Eugen Roth (poet)

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Memorial plaque on Eugen Roth's birthplace, Augustenstrasse 21 in Munich

Eugen Roth (born January 24, 1895 in Munich ; † April 28, 1976 ibid) was a German poet and popular author of mostly humorous verses . With his cheerful, thoughtful “Ein Mensch” poems and stories, he is one of the most widely read poets in German-speaking countries.

Life

Eugen Roth was the son of the well-known Munich journalist and writer Hermann Roth. In the August street 21 in the Munich district Maxvorstadt born and raised, he first visited the Luis school, from 1904 the Theresienstadt school to after five years monastery school in Ettal 1914 at the Wittelsbach Gymnasium to finish school.

During the First World War , Eugen Roth was severely wounded as a volunteer with the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 at the beginning of his war deployment at the end of October 1914.

He then studied history , art history , German literature and philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and obtained his doctorate in 1922 under the Germanist Fritz Strich with the thesis "The community experience of the Göttingen poet group". phil. From 1927 until his immediate dismissal by the National Socialists in April 1933, he was local editor of Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten . He then had to earn his income by doing odd jobs, including writing the text for a festival that was intended for the centenary of the first German railroad in Nuremberg in 1935, but was not performed.

In 1935 a small publisher published Ein Mensch , in which he scrutinized people and their weaknesses in cheerful verses with surprising rhyming words. In particular, "tricky or funny situations" are shown. Roth became a successful lyricist overnight. The circulation of Ein Mensch reached 450,000, The Woman in World History 240,000 and the Wunderdoktor 230,000 copies. Despite his anti-militarist stance, he was drafted during World War II and sent on a reading tour to look after the troops. A special edition for the Wehrmacht was published under the title A man invites comrades / to be happy with him for an hour .

After the war, Roth reflected critically on the Nazi era :

“Nobody wants it to be.
The truth in this case is:
We all warn more or less! ""

- Eugen Roth

His books continued to achieve high circulation. In 1948 the second volume was published with Mensch und Unmensch and in 1964 with The Last Human a third volume, which contains "Ein Mensch" poems. The latter alludes with its chapter structure - joke , satire , irony - on Grabbe's comedy joke, satire, irony and deeper meaning . The story Unter Brüdern (1958) is about his sons Thomas and Stefan. Roth was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1965. He was buried near his home in the Nymphenburg cemetery in Munich.

The grave of Eugen Roth and his wife Klothilde in the Nymphenburg cemetery in Munich

reception

Rolf Flügel had already stated in his book about Eugen Roth in 1957 that Roth's share in Munich's fame could "never be wiped out".

On the occasion of the poet's 70th birthday in 1965, the critic Joachim Kaiser stated in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit : “But you don't need to prove that German readers identify with Eugen Roth. Circulation numbers belong to the few unambiguities that exist in the area of ​​intellectual life. ”In 1975, also at the same time , the French writer and philosopher Pierre Emmanuel affirmed Eugen Roth's position as“ the most successful living German poet ”.

Eugen Roth is still one of the most popular German poets, as the WDR audience survey on which the 18th edition of the anthology “The Germans' Favorite Poems” is based is based. (Roth is represented in it with a “One Man” poem.) Eugen Roth was an excellent art connoisseur and important art collector. His interest and area of ​​collecting is concentrated on Munich art of the 19th century and the late 18th century. He mainly collected originals - drawings and watercolors - but also etchings and lithographs by Munich and old Bavarian artists. He preferred landscapes of his homeland as subjects.

Works (selection)

  • The call. Voggenreiter, Berlin 1923.
  • A human. Cheerful verses. Duncker, Weimar 1935. New edition: Sanssouci, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-7254-1430-0 ( partly online ; PDF; 187 kB)
  • The woman in world history. A cheerful book. With 60 pictures by Fritz Fliege . Alexander Duncker Verlag, Weimar 1936. New edition: Hanser, Munich 1954.
  • The big prize. Represented according to old and new reports. Knorr & Hirth, Munich 1938.
  • The miracle doctor. Cheerful verses. Alexander Duncker Verlag, Weimar 1939. New edition: All recipes from the miracle doctor. Sanssouci, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8363-0128-2 , Hanser, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-446-24657-7 .
  • 150 years Verlag Gerhard Stalling , Oldenburg, 1789–1939. Stalling, Oldenburg 1939.
  • Law. Narrative. Dunker, Weimar 1939.
  • The fish box. Stories (= Reclams Universal Library . No. 7533). Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1942.
  • Animal life. 2 volumes. With pictures by Julius Himpel. Hanser, Munich 1948 and 1949.
  • Hodgepodge. The joys and sorrows of an art collector . Hanser Munich 1955.
  • Cheerful Kneipp primer. With drawings by Claus Arnold. Ehrenwirth, Munich 1954.
  • Doctor Eugen Roth's humor pharmacy. Hanser, Munich 1957.
  • From human to human. Published for Eugen Roth's 65th birthday. Hanser, Munich 1960.
  • From human to human. Illustrated by Alfred Zacharias. German Book Association, Düsseldorf 1960.
  • CV in anecdotes. 2nd Edition. Hanser, Munich 1962.
  • The last man. Cheerful verses. Hanser, Munich 1964.
  • The Eugen Roth book. Hanser, Munich 1966.
  • Back then in Upper Bavaria. Munich painters wander home . Hanser Munich 1970.
  • The new Eugen Roth book. One-time special edition. Hanser, Munich 1970.
  • Memories of a forgetful. Anecdotes and stories. Hanser, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-446-11582-X .
  • So life is. Verse and prose. dtv, Munich 1979.

Awards

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: Eugen Roth  - Quotes

Links to verses:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Langer: A person whose name was Eugen Roth - details on his life story Deutschlandfunk.de, January 24, 2020, accessed on May 16, 2020
  2. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Munich's secret hotspot
  3. ^ Lists of losses, 1st World War, page 3647: Roth Eugen (Munich) , excerpt from the German lists of losses (Bayer. 120) of December 15, 1914, p. 3647
  4. ^ Franz Sonnenberger: Willy Zielke, Eugen Roth - how Nuremberg got two premieres. An addendum to the railway Jubilee 1935. In: Communications of the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg . 97th volume. Nuremberg 2010, p. 285-319 .
  5. ↑ a b Debon 2000, p. 109.
  6. ↑ a b Eugen Roth , biography of Eugen Roth, on lyrik-lesezeichen.de, accessed May 1, 2011
  7. ↑ Soldiers' Library of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, Vol. 20
  8. ↑ a b Debon 2000, p. 110.
  9. ↑ Not spared from seriousness , Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 7, 2015
  10. ↑ Eugen Roth , literaturportal-bayern.de, accessed on August 19, 2018
  11. ↑ The Rhymed Man , Die Zeit, January 22, 1965
  12. ↑ Zeitmosaik , Die Zeit, March 21, 1975
personal data
SURNAME Roth, Eugene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lyric poet and popular poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1976
Place of death Munich