Elfriede Mechnig

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Elfriede Mechnig (born April 7, 1901 in Berlin ; † August 22, 1986 in West Berlin ) was a German literary agent and translator . She has also been for 45 years the private secretary of Erich Kastner .

Life

As the daughter of the city inspector Arthur Mechnig and the teacher Bianka Mechnig, née Schlomka, Elfriede Mechnig completed an apprenticeship as a stenographer after attending school , because her parents had planned for her to join the Mechnig Gebr. Company, which manufactured nursing equipment. The art-interested young woman also devoted herself to musical studies. In her spare time she played in a trio , read classical literature and went to the theater.

In the autumn of 1928, she met the writer Erich Kästner in a Berlin coffee house. His question “Do you want to help me become famous?”, To which she answered in the affirmative, marked the beginning of Mechnig's 45 years as Kästner's secretary. Kästner once paid tribute to the close cooperation with the words that they would form the "Kästner & Co. company". Thanks to this harmonious working relationship, Mechnig succeeded in entering the literary scene in Berlin. She made acquaintances with Hermann Kesten , Gerhart Pohl , Martin Kessel , Alfred Neumann and Walter Mehring, among others . In the early 1940s, Elfriede Mechnig began to study the Italian language intensively . She translated jokes and funny short stories that were printed in newspapers and magazines in the war time of destruction, fear and death .

After the end of the Second World War, Erich Kästner moved to Munich . Mechnig continued his Berlin office in Friedenauer Niedstrasse , but at the same time took over the representation of Chronos Verlag for East Germany . From January 1952 she represented the Atrium Verlag (founded in 1935 by Kästner's friend Kurt Leo Marschler in Basel) for theater. Under the name Atrium-Bühnenvertrieb, she ran an independent agency from 1953 and offered literary works to regional and national newspapers, publishers and theaters for publication. The second print distribution, which began around 1930 with the work of Kästner, was expanded in the 1950s to include distribution rights for Marie Luise Kaschnitz , Ulrich Becher , Alexander Roda Roda , Joachim Ringelnatz , Monika Mann , Martin Kessel, Ludwig Marcuse and Victoria Wolff , among others . In addition, Mechnig continued to love the Italian language. She established contacts with the Italian playwright Eduardo De Filippo and edited the German translation of his play Filumena Marturano , which was successfully performed in August 1953 in the Berlin Schiller Theater. She also translated works by the Italian authors Nicola Manzari and Paolo Levi and took care of the distribution of the work.

Even after Kästner's death in 1974 she campaigned for the distribution of his works, for example by organizing Kästner readings. Elfriede Mechnig died on August 22, 1986 in Berlin. Her estate is in the archive of the Academy of the Arts .

plant

Already during the time of National Socialism, Mechnig was supplying the Neue Zeitung - an illustrated daily newspaper with Sunday mail with jokes and prose miniatures translated from Italian . She continued this sideline after the war for newspapers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - most intensively between 1962 and 1976. Mechnig wrote anecdotes , joke translations, short stories and prepared press releases and factual articles, which were mainly published on the entertainment pages. Her reports on the work with Erich Kästner were repeatedly taken up in the feature pages in connection with Kästner awards . The translation work concerned plays and radio plays .

Material articles (selection)

  • ... and that's why I'm hanging here. A Berliner remembers the last days of the war in 1945. With a slightly different title in: Berliner Zeitung (1946).
  • A text that reads in the manuscript "Would you like to help me ..." was published in various newspapers in 1968 and 1969, partly edited and re-titled, for example as Ab 10 in Dr. Kästner typing in the Münchner Merkur or as forty years with and with Erich Kästner in the Frankfurter Rundschau or with the eyes of the secretary in the Ruhr Nachrichten .
  • A text on Kästner's 70th birthday appeared in edited versions under the following titles: My boss at the time , My “boss” Erich Kästner , he has been my boss for 40 years .
  • Hanna Maron was Erich Kästner's first “Pünktchen” in Berlin. Under slightly modified titles in 1970 in: Frankfurter Rundschau and Telegraf .

Short stories (selection)

  • The royal promise. Little story from the Orient. Published between 1962 and 1971 in several German-language newspapers, sometimes under modified titles.
  • The attraction. Published between 1969 and 1975 in several German-language newspapers, some under alternative titles.
  • Wrong answer. Also published variously in newspapers between 1965 and 1976 under the titles The wrong answer and Marcello's wrong answer .
  • Parisian experience. Between 1964 and 1974 in several German-language newspapers and published again in 1981 under the title Richard's Pariser Erlebnis in Konstanzer Südkurier .

Translations and editing (selection)

  • Filumena Marturano. Translation of the comedy by Eduardo De Filippo .
  • The inner voices. Translation of the play Le voci di dentro by Eduardo De Filippo.
  • The conference of animals. Dialogue version of Kästner's children's novel for the theater.
  • The dream. Translation of a radio play by Paolo Levi .
  • Like looking in a mirror. Translation of a radio play by Paolo Levi.
  • Intersection. Translation of a radio play by Paolo Levi.
  • Game of four. Translation of a radio play by Nicola Manzari .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Rossella Zanni: “Do you want to help me become famous?” Elfriede Mechnig and her literary office . In: Inge Stephan (Hrsg.): Zeitschrift für Germanistik (=  new series ). tape XII , no. 1/2002 . Peter Lang - European Science Publishing House , 2002, ISSN  0323-7982 , p. 132-136 .
  2. ↑ Berlin address book 1911. Using official sources. First volume. In: zlb.de. Retrieved June 6, 2017 (direct access to the letter M).
  3. ↑ a b c d Elfriede Mechnig: Forty years with and with Erich Kästner . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . No. 226/1968 , September 28, 1968, features section , p. V .
  4. ↑ a b Elfriede Mechnig Archive. Short biography / history of the institution. In: adk.de. Retrieved June 6, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Elfriede Mechnig: "... that's why I'm hanging here" . In: Berliner Zeitung . No. 96/1946 , April 25, 1946, Berliners remember, p. 2 .
  6. ↑ Elfriede Mechnig: Hanna Maron, the first "little point". From the memories of Elfriede Mechnig . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . No. 62/1970 , March 14, 1970, features section , p. IV .
  7. ↑ Elfriede Mechnig: First "little point" in Berlin. Memories of Hanna Maron when her name was Hannele Maierzak . In: Telegraph . Berlin February 24, 1970, Feuilleton, p. 9 .
  8. ↑ Elfriede Hechnig [sic]: Richards Parisian experience . A story by Elfriede Hechnig [sic]. In: Südkurier . Constance September 26, 1981 (Sunday supplement).

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Mechnig, Elfriede
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German literary agent, translator and private secretary to Erich Kästner
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1986
Place of death West Berlin