Gustav Schwab

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Gustav Schwab (1850) Signature Gustav Schwab (cropped) .jpg

Gustav Benjamin Schwab (born June 19, 1792 in Stuttgart , † November 4, 1850 there ) was a German pastor , high school professor and writer who is counted at the Swabian school of poetry . With his legends of classical antiquity (1838-1840) he created a classic of German-language children's and youth literature .

life and work

Cover picture for the legends of classical antiquity (1925)
Gomaringen Castle (2007), Schwabs residence 1837–1841
Gravestone of Gustav Schwab and his wife in the Hoppenlaufriedhof in Stuttgart
Memorial stone in Friedrichshafen

Origin and education

Gustav Schwab was the son of the Privy Councilor Johann Christoph Schwab , who was temporarily professor at the Hohen Karlsschule , and his wife Friederike, daughter of a respected Stuttgart merchant and niece of Johann Heinrich Dannecker . The house where he was born at Königstrasse 51 in Stuttgart has been destroyed.

Schwab grew up in the evangelical-humanistic atmosphere of the Swabian educated bourgeoisie (in the tradition of Württemberg honorableness ). He attended the High School illustrious in Stuttgart and studied in 1809 as a fellow of the Protestant congregation in Tübingen at the city's Eberhard Karls University for two years philology and philosophy and later theology .

Activity as a high school teacher

In December 1817 he received a professorship for ancient languages at the upper grammar school (today's Eberhard Ludwigs grammar school ) in Stuttgart.

A few months later he married Sophie Gmelin , the daughter of law professor Friedrich von Gmelin .

Activity as an editor

From 1825 he worked for twenty years on the papers for literary entertainment published by FA Brockhaus Leipzig .

At the beginning of 1828 he joined the editorial team of the traditional publishing house of Johann Friedrich Cotta , which published the morning paper for educated classes . With this key literary position, he became a patron of younger authors. He promoted the Swabian authors Wilhelm Waiblinger , Alexander von Württemberg , Gustav Pfizer , Hermann Kurz , Eduard Mörike and Wilhelm Hauff . But also non-Swabian authors like August von Platen , Nikolaus Lenau , Anastasius Grün and Ferdinand Freiligrath could enjoy his support.

Parish office and literary activity in Gomaringen

In 1837 he took over the pastor's office in the village of Gomaringen at the foot of the Swabian Alb and, besides teaching, preaching became one of his favorite activities.

With a work written in Gomaringen, Schwab has become the mediator of the Greco-Roman world of legends and gods for many generations of children and young people . He compiled the great epics of antiquity from 1838 to 1840 from original texts, translated them into German and retold them with great pedagogical impetus, and made cuts and mitigations of the cruel and erotic passages. The legends of classical antiquity in three volumes, although primarily aimed at young people, have strongly influenced the reception of Greek and Roman mythology in German-speaking countries to this day, including among adults .

The fact that Schwab was not free from anti-Semitic resentment is shown in the following message to his lifelong friend, the theologian Carl Christian Ullmann : “I made collections and folk tales with love; I am happy when they find love again. In these bad times, when young Germany wanted to plant the iniquity of desolation and, also persecuted, blackened it, I could go all the way to the wonderland of poetry from the accursed and wicked daily literature, where Judaism, with all its disgusting vices, lies , Bragging rights and cowardice, flattery and slander prevail, rescue them. "

Return to Stuttgart

In 1841 he received the parish of St. Leonhard in Stuttgart, in 1842 he became dean and in 1845 senior consistorial councilor of the higher schools in Württemberg . In 1847 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Tübingen.

He died on November 4, 1850 in Stuttgart of incorrect medical treatment. His grave is in the Hoppenlauf cemetery in Stuttgart , as is Wilhelm Hauff's .

Aftermath

A bust of Schwab can be found at Hasenbergsteige 22 above the Schwab Tunnel on Schwabstrasse, which is named after him, in the west of Stuttgart . A memorial stone is on the promenade in Friedrichshafen. The Gustav Schwab Museum has been located in Gomaring Castle since 1998 and shows, among other things, pieces of furniture from Schwab's possession and editions of works.

The Swabian Heimatbund has been awarding the Gustav Schwab Prize every two years since 2009 . Outstanding studies in all disciplines about the Swabian region are honored.

Works

Schwab is regarded as a member of the Swabian School of Poetry, his poem Der Reiter und der Bodensee is one of the better-known German poems.

His poem " Das Gewitter " achieved greater fame in the 20th century through Heinz Erhardt , who paraphrased and condensed it, but did not change the core message (several generations die from lightning).

  • Wanderings through Swabia , 1837 (first published as vol. 2 of the series The picturesque and romantic Germany ).
  • Book of the most beautiful stories and legends told again for old and young . SG Liesching, Stuttgart 1836-1837.
  • The most beautiful sagas of classical antiquity. According to its poets and storytellers . SG Liesching, Stuttgart 1838–1840:
  • Schiller's life in three books . SG Liesching, Stuttgart 1840 ( digitized ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Gustav Schwab  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Gustav Schwab  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ Gunter Grimm: The factotum of the muses. For the 200th birthday of the writer and educator Gustav Schwab ; accessed March 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ Gottlob Wassermann: Gustav Schwab, the noble bard of Swabia.
  3. ↑ Hampp, Bernhard, Odysseus von der Alb. Gustav Schwab Museum in Gomaringen . In: Bernhard Hampp, Schwaben erlesen! Württemberg for friends of literature and bibliophiles . Gmeiner Verlag, Meßkirch 2017, ISBN 3839221234 , pp. 72-75.
  4. ^ Gustav Schwab in Gomaringen , website of the Gomaringen Castle Museum; accessed March 14, 2020.
  5. ^ Gustav Schwab Prize for young scientists , website of the Swabian Homeland Association; accessed March 14, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Schwab, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwab, Gustav Benjamin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor, high school professor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1792
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1850
Place of death Stuttgart