Eginald Schlattner

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Eginald Schlattner (2015)

Eginald Norbert Schlattner (born September 13, 1933 in Arad , Kingdom of Romania ) is a German-Romanian pastor and writer .

Life

Schlattner grew up in Făgăraş at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains . In 1952 he passed his Abitur in Brașov and then studied Protestant theology , mathematics and hydrology in Cluj . There he initiated a German-speaking literature group with over 100 members. He wrote for German-language newspapers and magazines and had written two prose works ( Dignified Ore and Odem ) that were to appear in 1957 in the Romanian State Publishing House for Literature and Art (Editura de Stat Pentru Literatura și Arta, ESPLA). Due to his arrest in December 1957, the texts could not be published. Schlattner was imprisoned for two years in a prison run by the Romanian secret service, the Securitate . During this time he was established as a witness for the prosecution in the Kronstadt writer trial . In 1959 Schlattner was convicted of "failing to report high treason ". After his release he worked as a day laborer and later as an engineer . In 1973 Schlattner took up theological studies again. He works as a Protestant pastor in Roșia near Sibiu and as a prison chaplain for prisoners in Romanian prisons.

The four novels he has published so far deal in an autobiographical manner with the life of the Romanian Germans , but especially the Transylvanian Saxons in the 20th century. The works are characterized by sometimes bizarre conditions and changes in the figures. The authoritative personality is always a boy or young Transylvanian Saxon of bourgeois origin, in whom the reader can recognize traits of the author. His works were highly praised by the national feature pages.

In his novels, which have now been translated into eight languages, Eginald Schlattner makes no claim to historically documented images. The extent to which the critics of modern narrative technique do justice to a fictional novel reality with autobiographical features is discussed intensively. His first novel, The Beheaded Rooster , which is in its 9th edition, was made into a film by Radu Gabrea in 2006/07, and his novel Red Gloves in 2009/2010 .

After the publication of the novel Red Gloves (2001), in which Eginald Schlattner had the main character describe their situation as a prisoner of the Securitate , his role in the Kronstadt writers' trial was discussed very controversially in the late 1950s (e.g. in Spiegel , the Siebenbürgische Zeitung , the NZZ , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and on the radio of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ). Schlattner was two years in custody . From the torture interrogations of this time, protocols emerged that were used in the trial against the five authors Wolf von Aichelburg , Hans Bergel , Harald Siegmund, Andreas Birkner and Georg Scherg - along with numerous other evidence. The political process had the features of a show trial based on the Stalinist model. It was supposed to contribute to the destabilization of the Romanian-German community by staging “victims” and “perpetrators”. Schlattner was assigned the role of the “traitor from within his own ranks”, which to this day - despite new findings - shapes the evaluation of person and work.

In 2016 Böhlau-Verlag published the study The inescapability of the biography of the literary scholar Michaela Nowotnick. In it, the author proves, among other things, how unsecured and manipulated information about Eginald Schlattner found its way into standard works and had a lasting impact on the reception of the work.

In recognition of Schlattner's life's work, the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj awarded him an honorary doctorate "Dr.hc" in the Johanniskirche in Sibiu in November 2018 .

Works

Novels:

Other writings:

  • Oh Germany. Farewell. In: Schweeger, Elisabeth & Witt, Eberhard (eds.): Oh Germany! Belville, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-933510-67-8 , pp. 109-117.
  • Edema. Critical Edition. Edited by Michaela Nowotnick. Schiller Verlag, Hermannstadt-Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-941271-73-9 .
  • My neighbor, the king. Forsaken stories. Edited by Michaela Nowotnick. Schiller Verlag, Hermannstadt-Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-941271-42-5 .
  • A fejvesztett kakas . Koinónia Verlag, Cluj-Napoca 2006, ISBN 978-973-7605-35-1 .

Secondary literature

  • Michaela Nowotnick: The inescapability of biography. The novel “Red Gloves” by Eginald Schlattner as a case study on Romanian German literature. Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-412-50344-4 .
  • Michaela Nowotnick: We were not concerned with the future of the regime, but with our future in the regime. A study of the literary circle of German students in Klausenburg / literary circle Josef Marlin (1957–1958). In: Spiegelungen, 6 (60) vol. 3, 2011, pp. 277–289.
  • Michaela Nowotnick: "95 years imprisonment". Kronstadt writers' trial 1959: Forms of representation and interpretation patterns of the reappraisal. In: Half-yearly publication for Southeast European history, literature and politics, 24th year, issue 1–2, 2012, pp. 173–181.
  • William Totok: empathy for all victims. Eginald Schlattner, a life in times of dictatorial rule. In: Semi-annual publication for Southeast European history, literature and politics, 24th year, issue 1–2, 2012, pp. 181–198.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Philippi: Eginald Schlattner appointed honorary doctor. Academic ceremony of the Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca in the Johanniskirche Sibiu. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung für Romania from November 15, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Schlattner, Eginald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schlattner, Eginald Norbert Felix (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Romanian pastor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Arad , Kingdom of Romania