Hans Kloepfer

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Hans Kloepfer (born August 18, 1867 in Eibiswald , Styria , † June 27, 1944 in Köflach ) was an Austrian doctor and writer who gained popularity primarily through his West Styrian dialect poetry.

Life

Hans Kloepfer was born as the second child of the surgeon and obstetrician Johannes Kloepfer and Ludovika Kloepfer. Fuchs was born in the western Styrian municipality of Eibiswald. His father was a surgeon who immigrated from Giengen an der Brenz and who took over a practice in Eibiswald. His mother came from a schoolmaster's family in St. Peter im Sulmtal . Kloepfer attended the elementary school in his place of birth from 1873 to 1877 , then moved with his sister to the 1st state high school in Graz , which he graduated in 1885. He later described his origins, childhood and youth in From the picture book of my life (1936). He then studied medicine at the University of Graz . He finished his studies in 1891. After a traineeship at the General Hospital on Paulustorgasse in Graz, he joined his father's practice in Eibiswald in 1893 . In 1894 he accepted the position of company doctor at the Alpine Montangesellschaft in Köflach, which he held until his death. From 1914 he also looked after the miners from Karschlacht I and II, in total he was responsible for the medical care of around 600 workers and their families. In 1902 Kloepfer married his childhood friend Martha Steiner, the daughter of the manager of a coal mine. This marriage had four children: Thomas, Hans, Mitzi and Käthe

With poems such as Dahoam , Da Ruß or Spätherbst, Hans Kloepfer made deep marks in the cultural history of Styria. As a passionate historical researcher, he wrote homeland books of poetic and bitter charm, as a narrator he wrote prose works in the tradition of homeland literature. Kloepfer was also musically gifted; he wrote the melody of the student song Vale universitas, which was taken over in the Kommers book .

His literary career began at an advanced age. He published his first book at the age of 45, and only appeared as a poet at the age of 57. His interest was, stimulated by reading Peter Rosegger's works, Styrian cultural studies and regional history. Due to his sick visits, he was in contact with the rural population and began to write down their oral stories and legends. He received scientific guidance from Viktor von Geramb and the composer Viktor Zack. In addition, he conducted detailed file studies in the Graz regional archive before he published Vom Kainachboden in December 1912 . From now on Kloepfer published in Styrian newspapers. In 1917 his popular dialect poem Da Ruß was printed in Heimatgrüße . In the early 1920s, Aus dem Sulmtale appeared . His poetry proved to be even more successful than his books. In 1924 Kloepfer published poems in book form for the first time. His poems in dialect would become his trademark.

Despite growing reputation as a poet, the medical profession was central to Kloepfer. For over fifty years he practiced as a company doctor, district doctor, stud doctor, family doctor, railway doctor, school doctor, poor doctor, monastery doctor and chief doctor of the Köflach rescue department that he founded.

Hans Kloepfer was and is controversial because of his German national attitude and his sympathy for National Socialism . In 1938 he welcomed the invasion and annexation of Austria to the German Reich in an election call for a “referendum” in April 1938 as a “festive bridal run”. In the same year he published a dialect Hitler poem in the Steirischer Bergbauerngruß : “ Write a tuat he si Hitler, / and we think so, / how far in the world / where you can find liabern .” Kloepfer also made a contribution on the Confession Book of Austrian Poets (published by the Association of German Writers Austria ), which enthusiastically welcomed the events of March 1938. Kloepfer became a member of the NSDAP on May 1, 1938 . The membership number 610.9231 came from a number that was reserved for “deserving Austrians”. The new regime promoted Kloepfer, his works were published several times during the Nazi era and were represented in numerous anthologies .

Kloepfer died on June 26, 1944 after a stroke at the age of 77 in Köflach, where he was buried. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels had wreaths laid at his funeral.

Commemoration

Hans Kloepfer Fountain in Eibiswald

In 1955, Hamerlingstrasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was renamed Kloepferstrasse , although there is no recognizable reference to Vienna. In Knittelfeld , Doktor-Hans-Klöpfer-Strasse was named after him. He is also the namesake of the "pennal student and graduate association Hans Kloepfer zu Voitsberg-Köflach" founded in 1976. When the city of Köflach and ORF Styria awarded a Kloepfer Prize in the course of the state exhibition in 1988, there were massive protests.

The Kloepfer Museum is housed in the house where Hans Kloepfer was born in Eibiswald No. 36. In addition to objects and memories from the life of Hans Kloepfer, exhibits on the customs and history of the region as well as old "Koralpen glasses", hand-blown glasses and bottles from the glassworks in the area can be seen.

The Hans Kloepfer circular hiking trail bears his name in the western Styrian district of Voitsberg .

Awards and honors

  • 1913 Silver Civil Merit Cross
  • 1925 Gold Cross of Merit for Doctors
  • 1925 honorary citizenship of Eibiswald
  • 1927 honorary citizenship of Köflach
  • 1929 honorary membership of the Historical Society for Styria
  • 1933 Gold Medal of Merit
  • 1937 honorary membership of the Association of German Writers
  • 1939 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Prize
  • 1941 Goethe Medal
  • 1941 honorary membership of the German Society for Gynecology
  • 1942 Raimund Prize
  • 1942 honorary citizenship of the city of Graz

Works

  • Vom Kainachboden , 1912, with illustrations by Emmy Hiesleitner-Singer
  • From the Sulmtale , 1922, with illustrations by Emmy Hiesleitner-Singer
  • Styrian picture book , 1930, with illustrations by Emmy Hiesleitner-Singer
  • Old time , 1932
  • Eibiswald , 7 deliveries, 1933–34
  • Poems in Styrian dialect, 1933
  • From the picture book of my life , 1935
  • What home gave me in 1936
  • Sulmtal and Kainachboden , 1936, with illustrations by Emmy Hiesleitner-Singer
  • Collected Poems , 1936
  • Styrian stories , 1937
  • Joahrlauf , 1937
  • Mountain farmers , 1938
  • Thanksgiving , 1939
  • From the French period , 1940
  • Around the Zigöllerkogl , 1940
  • Dahoam , 1941
  • Collected Poems, 1941
  • What my home gave me, 1941

as well as articles and articles in magazines and daily newspapers . Setting of the Vagantenlied by Kernstock , Singspiele and pieces for puppet theater .

literature

  • Herbert Blatnik, Walter Kienreich: Hans Kloepfer and his time. Lerchhaus, Eibiswald 1994, ISBN 3-901463-00-3 .
  • Erwin Macheiner: The Styrian dialect poet Hans Kloepfer. Life, work, language. 1985 (diploma thesis, University of Vienna, 1985).
  • Helga Oswald: Contributions to a Kloepfer monograph with special consideration of the epic work. 1982 (dissertation, University of Graz, 1982).
  • Heinz Rieder:  Kloepfer, Hans. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 111 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Jan Zimmermann : The FVS Foundation's Culture Awards 1935–1945. Presentation and documentation. Edited by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation FVS Christians, Hamburg 2000, pp. 129–138.
  • Kloepfer Hans. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1965, p. 418.
  • Harald Salfellner: But I stayed a doctor. Pictures from the life of Hans Kloepfer. Vitalis, Prague 2017, ISBN 978-3-89919-500-2 .
  • Uwe Baur, Karin Gradwohl-Schlacher, Literature in Austria 1938–1945. Manual of a literary system. Volume 1: Styria Vienna-Cologne-Weimar: Böhlau, 2008. ISBN 978-3-205-77809-7 .

Web links

Commons : Hans Kloepfer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Quotations from Ernst Klee : The cultural lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 314.
  2. ^ Association of German Writers Austria (Ed.): Confession Book of Austrian Poets. Krystall-Verlag, Vienna 1938.
  3. ↑ a b c Street names in Vienna since 1860 as “Political Places of Remembrance” (PDF; 4.4 MB), p. 71f, final research project report, Vienna, July 2013
personal data
SURNAME Kloepfer, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer and dialect poet
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Eibiswald
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1944
Place of death Köflach