries to persuade Zenzi to name someone else as the father of the child and promises her financial support, but she refuses. The loyal house servant Hansgirgel realizes that he is being wiped out between the fronts of the family war and gives notice without further ado for Candlemas, while the farmer Zenzi continues to work as housekeeper after Ursula leaves the house.

At Ursula's wedding party, Schormayer humiliates his son in front of everyone and declares that he will not be handed over. At home there is a discussion between father and son: the old man accuses his son of having caused the servant's departure, the son complains that the father has destroyed the good reputation of the family. Lenz becomes palpable and is thrown out by his father. He sees himself without a future and blames Zenzi for seducing his father and turning his head and speculating on the role of the farmer's wife. While Schormayer is in the field, Lenz hangs the maid in the threshing floor.

The novel ends laconically:

“The property of Sebastian Glas, zu Schormayer in Kollbach, was smashed in the autumn of the same year after his son Lorenz had been sentenced to the heaviest prison sentence. The father lives in a small house in Dachau and has gotten very healthy from drinking heavily. "

- The Wittiber , Chapter 16

background

The story takes place from autumn 1909 to spring 1910, i.e. at the time of its creation in the north of Dachau in Bavaria . The place of the Schormayer-Hof, Kollbach, was invented. Other place names mentioned in the novel such as Arnbach, Hohenkammer or Hirtlbach really exist.

language

While the narrative text is in High German tinged with South German, Thoma lets his characters speak mostly in the Bavarian dialect . Most of the dialogues take place between farmers, farmhands, and cattle dealers who talk to each other in a straightforward dialect. Only the pastor at Ursula's wedding speaks closer to the written language.

The dialect coloring of most of the dialogues is so strong that a reader who is ignorant of Bavarian will not understand the novel.

Origin and reception

In addition to Andreas Vöst and Der Ruepp , Der Wittiber is one of only three novels by Thomas. Ludwig Thoma lived at the Tegernsee during the period of 1910/1911 ; his works sold well and he was recognized as a writer. In 1911 Thomas' marriage with Marietta di Rigardo (called Marion) was divorced - the failure of his marriage may be a motive for the deeply pessimistic attitude about domestic happiness that can be found in Wittiber , as well as the reflections on old age.

Thomas' main theme in Wittiber , however, is materialism, which dominated the subject of marriage and family in the rural world of his time. There is little room for affection or sympathy for the farmers when it comes to maintaining and increasing the prosperity of the farms through suitable marriage and inheritance agreements. The harsh realism of the novel stands out from the often idyllic form that described the peasant world at the time (such as the works of Thomas Freund Ludwig Ganghofer or the peasant theater of Xaver Terofal ).

Schormayer's dilemma is based precisely on the fact that his personal preferences and his life situation do not match the expectations that the rural code demands of him: Schormayer is vital and cheerful, he is absorbed in his work in the fields and forests. He is drawn to good-looking women and would also be inclined to marry again, but only out of personal inclination. This contradicts the economic logic of peasant life: Since he has already established his farm inheritance optimally, he is only entitled to hand over the farm, a marriage and possible further descendants would harm his children. Only the prospect of a fruitless and inactive life awaits him in discharge, in which he will also be dependent on the (dubious) benevolence of the court heirs for comfort and care.

The Wittiber is recommended as school reading in Bavaria. The novel was filmed twice: Theodor Grädler filmed the novel in 1962 with Carl Wery in the leading role for Bayerischer Rundfunk ., In 1975 Franz Peter Wirth directed a ZDF production, which Wittiber played Gustl Bayrhammer .

Work editions

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the thirteenth chapter the farmer reads in Hansgirgel's service book that Hansgirgel entered service on February 4, 1901; "Dös san now akrat nine o'clock."
  2. ↑ Work overview at zeno.org
  3. ↑ See Klaus, 2016
  4. ↑ See the entry in the Bavarian Reading Forum
  5. ↑ Cf. Der Wittiber in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  6. ↑ Cf. Der Wittiber in the Internet Movie Database (English)