First class

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Data
Title: First class
Genus: Sway
Original language: German (partly Bavarian and Berlin dialect)
Author: Ludwig Thoma
Publishing year: 1910
Premiere: August 12, 1910
Place of premiere: Egern am Tegernsee
people
  • Merchant Friedrich Wilhelm Stüve from Neuruppin
  • Alfred and Lotte von Kleewitz, a young couple from Northern Germany
  • Herr von Scheibler, Royal Bavarian Ministerial Councilor
  • Sylvester Gsottmaier, economist
  • Josef Filser , economist and member of parliament
  • Marie Filser, his wife
  • The conductor
  • The platoon leader

First class is a farmer's swing in one act by Ludwig Thoma . The piece was premiered on August 12, 1910 in the “ Zur Überfahrt ” inn in Egern am Tegernsee (today part of the Rottach-Egern community ) by Michael Dengg's Bauernbühne . According to another source, the premiere took place on September 10, 1910 in Munich.

action

place and time

The piece is set in a "First Class" express train compartment on the Upper Bavarian Railway on the journey from Mitterdingharting via Oberdingharting, Hinterdingharting, Trudering to Munich's Ostbahnhof at the time of the premiere, around 1910.

Only act

The newly married couple Alfred and Lotte von Kleewitz from northern Germany sit opposite each other at the open window and cast amorous glances. You are on your honeymoon. The royal Bavarian Ministerialrat von Scheibler from Lower Franconia and the businessman Stüve, representative of an artificial fertilizer company from Neuruppin, sit in the compartment. The latter is very impatient and scolds the slowness of the Bavarian railroad. He fears that the train will not arrive in Munich on time, so that he could miss his connecting train to Frankfurt, where a lucrative order is waiting for him. When the train stops abruptly in Mitteldingharting and he realizes that an ox is being invited, he calls the conductor and the train driver. However, his complaint about these conditions bounced off both of them. The train crew's complaint also leaves the train staff cold, although he tried to impress them with his title.

The train has picked up speed again. Now Stüve begins to praise Herr von Scheibler the advantages of the artificial fertilizer over the stable manure in the highest tones, which really gets on the nerves of the Ministerialrat reading the newspaper. After an unplanned stop on the open road - the door of the cattle wagon opened unexpectedly and the ox almost fell out - the train stopped in Oberdingharting after a few minutes. The door of the compartment is shaken violently and the handle is tried; finally the door is thrown open. A very peasant figure climbs in and says goodbye to his wife. As soon as the train has started again, the new passenger tries to get his luggage into the network above the heads of the others, but he does not succeed. In doing so, he first bumps into Stüve and then Scheibler. Finally he slides his suitcase under the bench and puts the basket on his knees. In the broadest Bavarian language, he speaks to the ministerial councilor and explains in detail how he sold a cow to a cattle dealer and why he now wants to reverse the business. This goes on until Scheibler's collar bursts and he brusquely asks him to turn to his own kind with his problems.

Now the new passenger chooses Stüve as the next person to talk to. But the latter only understands it partially. That is why the Prussian feels mentally far superior to Bavaria and teases him. When the newcomer puts a cigar in his mouth and wants to light it, all the passengers get outraged until he gives up on his plan. Finally the train reaches Hinterdingharting. The new guy takes a look through the window, discovers his old friend Gsottmaier among those waiting on the platform and tells him that he should come to him in the compartment. As soon as the two are united, they have a very loud conversation in which extremely hearty expressions are not missing. Despite all the comments made by the other passengers, the farmers do not let themselves be disturbed.

In Trudering, the ministerial councilor calls the conductor and demands that he immediately check whether the two farmers who smell of cowsheds are entitled to drive first class. Behind the scenes - but in a way that everyone can hear - the person called explains to him that one of the two farmers is MP Josef Filser. Scheibler now fears that Filser, the powerful peasant leader whom he treated from above, could damage his career. It is therefore important to give in and limit the damage.

Filser enjoys the horror that has befallen the quaking ministerial councilor and lets him feel his full power first of all. On the other hand, because he is also a good-natured person, he soon gets down from his high horse and even offers the royal Bavarian official a pinch of snuff. After the train has reached the Munich-East terminus and Gsottmaier and Filser have left the compartment, Scheibler is allowed to hand the member of his egg basket through the window.

Movie and TV

Radio plays (selection)

literature

  • Ludwig Thoma: Morals / First Class. Two pieces (= dtv 185). Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1964.
  • Ludwig Thoma: Collected works in six volumes. Volume 2. Piper, Munich 1968.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludwig Thoma: Dramas at Zeno.org .
  2. ↑ Gerd Thumser: Ludwig Thoma. When Munich shone. Bachmaier, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-931680-27-4 , p. 34 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  3. ↑ Peter Sprengel: History of German-language literature, 1900–1918: from the turn of the century to the end of the First World War. CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-52178-9 , p. 448 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  4. ^ Thoma, Ludwig: First Class , Wissen.de, accessed on February 6, 2015
  5. ^ First class (1955) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  6. ↑ Ludwig Thoma: Two one-act plays in the Internet Movie Database (English)