Fanny Lewald

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lazarus Wihl : Portrait of the writer Fanny Lewald (1851).

Lewald's signature:Signature Fanny Lewald Stahr (cropped) .jpg

Fanny Lewald b. Marcus (born March 24, 1811 in Königsberg i. Pr. , † August 5, 1889 in Dresden ) was a German writer.

Life

Born as the eldest of nine children of the Jewish businessman David Marcus (1787–1846) and his wife Zipora b. Assur (1790-1841) they carried the name Marcus until the father in 1831 had his entire family renamed Lewald . As early as 1826 he had allowed his two sons and his daughter to convert to the Protestant faith in 1829 - in an effort to help the children overcome their social outsider situation, to enable the sons to choose a career freely and Fanny to marry a Christian man. Although her family was not religious, Lewald experienced anti-Semitic hostility as a small child and during the Hep-Hep riots in 1819 . Immediately after baptism, she regretted the transition to Christianity, as she was increasingly critical, even negative, of the idea of ​​a personal God. A marriage with the theology student Leopold Bock, who was courting her, did not materialize.

Lewald attended a private school until he was 14, as her father, despite his reservations about the so-called learned women, gave in to his highly gifted eldest daughter's thirst for education. A university course, which her brothers were naturally entitled to, was out of the question for them - as was customary for women in the 19th century. Lewald was given the activities that were appropriate for an educated citizen of her class: handicrafts and light housework, as well as playing the piano and some reading. At times, when her mother was seriously ill, she ran the family's large household. In 1832/33 she accompanied her father on a business trip to the Rhine and Neckar. In Breslau she met her cousin Heinrich Simon , but he did not return her affection. In 1837 she opposed a marriage of convenience that the parents wanted to enter into to provide for her.

After she had already published some articles in the journal Europa , which was run by the journalist August Lewald , a cousin of her father, she published the two novels Clementine and Jenny in 1843 - initially anonymously out of consideration for the family. Despite all internal and external resistance, she has since sought to earn a living by writing, left Königsberg and moved to Berlin.

Fanny Lewald (1848)

Two decisive encounters took place in 1845. Lewald met the writer Therese von Bacheracht , with whom she was a close friend until her death in 1852. And during her stay in Rome in 1845/46 she met the man who became the great love of her life, the Oldenburg high school teacher, critic and writer Adolf Stahr . Stahr initially did not want to leave his wife and five children, but neither did he want to give up his relationship with Lewald. A love triangle , however, was particularly unacceptable to Lewald. Years followed in which they each saw each other for a few weeks before Stahr made up his mind and moved to Lewald in Berlin in autumn 1852. It was another two and a half years before Stahr's marriage was divorced and they could get married. Together, the couple made numerous trips not only through Germany, but also to England, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Lewald died in Dresden in 1889, but was buried at the old cemetery in Wiesbaden with her husband. Fanny-Lewald-Strasse in Dresden today commemorates her.

Her younger brother Otto (1813–1874), to whom she dedicated the "Wandlungen" (1853), was one of the most well-known political defense lawyers of his time and was involved in the "Magistrate Trial" through the "Poland Trial" (1847) and the defense of Bettina von Arnim ( 1847) emerged. Her younger sister Elisabeth (1823-1909) was married to the painter Louis Gurlitt and the mother of the art historian Cornelius Gurlitt .

meaning

Fanny Lewald, lithograph after Franz Schrotzberg

Lewald was a champion of women's emancipation : she demanded the unrestricted right of women to education and commercial work, as well as campaigning against the forced marriage of young women (she herself had successfully opposed marriage to an unloved man in her youth). She also opposed the ban on divorce and, in her third novel, A Question of Life, advocated making divorce easier. She was repeatedly preoccupied with social issues, for example in The Third Stand (1846) or The Situation of the Female Servants (1843). But stories and travel pictures were also part of the repertoire of the writer, who was often on the move. She accompanied the events of 1848 journalistically and set a monument to the revolutions in Paris, Berlin and Frankfurt in her two-volume memoirs from 1848 (1850).

Lewald analyzed the conventions and traditions of their time, but also did not skimp on self-critical statements against themselves and the female gender.

“Now Fanny Lewald recently played her eight-volume work 'From Sex to Sex' into my hands, and I had to grapple with terrible excitement for 14 days. Because the book is masterfully crafted and every character is so well drawn that you involuntarily live with the people all day. But for the time being I am not going on such an adventure again; it must have cost me a year of my life "

- Kurd von Schlözer : Roman letters, March 1, 1867

Her circle of friends and acquaintances included Heinrich Heine , Duke Carl Alexander (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) , Franz Liszt , Karl August Varnhagen von Ense , Ferdinand Lassalle , Hedwig Dohm , Ernst Dohm , Johann Jacoby , Henriette Herz , and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense, Willibald Alexis , Berthold Auerbach , Luise Mühlbach , Theodor Mundt , and Heinrich Laube . After the revolution of 1848 the "German George Sand " founded an influential political-literary salon in Berlin. Initially liberal, Lewald turned into a monarchist at the end of her life.

Lewald's writings are characterized by a clear writing style; She resolutely rejected the romantic-sentimental tenor of her time, as her bitterly angry satire Diogena (1847) , referring to fellow writer Ida Hahn-Hahn, shows.

In the 1990s, Fanny Lewald's work was reissued by Ulrike Helmer Verlag . Fanny Lewald's three-volume correspondence with Adolf Stahr has been published by Aisthesis Verlag since 2014 .

Works

  • 1842 Clementine . Roman (written anonymously)
  • 1843 Jenny (1st part as digitized and full text in the German Text Archive ; 2nd part as digitalized and full text in the German Text Archive )
  • 1843 Some thoughts on the education of girls (In: Archives for patriotic interests or Prussian provincial papers)
  • 1843 Indications about the situation of female servants (In: Archives for patriotic interests or Prussian provincial papers)
  • 1845 A question of life . Novel in two volumes.
  • 1846 The third estate . Narrative. (In: Berlin calendar for 1846)
  • 1847 Diogena . Novel by Iduna Countess H ... H ...
  • 1847 Italian picture book . In two parts (1967 reissue)
  • 1849 Prince Louis Ferdinand . 3 volumes. (1929 reprint)
  • 1850 on red earth . Novella.
  • 1850 memories from 1848
  • 1850 love letters. From the life of a prisoner . novel
  • 1851 dune and mountain stories . Travel diary, 2 volumes
  • 1851 and 1852 England and Scotland . Travel diary, 2 volumes
  • 1853 changes (novel in 4 volumes, digitized version )
  • 1855 Adele . Novel.
  • 1856 Die Kammerjungfer , novel in 3 parts
  • 1856 German life pictures . Four stories: the housemates , the big lot , no house , the aunt
  • 1858 The traveling companions . Novel in 2 volumes
  • 1859–1864 new novels . In five volumes: The Seehof. Tannenburg Castle. Count Joachim. Emilie. The last of his tribe. Mamsell of the Philippines Philipp.
  • 1860 The girl from Hela . In 2 parts.
  • 1861–1863 My life story In 3 sections, 6 parts.
  • 1862 Colorful pictures . In 2 parts.
  • 1862 Collected short stories .
  • 1863 Easter letters for women
  • 1864 Adele (2nd edition as digitized version and full text in the German text archive )
  • 1864–1866 From sex to sex . 2 sections: The Baron in 3 volumes; The upstart in 5 volumes.
  • 1866–1868 stories . 3 volumes: Noble World. The girl from Oyas. The amateurs. Yeah.
  • 1868 Villa Riunione. Tales from an old dance master . 2 volumes: Princess Aurora. A sad story. A ship from Cuba. Domenico.
  • 1869 Summer and winter on Lake Geneva
  • 1869 (collaboration) A winter in Rome
  • 1870 For and against women ( digitized and full text in the German text archive )
  • 1870 Women and universal suffrage . In: Westermannsmonthshefte , volume 28
  • 1870 Nella. a Christmas Story
  • 1871 The lovebirds. Foster parents. 2 stories.
  • 1873 The Redeemer . Novel in 3 volumes
  • 1874 Benedict . 2 volumes
  • 1875 Benvenuto. A novel from the world of artists . 2 volumes
  • 1877 New short stories : The voice of the blood. A friend in need. Martina.
  • 1880 Helmar . novel
  • 1880 travel letters from Germany, Italy and France
  • 1880 at Christmas . 3 stories
  • 1881 father and son . Novella
  • 1883 Faithful love . narrative
  • 1883 Stella . novel
  • 1883 From the Sund to the Posilipp! Letters from the years 1879-1881.
  • 1885 in the sunset. Kaleidoscopic narratives in 16 letters.
  • 1887 memories of Franz Liszt
  • 1887 memories of Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau
  • 1887 The Darner family . 3 volumes
  • 1888 Twelve pictures from life. memories
  • 1888 Josias. An old story
  • 1910 The aunt . In: German Novellenschatz . Edited by Paul Heyse and Hermann Kurz. Vol. 14, 2nd edition Berlin, [1910], pp. 69-193. In: Weitin, Thomas (Ed.): Fully digitized corpus. The German Novellenschatz . Darmstadt / Konstanz, 2016 ( digitized and full text in the German text archive )

See also

literature

  • Frederike Neuber: Fanny Lewald to Hermann Hettner. Letters from the years 1847-1857 , in: Jörg Jungmayr u. Marcus Schotte (Ed.): Opera minora editorica: Editorial contributions to cultural studies (Berlin contributions to Editionswissenschaft 18, published by Hans-Gert Roloff). Berlin: Weidler 2017. ISBN 978-3-89693-677-6 , pp. 165-254.
  • Fanny Lewald / Adolf Stahr, A life on paper. The correspondence 1846–1852 . 3 vols. Edited by Gabriele Schneider and Renate Sternagel, Bielefeld: Aisthesis 2014/2015/2017, ISBN 978-3-8498-1046-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 978-3-8498-1104-4 (vol. 2 ), ISBN 978-3-8498-1204-1 (Vol. 3).
  • Henriette Goldschmidt :  Stahr, Fanny . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 35, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, pp. 406-411.
  • Ludwig Julius Fränkel:  Lewald, Fanny . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, pp. 769-771.
  • Renate Möhrmann:  Lewald, Fanny. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 409 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Eckart Kleßmann: My most gracious sir! My kind correspondent! Fanny Lewald's correspondence with Carl Alexander von Sachsen-Weimar . Böhlau, Weimar 2000, ISBN 3-7400-1112-2 .
  • Gabriele Schneider: Fanny Lewald. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-499-50553-3 .
  • Dietmar Sehn: Dresden street stories . Wartberg, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2006, ISBN 3-8313-1620-1 .
  • Jürgen Manthey : Femme spiritual of German literature (Fanny Lewald) , in ders .: Königsberg. History of a world citizenship republic . Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-423-34318-3 , pp. 493-514.
  • Christina Ujma: Fanny Lewald's urban arcadia, studies on the city, art and politics in her Italian travelogues from Vormärz, Nachmärz and Gründerzeit , Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2007.
  • Margaret E. Ward: Fanny Lewald. Between Rebellion and Renunciation . Peter Lang, New York et al. 2006, ISBN 0-8204-8184-X .
  • Regula Venske : “Oh Fanny!” From Jewish girl to Prussian writer: Fanny Lewald . Elefanten Press, Berlin 1988.
  • Elisa Müller-Adams: "The gigantic England and my little pen". Gender and Nation in England Travel Reports by Fanny Lewald and Emma Niendorf . In: Christina Ujma: Paths to Modernity. Travel literature by writers from the Vormärz . Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-89528-728-2 .
  • Kurd von Schlözer: Roman letters. 1864-1869 . 16th edition DVA, Stuttgart 1926.
  • Fanny Lewald (1811-1889). Studies on a great European writer and intellectual Edited by Christina Ujma, Vormärz-Studien Vol. 20, Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2011. ISBN 978-3-89528-807-4 .
  • Roswitha Hoffmann: The girl with the boy's head. Childhood and youth of the writer Fanny Lewald. Zugl. Univ. Diss. Hannover 2002. Helmer, Sulzbach / Taunus 2011. ISBN 978-3-89741-312-2 .
  • Krimhild Stöver: Life and Work of Fanny Lewald: Limits and Possibilities of a Writer in the Social Context of the 19th Century , Igel-Verlag, Literatur & Wiss., Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86815-578-5 .
  • Gisela Brinker-Gabler, Karola Ludwig, Angela Wöffen: Lexicon of German-speaking women writers 1800–1945. dtv Munich, 1986. ISBN 3-423-03282-0 . Pp. 198-201.
  • Jana Mikota: Jewish women writers - rediscovered: Fanny Lewald. In: Medaon 2 (2008), 2 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Fanny Lewald  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Fanny Lewald  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Fanny Lewald  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fanny Lewald / Adolf Stahr, A life on paper. The Correspondence 1846–1852 , ed. v. Gabriele Schneider and Renate Sternagel, Bielefeld 2014f., ISBN 978-3-8498-1046-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Lewald, Fanny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marcus, Fanny Mathilde Auguste (maiden name); Stahr Fanny (married name); Lewald Stahr, Fanni, Iduna Countess HH (pseudonym); Adriana (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1811
PLACE OF BIRTH Königsberg (Prussia)
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1889
Place of death Dresden