German Chronicle (Kempowski)

Deutsche Chronik is the title of a nine-volume book series by the German writer Walter Kempowski , which consists of six novels and three survey books. Kempowski tells the story of the decline of the German bourgeoisie in the 20th century. As an example, he uses his own family history, which is flanked and put into perspective by three books, in each of which a number of unknown Germans express themselves on a given question.

scope

The German Chronicle comprises the following volumes:

I. From a great time . 1978. Novel
II. Nice view . 1981. Novel
III. Did you see Hitler? 1973. Survey book
IV. Censure Solver & Wolff . 1971. Novel
V. We're still in gold . 1972. Novel
VI. Did you know about it? 1979. Survey book
VII. A chapter in itself . 1975. Novel
VIII. School (Always cheated. Memories of our school days). 1974. Interview book
IX. Warm welcome . 1984. Novel

title

According to Kempowski's own statements, the title Deutsche Chronik does not go back to himself, but to Albrecht Knaus Verlag . He even considers it problematic. The title Deutsche Chronik was first used in the 1981 novel Schöne Aussicht . For Eckehard Czucka it shows that an intention arose only afterwards, which should be emphasized with the title. Ute Barbara Schilly sees the reader's gain in knowledge through “shaking between fiction and documentation” as Kempowski's main intention, and she refers to his saying: “I showed everyday bourgeois life in an authoritarian state and wanted to get the reader to understand that numerous characteristic traits of the bourgeoisie, which was once the breeding ground for National Socialism, still exist. "

Film adaptations

Under the direction of Eberhard Fechner , ZDF produced the TV series Tadellöser & Wolff (1975) and One Chapter for Himself (1979–1980). In 1990 Hark Bohm filmed the final volume Herzlich Willkommen .

literature

Christopher Riley: Walter Kempowski's German Chronicle. A Study in Ironic Narration . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-631-30975-9 .

Individual evidence

↑ Volker Ladenthin: Literature as a contrast. An introduction to the work of Walter Kempowski. In: Volker Ladenthin (Ed.): The language of history. Contributions to the work of Walter Kempowski. Gata, Eitorf 2000, ISBN 3-932174-48-8 , p. 26.
↑ Eckehard Czucka: From everyday bourgeois life. The story of a family idiom. On Walter Kempowski's novels in the “Deutsche Chronik” . In: Volker Ladenthin (Ed.): The language of history. Contributions to the work of Walter Kempowski. Gata, Eitorf 2000, ISBN 3-932174-48-8 , p. 71.
↑ Ute Barbara Schilly: Short Cuts from the Archives of Life. On the phenomenology of the "Chronicle of the German Bourgeoisie" by Walter Kempowski . In: Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Walter Kempowski. text + criticism 169 . edition text + kritik, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-88377-824-9 , p. 59.

[1] Volker Ladenthin: Literature as a contrast. An introduction to the work of Walter Kempowski. In: Volker Ladenthin (Ed.): The language of history. Contributions to the work of Walter Kempowski. Gata, Eitorf 2000, ISBN 3-932174-48-8 , p. 26.

[2] Eckehard Czucka: From everyday bourgeois life. The story of a family idiom. On Walter Kempowski's novels in the “Deutsche Chronik” . In: Volker Ladenthin (Ed.): The language of history. Contributions to the work of Walter Kempowski. Gata, Eitorf 2000, ISBN 3-932174-48-8 , p. 71.

[3] Ute Barbara Schilly: Short Cuts from the Archives of Life. On the phenomenology of the "Chronicle of the German Bourgeoisie" by Walter Kempowski . In: Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Walter Kempowski. text + criticism 169 . edition text + kritik, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-88377-824-9 , p. 59.