The change of Susanne Dasseldorf

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The Change of Susanne Dasseldorf is a novel by the Franco-German writer Joseph Breitbach that was published at the end of 1932 (published in 1933) .

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The scenes are set in Koblenz and the town of Ehrenbreitstein on the opposite bank of the Rhine ; the novel takes place shortly after the end of the First World War , when the two places were occupied by American troops. The Dasseldorf family, wealthy manufacturers of uniform parts , live in a spacious villa in Koblenz and have to come to terms with the changed situation after the end of the lost war. While the parents live in great fear of the "revolution" and fear for their wealth, the son Louis, a former officer, works rather listlessly as a journalist for newspapers published in the unoccupied part of Germany.

The resolute daughter Susanne is best able to cope with the situation and take care of all business that her parents are overwhelmed with; She despises her brother a little because he has come to terms with the end of the German army without resistance. Both the negotiations with the American soldiers, who are quartered on the family's property, and the organization of the household are taken over by Susanne for her frightened and discouraged parents, whose values ​​are still completely linked to the fallen empire and who are therefore quartered former war opponents feel humiliated in their home. Susanne has a keen eye on the somewhat dubious family of the gardener of the Dasseldorfs, who live in an outbuilding of the Villa Dasseldorf. It records very precisely how the gardener Hecker's wife serves stolen chickens to the American soldiers, how the daughters hook up with the American soldiers and, above all, the son, Peter Hecker, tries to take advantage of the situation.

It soon becomes clear that Susanne finds the good-looking Peter Hecker extremely attractive; that he does not belong to her social class and rather moves on the edge of legality, in her eyes even increases his appeal. However, since she pays attention to her reputation as a lady of better society, she forces herself to keep her distance; She also reacts with mock indignation to stories about young women from the ordinary population who are relatively liberal with the soldiers. However, her brother's secretary, Heinrich Schnath, also kept an eye on Peter. Susanne notices that a sexual relationship is developing between the two, which the secretary sees as love, but Peter Hecker sees it as more of a business.

The scheming Schnath himself soon used his position as Louis Dasseldorf's secretary to start his own journalistic ventures, he cleverly interviews the American Major Cather (who is quartered at Dasseldorfs) and uses the information obtained and his influence on Cather in a beneficial way: Soon receives he in the house of the Dasseldorfs people from the better Koblenz society are having difficulties with the Americans and are hoping for help from Schnath (who for his part comes from a rather middle-class background). When his lover is put in jail for stealing American army equipment, Schnath is unable to free him. Later, Schnath's passion for Peter cools down, especially since he started boxing training after his release from prison at the suggestion of Major Cather and achieved some success in this sport. However, Susanne continues to desire Peter and eventually they even have sex, which Susanne does not particularly enjoy. Susanne's demonstrative moral rigor and restraint decrease more and more.

Ultimately, her passion for Peter ends and with it her tense relationship with Schnath, whom she felt to be a rival. The two even become friends in the end, whereby Schnath speaks openly to Susanne about his homosexuality, which Susanne, contrary to the prevailing opinion, now does not find reprehensible. She even advises Schnath not to always get involved with rascals or other dubious existences, but to look for a friend from his social circles.

Resolute and pragmatic Susanne tries to persuade her father to convert his factory to soap production, but the father indignantly rejects this. However, she takes steps in this regard, as she realizes that after the final peace treaty the German army will be so small that there is no longer any need for uniform parts. However, her overly pragmatic nature and severity are becoming increasingly weaker and she shows understanding for her parents, who can no longer adapt well to the new circumstances. Her aversion to the American Major Cather also diminishes more and more, in the end she even marries him. A comment by the gardener's wife suggests that she married so quickly because a child was on the way - it is left to the reader's imagination to imagine that the child could be Peter Hecker's.

Historical background

With this novel, Joseph Breitbach closely followed the actual conditions in Koblenz during the American occupation of 1918/19, which he had witnessed as an eyewitness. Most of the locations described can also be identified with actually existing buildings and places. An important source for the creation of the novel, which spanned several years, are Breitbach's letters to a friend, the painter Alexander Mohr (to whom the book was dedicated), from which further details about the models for individual persons of the novel emerge .

The frank portrayal of homosexuality and prostitution led to the prohibition of the book during the Third Reich; after the occupation of France, the French version was also banned there. Breitbach himself was later no longer satisfied with his work, did not want to have it republished in its original form and even claimed that the book had inadvertently been printed from the wrong manuscript (which is not the case). He had already made changes to the translation into French: In this version, the rivalry between Susanne and Schnath in their passion for Peter Hecker was more strongly emphasized, in the end Susanne takes her own life. In the 1950s, Breitbach tried a fundamental revision, which repeatedly received inquiries from interested readers, but broke it off unfinished. The novel was not reprinted until after his death; a volume accompanying the new edition from 2006 documents its origins and the historical background.

John von Düffel turned the novel into a play that premiered in Koblenz in September 2014.

expenditure

  • The change of Susanne Dasseldorf . Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, Berlin 1933 (delivery end of 1932).
  • The change of Susanne Dasseldorf. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt 1981 (photomechanical reprint of the first edition).
  • The change of Susanne Dasseldorf. (= Breitbach, Joseph: Works in Individual Editions. Volume 7; Mainzer Series. New Series. Volume 04). Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-89244-930-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.theater-koblenz.de/pdf/201415.pdf