Geographic sermons

The Geographical sermons are a series of eight instructive essays of Karl May , the 1875 / 76 in the journal shaft and cottage , no. 15-46 ( publisher HG Münchmeyer , Dresden were published).

In 1899, in a dispute with Fedor Mamroth , May declared that he had already presented the exact plan of all his works in these geographic sermons and that he always faithfully adhered to them.

content

1. Heaven and Earth
2. Land and water
3. Berg and Thal
4. Forest and field
5. Man and animal
6. Electricity and road
7. Urban and countryside
8. House and yard

In the Geographical sermons that are didactic intentions Mays most clearly. They start from a very broad geographic term . What May intended was a “popular enlightenment” in the sense of Christian educators and writers of the 19th century such as Ludwig Aurbacher . In the eight sermons May combines religious, scientific, natural philosophical and entertaining elements. As evidence for the statements of the author not only the verses of poets like Schiller , Lenau and Freiligrath (also own poems quoted May) are cited, but also humorous verses from the vernacular . The topics May deals with are correspondingly broad. The titles of the essays are carefully designed the same. Again and again it is about opposites: heaven and earth, land and water, electricity and road.

May's lines of thought always go far. The essay on heaven and earth is based on the Prometheus myth ; instructive remarks about astronomy and its history follow . At the end of the text there are theological remarks again.

With the greatest of ease succeeds May in electricity and street of his reflections on the land and waterways to move to the "professional Begehern" of the streets, the streamers .

Christoph F. Lorenz ruled in 1981:

“Some things in these Geographical Sermons may only seem curious to a contemporary reader; the agility with which Karl May connects seemingly absurd things with one another, namely school knowledge , philosophy and religious ideas as well as popular humor , is undoubtedly remarkable.

The geographic sermons are not a great work of art ; but they are undoubtedly some of the most enjoyable and relaxed texts of May. A real philanthropist speaks from them ; only in his later work May once again show his true colors and name his religious and philosophical convictions. "

Main ideas (after F. Prüfer)

1. All life is aiming beyond itself.
2. Man's spirit triumphs over the forces of nature.
3. The hand of the One rules the great world context alone.
4. Man is a link in the chain of nature.
5. Plants and animals are animated beings, internally related to humans.
6. The people are supposed to rule the earth spiritually.
7. Humanity can only achieve its goal through union.
8. Through humanity to peace among nations!

The close relationship between these guiding principles and the central ideas of the late work cannot be overlooked.

Work history

The only verifiable copy of the Geographical Sermons appeared in 1875/76. The 3rd edition 1880 , which was always listed later in Kürschner's literary calendar, is evidently fiction; a contemporary book edition is not proven.

In his 1899 text Karl May and his opponents , May mentions his geographic sermons and names five of the chapter headings. Here he explicitly mentions the “complete disposition” of his works and notes:

“... anyone who has not read the 'Geographical Sermons' is completely unable to know my requirements and goals, to understand my way of doing things, to understand my thinking and will and to make a fair judgment about my works; the gentlemen from the criticism, however, it seems, did not take the slightest notice of them. "

This judgment of May is of course not entirely fair, since the Geographical Sermons were published 23 and 24 years earlier in a magazine that was soon out of print!

Euchar Albrecht Schmid did not find a complete copy of the magazine year until 1916 and was able to publish the Geographical Sermons as a separate print in 1916, albeit with serious edits. They later found a place in “Ich” (GW34) of the Collected Works ; from 1968 then in shaft and hut (GW72), where they can still be found today.

The original text of the Geographical Sermons was presented in 1979 by the Olms-Presse as part of a complete reprint of the first (and only) year of Schacht und Hütte .

Others

In 1921 the text was translated into Hungarian ( Az ember és világa ).

A quote from Helmut Schmiedt may serve as a hermeneutical key to a deeper understanding of Karl May's geographic sermons :

“Karl May only exists among the unsuspecting as a gross motorist and a useless resident of the literary basement; however, their number is great. Werner Bergengruen pointed out an elementary dilemma a long time ago: 'Karl May is to be enjoyed naively or from a higher point of view. His opponents are people who have lost their naivete, but have not known how to occupy that higher point. '"

literature

• Fritz Prüfer: Karl May's “Geographical Sermons”: a program. In: Karl May Year Book 1921, pp. 94–114.
• Werner Bergengruen : About Karl May , in: Schweizer Bücher-Zeitung and Anzeiger for the Swiss book trade , Zurich 59 (1947) 84 f.
• Klaus Hoffmann: Foreword . In: shaft and hut. Leaves for entertainment and instruction for miners, smelters and machine workers. Reprint. Olms Press Hildesheim / New York 1979.
• Christoph F. Lorenz: entertainment and instruction. On the Olms reprint “Schacht und Hütte” , in: M-KMG 47 (1981) p. 39 (online) , p. 40 (online) , p. 41 (online) .
• Bernhard Kosciuszko / Christoph F. Lorenz: The old year books. Documents from earlier Karl May research - an inventory (materials on Karl May research, Volume 8, edited by Karl Serden, Ubstadt / Baden, on behalf of the Karl May Society eV), Ubstadt: KMG-Presse 1984, Page 22 ff. (Online at karl-may-gesellschaft.de)
• Euchar Albrecht Schmid / Roland Schmid: Geographical sermons. Search for ancient texts . In: 75 Years of Karl May Verlag , 1988.
• Erich Heinemann : "Poetry as wish fulfillment". A collection of sayings about Karl May (materials for Karl May research 13), ed. by Karl Serden, Ubstadt 2nd edition 1992.
• Dieter Sudhoff : Geographical Sermons. In: Gert Ueding (Ed.): Karl-May-Handbuch. Publishing house Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2001, p. 460 f. ISBN 3-8260-1813-3
• Helmut Schmiedt : Karl May or The Power of Fantasy. A biography , Munich 2012.
• Peter Hofmann : The geographical preacher and his gospel. Religious-philosophical texts and sub-texts in Karl May's work . In: Yearbook of the Karl May Society 2015, pp. 223–255.
• Peter Hofmann: Karl May and his gospel. Theological attempt on camouflage and hermeneutics , Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh 2016, esp.p. 14, 19, 37, 59, 61, 65, 70, 76 f., 122, 127, 148, 167.
• Hermann Wohlgschaft : An “undogmatic Christianity” or how “Christian” did Karl May think? In: Yearbook of the Karl May Society 2017, pp. 279–313.
• Hans-Jürgen Düsing: A Brief History of Geographical Sermons , in: Mitteilungen der Karl-May-Gesellschaft 50 (2018) 36–43.

Web links

• Text at zeno.org .
• Entry in the book database .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Karl May: May against Mamroth. Answer to the "Frankfurter Zeitung" , in: Yearbook of the Karl May Society 1974, p. 131 ff. (Online) , here p. 133.
2. ↑ Christoph F. Lorenz: entertainment and instruction. On the Olms reprint “Schacht und Hütte” , in: M-KMG 47 (1981) p. 41 (online) .
3. ↑ KMJb 1921, pp. 108-110; quoted from Bernhard Kosciuszko, Christoph F. Lorenz: Die alten Jahrbücher ... , 1984, page 23.
4. ↑ http://karl-may-buecher.de/textdetails.php?_id=460
5. ^ Reprinted in: Karl May: May gegen Mamroth. Answer to the "Frankfurter Zeitung" , in: Yearbook of the Karl May Society 1974, p. 131 ff. (Online) , here p. 135.
6. ↑ Düsing: A Brief History ... , 2018, p. 38 ff.
7. ↑ Helmut Schmiedt: Karl May or The Power of Fantasy. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 323 (Werner Bergengruen: Über Karl May , in: Schweizer Bücher-Zeitung and Anzeiger für den Schweizerischen Buchhandel , Zurich, vol. 59, 1947, p. 84 f., Quoted from Erich Heinemann: “Poetry as wish fulfillment” ... , 1992, p. 8).