Miss Nice short summer

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Fräulein Nettes Kurzer Sommer is a historical novel by the German writer Karen Duve that was published in 2018 . The novel describes three summers in the life of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff , writer and composer of the Romantic era , from the twentieth to the twenty-fourth year of life (1817 to 1821). The focus of the plot is the artist's "youth disaster", the failure of her romance with Heinrich Straube due to an intrigue between her uncle August von Haxthausen and his friend August von Arnswald .

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Annette von Droste-Hülshof leads a decent, contemplative existence as a free lady . Time to write has to be fought hard - frequent visits to widespread relatives, arduous journeys by stagecoach over poorly navigable roads and spa stays with her grandmother in Bad Driburg , strictly forbidding overly stimulating mental activity, take up the majority of her time and energy. Her uncle August studies in Göttingen , where he socializes with men of letters and intellectual greats and always brings friends with him to Haxthausen. Annette wants to have a say with the men, but is not taken seriously. Only August's friend Heinrich Straube recognizes her talent and praises her poems. Encouraged by his praise, Annette blossoms and appears more and more self-confident, which both attracts and disturbs the men around her, and which her relatives, especially August, do not like. He is also not enthusiastic about the looming romance between Annette and Straube - the penniless, middle-class Straube, whose art is currently mainly financed by August, is not a befitting match. Together with his college friend Arnswald, August creates an intrigue to put a damper on the opinionated niece. Concern about Straube is put forward. Arnswald makes advances to Annette under the pretext of wanting to check Annette's loyalty to Straube. Annette is briefly tempted, but ultimately rejects him decisively - her heart belongs to Straube. Nevertheless, Arnswald accuses her of infidelity and convinces Straube to end the relationship with a suicide note. Freed from Arnswald's influence, Straube is quick to forgive Annette. August prevented a debate by reminding Straube of his financial dependency. Straube was forced to give up literature and take up a position as a lawyer, not least because of pressure from August. He marries and comes to terms with a conventionally bourgeois existence limited to the fulfillment of duties. Annette remains single all her life and withdraws from society.

characters

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff: Freifäulein from old, Catholic nobility with diverse interests. She writes poetry, collects minerals and is also interested in history and politics. Slender, sickly and short-sighted, she has an intimidating effect, especially on the men in her circle of friends, thanks to her wit and intellect. She is therefore often criticized by those around her for being too loud and intrusive.

August von Haxthausen : Annette's uncle, master of an estate with dwindling income. In his clique of Göttingen students, he acts as an opinion leader and financier.

Heinrich Straube : a college colleague of August in Göttingen of middle-class origin. He is financially supported by August, who sees him as a genius.

August von Arnswald : nickname "the beautiful Arnswald", a fellow student of August. He is prone to religious zeal, which manifests itself in performative self-contempt. So it has an attractive effect on Annette, who is also plagued by self-doubt and struggling with her faith, precisely because it reveals the abysses to her, which she perceives as a possible commonality. Ultimately, however, he scares them off through his hatred of himself and others.

Historical context

The novel is set at a time of revolutionary upheavals, characterized by industrialization , the rising bourgeoisie, the rejection of French influence and the search for an all-German identity. As a reaction to the rapid change there is a glorification of the past in student circles and fraternities emerge . August von Haxthausen and his friends wear the old German skirt, use old German idioms and want to revive the old German character. The fraternities bring aristocratic and middle-class students into contact with one another - but ultimately the barriers of class are not completely overcome; After all, the bourgeois Straube is out of the question as the husband of the niece for the noble Haxthausen, despite all fraternities in fraternities.

The novel also illuminates the dark side of the fraternities, their involvement in anti-Semitic riots and their contribution to the escalation of violence. One chapter deals with the murder of the reactionary playwright August von Kotzebue by the fraternity member Karl Sand .

The action begins in 1817. The year before went down in history as the year without a summer due to its unusual cold . The reason for this was the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora in April 1815 and the volcanic winter that followed . The heavy rains that followed led to crop failures in Germany. On her travels, Droste-Hülshoff is repeatedly confronted with the resulting misery of the rural population.

The novel shines with numerous cameos from historical personalities: During her family visits and spa stays, Annette meets, among others, the Brothers Grimm , Carl Friedrich Gauß , a cousin of Freiherr von Knigge , Clemens Brentano and Karl Drais .

reception

Britta Schmeiß describes the novel as an "enjoyable history lesson" in the dry, laconic style typical of Duve. Andrea Diener sees the novel as a successful portrait of the times and society. She praises the careful research and the unobtrusive incorporation of the details that give the novel color and shape without being “educationally boosting”, but misses a deeper engagement with Droste-Hülshoff's literary work, compared to the often questionable intellectual outpourings of the Relatively little space is given to Göttingen students.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Miss Nice Short Summer by Karen Duve (review). Retrieved June 24, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Britta Schmeis: Droste-Hülshoff-Roman by Karen Duve: Romantic reveals the romance . In: Spiegel Online . September 14, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 24, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Andrea Diener: Karen Duve on Droste: Going into school books, she wouldn't have wanted that . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine . November 8, 2018, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed June 23, 2019]).