Fitzebütze
Fitzebütze is a children's book by Richard and Paula Dehmel that was published in bookshops at Christmas 1900. The book has about 40 pages and is richly illustrated. Ernst Kreidolf is responsible for the pictures .
Content and structure
The children's book Fitzebütze consists of 25 largely independent and unrelated, mostly short poems. The outer brackets form the first and 25th chapter. In the first chapter Detta is introduced, who plays Fitzebütze with her jumping jack . She places the pawn on a chair and the pawn loses its hat. She then recites poems to the character. A separate chapter is reserved for each poem. The chapters are very loosely strung together. Thematic connections (rocking horse, horse) remain the exception. In Chapter 25 we learn that Fitzebütze is getting a new hat. Chapter 24 with the appearance of Nicholas is a certain climax in the loose sequence of poems.
Stage version
A stage version by Richard Dehmel with music by Hermann Zilcher was published in 1907. The elements of the children's book were taken up, further developed and rearranged. A story arc was added.
Allusions
The child names Detta and Peter appearing in the text refer to the names of the children of the Dehmel couple. Two of their three children were called Veradetta (* 1890) and Heinz Peter (* 1891).
meaning
Even if the children's book was not a great commercial success - it was sold for 3 Marks per copy - it is still considered a milestone in the history of the children's book. Around 1900 it replaced the children's book Struwwelpeter, which had dominated until then, and helped modern children's books to break through. This is the verdict of the research that dealt with the text from the 1960s onwards.
In 2000, the Schiller National Museum and the German Literature Archive organized an exhibition “Fitzebütze: 100 Years of Modern Children's Books” in the Humboldt Hall of the German Literature Archive.
Editions and texts
Children's book from 1900
- Richard and Paula Dehmel: Fitzebütze. All kinds of bells and whistles for children. With an afterword by H.-D. Weyrich . (Edition Leipzig), Leipzig 1968; Facsimile of the 1900 edition
Stage version from 1907
literature
- Fitzebütze 100 years of modern children's book . Marbach Catalogs 54 edited by Ulrich Ott and Friedrich Pfäfflin. Exhibition and catalog Roland Stark with the participation of Silke Becker-Kamzelak and Petra Plättner 2000, Deutsche Schillergesellschaft Marbach / N.
- Roland Stark: The Dehmels and the children's book . Publishing house Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2004
- Roland Stark: Ernst Kreidolf - the painter-poet and his publisher . Huber, Frauenfeld 2005
Web links
- First edition in archive.org
- Information on the occasion of the exhibition in the German Literature Archive