The ostracized
The Ostracized is a story by Gertrud von le Fort , which was published in 1953 by Ehrenwirth in Munich.
content
After the war , the narrator remembers an incident from her youth. In 1913, at the age of 17, she visited relatives at Gut Golzow near Mellin in Brandenburg . In her youthful curiosity, the narrator was keenly interested in the fate of Anna Elisabeth von Golzow, an ancestor of the Brandenburg noble family von Golzow , born in 1654 and widowed in 1675 , and encountered resistance from her uncle. From the cousin Barbara and her teenage brother Hans-Jeskow, the narrator receives only sparse information about the fate of the unpopular ancestor.
But the Chronika, an impoverished aristocratic old lady, comes from the neighboring district town and tells the narrator the story of the ostracized ancestor Anna Elisabeth.
Shortly after the Battle of Fehrbellin , Anna Elisabeth saves the life of a fleeing Swedish cornet. The bitter servants at Gut Golzow want to kill the exhausted man. Anna Elisabeth confronts the servants. They cannot find any understanding of the mistress' appearance. The very young Swede could have the mistress's husband, who died in the war, on his conscience. Anna Elisabeth looks after the Swede and also encounters resistance from the old maid Stina. The "enemy of the country" must leave the house before the elector's soldiers arrive. Anna Elisabeth is also expecting her first child. Stina thinks the "damned" Swede in a pregnant woman's house will bring bad luck to the unborn child. Anna Elisabeth will not be deterred. After all, the Swede, pleading for his life - in view of her blessed body - was the first to call her by the name of mother. Stina, who, like all servants, wants the death of the hated enemy, cannot be relied on. Anna Elisabeth leads the young Swedes herself on the dangerous path over the moor to the camp of the defeated Swedes. Anna Elisabeth is to be brought to court martial for high treason. The Great Elector, mildly tempered by his recent victory over the enemy, puts down the process. Weeks later, Anna Elisabeth gives birth to a boy. The family ostracizes the young mother. Your portrait will be removed from the ancestral gallery.
Decades after that beautiful summer holiday in 1913 mentioned at the beginning - the Second World War is long over - the narrator meets her relatives Barbara and Hans-Jeskow as impoverished refugees in Munich. The Golzowers do not complain about lost property. In 1945 they were able to flee from the approaching enemy on the Schwedensteg that Anna Elisabeth took in the 17th century. Although Prussia perished, Barbara, Hans-Jeskow and their descendants are still alive. The villagers in Golzow think that Anna Elisabeth is still haunted by the rooms of her house. Hans-Jeskow believes that humanity, like that of the ancestor Anna Elisabeth, is the only one that indelibly outlasts all the perils of world history.
shape
What cannot be proven from the 17th century is also put forward as an assumption - sometimes in several variants.
Anna Elisabeth's nocturnal walk with the young Swede is the narrative highlight - a masterpiece: the bitter loveliness of the summer landscape of the Brandenburg region is literally breathable. The narrator also finds remarkable pictures of concise beauty.
reception
Meyerhofer sees the story of Anna Elisabeth as a song of praise to motherhood.
literature
- Used edition
- The ostracized. A reminder sheet . P. 5–53 in: Gertrud von le Fort: Deleted candles. Two stories (also includes: " The Innocents "). Ehrenwirth, Munich 1953 (4th edition). 120 pages
- Secondary literature
- Nicholas J. Meyerhofer: Gertrud von le Fort . Morgenbuch Verlag Berlin 1993. Heads of the 20th Century, Volume 119. ISBN 3-371-00376-0
- Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature. German Authors A - Z . S. 382, left column, 8. Zvo Stuttgart 2004. ISBN 3-520-83704-8