Fritz Schultz-Merzdorf

Fritz Schultz-Merzdorf as Heidelberger Rhenane

Fritz Schultz-Merzdorf (born June 7, 1890 in Merzdorf near Schwiebus , † September 10, 1956 in Oldenburg iO ) was a German sheep farmer and writer .

Life path

Schultz-Merzdorf was born under the name Fritz Schultz as the son of the manor owner Heinrich Schultz on his father's estate Merzdorf near Schwiebus . He attended grammar school in Frankfurt (Oder) and, after graduating from high school, studied law in Heidelberg , Munich and Greifswald from autumn 1908 . In Heidelberg he was a member of the Corps Rhenania and acted as chairman of the student body.

In 1912 he passed the legal traineeship exam and received his doctorate. jur. However, he soon gave up his legal career and began studying agricultural sciences in Berlin . From 1914 he was a one-year volunteer sergeant at the border guards in the east and took part in the battles near Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes .

After the First World War , he took over the management of his father's manor in Merzdorf, where he established one of the most important German merino sheep breeds. For his services, he received the hiking award from the Reich Ministry of Food three times for the best German sheep breeding. Due to the rye pollution in the 1930 inflation, he gave up the estate and moved to Berlin. There he became chairman of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Roggenschuldner , which represented the interests of around 10,000 landowners and farmers. He also remained connected to sheep breeding and in 1931 published the manual Die deutsche Merino-Stammschäferei .

In 1939 he took over the management of a complex of several manors around the Kwilecki Castle (Lärchensee) in the occupied district of Birnbaum ( Warthegau ) . Schultz-Merzdorf founded a shepherd school for the Warthegau and several seed cultivations in the occupied area. After being expelled and losing his position, he settled in Oldenburg after 1945.

Literary work

Soon after the First World War, Schultz-Merzdorf began writing historical novels. He published a total of five works:

Swebyssen

Published with the subtitle Roman aus der Grenzmark (Berlin 1922). The action takes place against the background of the conflicts between Brandenburg and Poland in the first half of the 14th century. In the summer of 1319, the cities of Schwiebus (Swebyssen) , Züllichau and Liebenau were ceded to their uncle, the Ascanian Waldemar Margrave of Brandenburg , in exchange by the dukes Heinrich IV and Primislaus / Primko II of Glogau . The knight Botho von Herrenstein is appointed castle captain in Swebyssen and moves into the castle with his younger brother Gottfried. With Waldemar's death and the early demise of his cousin and heir Heinrich II of Brandenburg , the city reverts to Duke Primislaus / Primko; Botho von Herrenstein changes to his service and starts expanding the city defense. Swebyssen is involved in the conflict between Pope John XXII. and Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian or his son Ludwig , whom he had enfeoffed with the Mark Brandenburg in 1323, when Polish and Lithuanian cavalry troops invade Brandenburg at the instigation of Bishop Stephan II of Lebus and also besiege Swebyssen. Ignatz Skarpinski, a wealthy citizen of Polish descent, tries to betray the city to the Poles, but is discovered and expelled in time.

In the meantime, the plague has found its way into the city and decimates the population considerably. Botho von Herrenstein also fell ill, but was nursed back to health by Mechthildis, the daughter of Mayor Knispel. In the dispute over the latter, Botho and Gottfried von Herrenstein break up.

With the help of a secret passage made accessible to him by a pagan-Suebian priestess, the traitor Skarpinski finally succeeds in gaining the Poles entrance into the city and the castle. Botho von Herrenstein fell in the fighting, his brother Gottfried, with whom he was still reconciled, was able to escape with his bride Mechthildis and took over the family castle in the Swabian homeland.

The novel, in particular the anti-Polish resentments and stereotypes, are to be interpreted in the context of the events after the First World War. The current situation - border and defensive battles -, perhaps also Schultz-Merzdorf's own experience with border protection, is reflected in the historical narrative.

The victim of the marquise

The Marquise's Sacrifice, title page

Published by the Deutsche Landbuchhandlung GmbH publishing house (Berlin 1925) with the subtitle Roman aus dem alten Preußen . The focus of the novel is the Prussian officer and diplomat Hans Hennig von Roenne. Entrusted with an important mission to Paris by the king, with whom he is in high favor, he falls into the clutches of the scheming French ambassador Marquis de Foucauld-Martin, who uses a family crisis to instigate his wife, Roenne, who is in love with her distracted by a rendezvous while he himself searches Roenne's diplomatic bag. Disavowed by the affair, Roenne says goodbye to the army and disappears without a trace.

Outfit and lady's hat

Published by the Deutsche Landbuchhandlung GmbH publishing house (Berlin 1928) with the subtitle Roman aus dem alten Preußen . Outfit and boys hat continues the plot of The Marquise's Sacrifice . The first part is mainly about Hans Henning von Roenne's younger brother Achim as a student at the Frankfurt Viadrina . In these chapters, Schultz-Merzdorf, as an old student in the corps, takes up numerous elements of the classic student novel ( courses , bars and arguments with the academic authorities). Achim von Roenne gave up his university studies, joined the Prussian army temporarily and took over the management of his father's property after the death of his father.

In a second part, Hans Henning von Roenne appears again, who has joined the troops fighting the Turks as a simple Cornet and there by chance meets Count Landelot, brother of the Marquise, who - fatally wounded in a battle - shortly before his Death testifies to his sister's innocence in Roenne's fate. Hans-Henning von Roenne was able to return home rehabilitated, rejoined the royal guard and later fell in the Battle of Leuthen.

The Petersdorf brothers

A historical novel from the Thirty Years' War (Essen 1948)

Count Anton Günther's horses

A novel about horses and women (Oldenburg iO 1950).

Web links

• Search for Fritz Schultz-Merzdorf in the SPK digital portal of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation