Heidelberg in poetry
The city of Heidelberg is the subject of numerous works of literature, theater and music, including popular songs and hits that have become part of the general song collection. Heidelberg's reputation as a city of romance is often expressed .
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Johann Wolfgang Goethe lived in the Palais Boisserée with the Boisserée brothers at the foot of the castle and wrote the following poem there:
Rose and lily every
morning Blossoms in the garden near me;
At the back, bushy and cozy,
the rock climbs up ;
And surrounded by a high forest,
And crowned with a knight's castle, The
arch of the summit
turns , Until it is reconciled to the valley.
Friedrich Holderlin
Friedrich Hölderlin's poems about Heidelberg are among the most cited. In the Ode Heidelberg he raves about “the country's most beautiful rural town, as much as I saw”.
Heidelberg
I have loved you for a long time, I would like to
call you mother for my pleasure and give you an artless song,
You, the most beautiful of the country
towns, as much as I saw.
As the bird of the forest flies over the peaks,
Swings over the stream, where it shines past you,
Light and strong the bridge,
Which sounds from cars and people.
As if sent by gods, a magic once captivated
me on the bridge, as I passed by
And into the mountains
the charming distance seemed to me,
And the young man, the river, drew away into the plain,
sad and glad like the heart, when it is too beautiful to
go under, loving,
into the waters of time.
You had springs for him, had given the fleeting
cool shade, and the shores
all looked after him, and
her lovely image trembled from the waves.
But heavy in the valley the gigantic,
fortunate castle hung down to the ground,
torn by the weather;
But the eternal sun poured
its rejuvenating light over the aging
giant picture, and living
ivy was green around it ; friendly forests
rushed down over the castle.
Bushes bloomed down to where in the clear valley,
Leaned against the hill or on the bank,
Your cheerful streets
rest under fragrant gardens.
The original design for Friedrich Hölderlin's Ode Heidelberg has been part of the holdings of the Kurpfälzisches Museum since 1895 . The Heidelberg copy of the manuscript is a two-page draft version, which the poet has revised and updated several times with both ink and pencil. It comprises the first seven stanzas of the Ode, the most successful literary homage to date to the city on the Neckar. The first verse of the poem is - as - with incorrect Versabtrennung inscription on a memorial stone in the so-called Hölderlin system on Heidelberger Philosophenweg engraved .
Clemens Brentano
Heidelberg and its castle were much praised and described , especially in the Romantic era . Clemens Brentano composed the song about a student's arrival in Heidelberg .
The Neckar rushes out of green halls
and gives a joyful sound on the rock,
The city stretches down the river,
With a lot of noise and makes noises very cheerfully,
And over it on green mountains breast,
the castle rests big and sees the pleasure,
And there I up
I looked to the sky, I saw a work of God built,
From the king's chair to the holy mountain back
I saw a golden bridge blown up,
I saw the arched rainbow of peace
And saw him again in the waves of the river (...)
Jean Paul
In the 19th century, Heidelberg attracted the most famous German poets. Among them was Jean Paul , who was treated like a prince in the city:
“I have experienced hours here that I found under the most beautiful sky of my life, especially the water ride, the student's private life, and yesterday's chants (...) The sociable tone here is ease, decency and joy; four drunk punch bowls at Voss and 100 drunk wine bottles on the ship let this tone persist. "
Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine compares the large barrel with a coffin in which he wanted to bury his bad dreams:
The old, bad songs,
The dreams bad and bad,
Let us bury them now,
Get a big coffin.
I put some
things in there, but I don't say anything yet;
The coffin must be even bigger
Wies Heidelberger Faß.
Gottfried Keller
The Zurich poet Gottfried Keller stayed in Heidelberg to study from October 1848 to May 1850, where he heard the lectures of the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach , experienced the end of the Baden Revolution and fell unhappily in love with Johanna Kapp , daughter of the politician and philosophy professor Christian Kapp . He complained of his love pains to the stone Old Bridge and addressed it with the following verses:
Beautiful bridge, have carried me often,
When my heart beat expectantly
And with you I crossed the river.
And it seemed to me that your proud bows were
drawn along in a bold swing
and they felt my joy.
Woe to deception, as I now see,
When I pass over with grave suffering,
That no yoke is felt to bend the burden;
Should I go lonely in the mountains
And look for a weak footbridge, That
trembling submits to my grief?
But she, with other woes and sorrows,
and other bliss in her heart:
Easily bear the blooming figure!
Beautiful bridge, may you stand forever,
but it will never happen forever ,
That a better woman rushes over!
Joseph Victor von Scheffel
Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826–1886) wrote several poems about Heidelberg. One of these became popular as a student song in the setting of Simon Anton Zimmermann (1807–1876) . The Scheffel terrace opposite the castle was named after Scheffel .
Old Heidelberg, you fine,
you city rich in honor,
On the Neckar and on the Rheine,
no other is like you.
City of merry fellows,
heavy in wisdom and wine,
clear waves of the river,
blue eyes gleam.
And comes from the mild south
Spring across the country,
So it weaves you from blossoms
A shimmering bridal robe .
You are also written to me
in the heart like a bride,
It sounds like young love
your name trusts me so.
And the thorns stab me,
And it gets too bald
outside,
I give the horse the spurs
And ride into the Neckar valley.
Mark Twain
The American writer Mark Twain spent several months in Heidelberg in the summer of 1878 and wrote in his book A Tramp Abroad (German: A Tramp Abroad ) several chapters about his experiences in the city and with the local Corp. students .
Mark Twain begins his well-known essay Die terrible German language with a visit to Heidelberg Castle: “I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeper of it with my German. I spoke entirely in that language. He was greatly interested; and after I had talked awhile he said my German was very rare, possibly a 'unique'; and wanted to add it to his museum. ”[“ I often went to Heidelberg Castle to look at the cabinet of curiosities, and one day I surprised the director with my German, because I only spoke in this language. He showed great interest; and after I had talked for a while he said my German was very rare, possibly 'unique'; he wants to include it in his museum. "]
Wilhelm Meyer-Förster, Ernst Lubitsch, Sigmund Romberg
Alt-Heidelberg is the name of a play in five acts by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster . People: Karl Heinrich, Hereditary Prince v. Saxony-Karlsburg; Minister of State von Haugk; Court Marshal Baron von Passarge; Chamberlain Baron von Metzing; Baron von Breitenbach; Dr. phil. Jüttner; Valet Lutz, four students from the »Saxonia« corps: Detlev, Karl, Kurt, v. Wedell; Host Rüder and wife; Frau Dörffel, her aunt; Kellermann; the girl Käthie; various ducal servants and servants.
The piece stylizes the farewell, and Heidelberg is the train station for it. The following quotes show this and at the same time indicate the type of piece:
- Käthie (accompanies Karl-Heinrich, then suddenly, right in front of the door, her restrained pain breaks out in a desperate cry): You won't come back !!
- (...)
- Karl Heinrich (turns around again): I only loved you, Käthie, of all people only you. (Kisses her, goes.)
- Käthie (stands in silence, stares after him for a few seconds. Then she claps her hands over her face and sobs bitterly).
The first performance took place on November 22, 1901 at the Berlin theater, after which the play was repeatedly performed in Heidelberg.
The distance to tourism and the clichéd romantic love in the student town on the Neckar changed literary attitudes towards Heidelberg in the 20th century. Ernst Lubitsch edited Meyer-Förster's material in 1927 as a silent film under the title Alt-Heidelberg (Old Heidelberg).
The Student Prince : With this musical (text by Dorothy Donnelly, 1880–1928), which follows the plot of Alt-Heidelberg very closely, the American composer Sigmund Romberg (1887–1951) made the city famous in the USA. It came out on Broadway in 1924 and was the main item on the program at the Heidelberg Castle Festival for decades . There it was performed again in the castle courtyard in 2006. The musical was filmed in 1954 by Richard Thorpe . Mario Lanza sang the title role for the soundtrack.
Kurt Tucholsky
In the text If the hedgehogs in the evening hour, the writer Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935) caricatures Heidelberg's call:
Because the most beautiful place mine here on earth
is Heidelberg in Vienna on the Rhine.
Fred Raymond, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Ernst Neubach
The composer Friedrich Raimund Vesely (1900–1954), alias Fred Raymond , published a Singspiel in 1927 with the name I lost my heart in Heidelberg . The text comes from Fritz Löhner-Beda and Ernst Neubach . The main song became a hit back in 1925:
I lost my heart in Heidelberg on
a mild summer night.
I was in love up to my ears
and her mouth laughed like a rose.
And when we
said goodbye at the gates at the last kiss, I recognized it clearly:
that I lost my heart in Heidelberg.
My heart, it beats on the Neckar beach.
Frederik Hahn
The Heidelberg poet Frederik Hahn is known as a rapper under the name Torch . The text Wunderschön was written in 2008 when he left his hometown at the age of 35 and was set to music on the Heidelberg Mixtape CD .
Thomas Meinecke
Thomas Meinecke's novel Tomboy from 1998 is set in the Heidelberg university environment. In addition to long explanations on gender theories in the social sciences, a lot of space is also given to the local color of Heidelberg and the surrounding area.
Others
- Another well-known student song is Heidelberg, du Jugendbronnen , text Albrecht Graf Wickenburg , music Otto Lob
- Liselott , operetta about Liselotte von der Pfalz by Eduard Künneke (1932), whose first picture is set in Heidelberg.
- At Wilhelm Busch's pious Helene goes to Heidelberg on her honeymoon.
- The wreath of angels is the Heidelberg novel by Gertrud von le Fort , published in 1946.
- Heidelberger Romance was an extremely successful German feature film from 1951. OW Fischer and Liselotte Pulver playedunder the direction of Paul Verhoeven .
- Peggy March - After a number 1 hit on the US list, she came to Germany and won the 1965 German Schlager Festival in Baden-Baden with the song At 17, you still have dreams . From then on she had also made her international breakthrough. It brought Heidelberg back into musical memory. Memories of Heidelberg are memories of happiness ... (1967).
- By Heinrich Boell the story is you drive too often to Heidelberg .
- By Heinrich Eduard Jacob is the novel Jaqueline and the Japanese , with a focus on Berlin and Heidelberg.
- From Heinz Ohff (pseudonym: N. turning bird) is the work of our much beloved Heidelberg. N. Wendevogel's Heidelberg Romances (1953).
- At the foot of the German Alhambra comes from Joseph Stöckle . Heidelberg memories from the years 1870–1871 . In: Heidelberger Familienblätter - fiction supplement to the Heidelberger Zeitung , Part 1: No. 11 of February 6, 1889, pp. 42–43; Part 2: No. 12, February 9, 1889, pp. 46-48; Part 3: No. 13 from (?). February 1889, p. (?). Also from Stöckle: The foiled serenade. A true story from old Heidelberg . In: Heidelberger Fremdblatt , No. 33, April 24, 1889, pp. 130-131.
- Some of Bernhard Schlink's novels are set in Heidelberg - such as the crime novels Selbs Justiz , Selbs Betrug , Selbs Mord and his world success Der Vorleser .
- The band Advanced Chemistry has dedicated a song to the city: Heidelberg (1993). The song was set to music by Toni-L in 2007.
See also
literature
- Philipp Witkop : Heidelberg and German poetry. Haessel, Leipzig 1916.
- Rudolf K. Goldschmit : Heidelberg as material and motif of German poetry (= material and motive history of German literature. Volume 5). De Gruyter, Berlin 1929.
- Klaus Manger, Gerhard vom Hofe (ed.): Heidelberg in the poetic moment. The city in poetry and fine arts. Von Decker, Heidelberg 1987, ISBN 3-7685-4186-X .
- Hubert Driver , Karol Sauerland (Ed.): Heidelberg at the intersection of intellectual circles. On the topography of the “spiritual sociability” of a global village 1850–1950. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1994, ISBN 3-531-12656-3 .
- Oliver Fink: "Memories of happiness". How the place of remembrance of Alt-Heidelberg was invented, maintained and fought (= book series of the city of Heidelberg. Volume 9). Regionalkultur, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-89735-209-5 .
- Michael Buselmeier : Literary tours through Heidelberg. Das Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 3-88423-100-6 .
Anthologies
- Rudolf Karl Goldschmit (ed.): Heidelberg in poems and pictures. Hädecke, Stuttgart 1925.
- Emil Hartmann (Ed.): We praise you, Heidelberg. Poets and thinkers praise the city and the castle. 2nd, expanded edition. Brausdruck, Heidelberg 1958.
- Udo Benzenhöfer (Ed.): "Give you an artless song". Heidelberg Poems: An Anthology. Rigodon, Essen 1985, ISBN 3-924071-08-X .
- Michael Buselmeier (Ed.): Heidelberg Reading Book. Stadt-Bilder from 1800 to today (= Insel-Taschenbuch. Volume 913). Insel, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1986, ISBN 3-458-32613-8 .
- Sabine Underwood (ed.): Heidelberg in old and new travelogues (= Droste library of cities and landscapes. ). Droste, Düsseldorf 1993, ISBN 3-7700-0986-X .
- Albert Mays (Hrsg.): Heidelberg: Celebrated by poets and thinkers. With an afterword by Reinhard Düchting. Manutius, Heidelberg 1994, ISBN 3-925678-11-5 .
- Helmuth Kiesel (Hrsg.): Heidelberg in the poem. Twelve poems and interpretations (= Insel-Taschenbuch. Volume 1939). Insel, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1996, ISBN 3-458-33639-7 .
Web links
- Jutta Assel, Georg Jäger : Places of cultural memory: Heidelberg Part I. In: Goethezeitportal , as of June 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ I have loved you for a long time, I want you, | For pleasure, call me mother and | Give you an artless song, you who | Cities of the country Most beautiful rural areas, | As much as I saw. See pictures from Philosophenweg , Fig. 18.
- ↑ The old bad songs on Wikisource
- ↑ Alt-Heidelberg in the Gutenberg-DE project
- ↑ Philipp Redl: Philipp Witkops excursion "Heidelberg and the German Poetry" (1916). In: Wilhelm Kreutz, Wilhelm Kühlmann , Hermann Wiegand (Hrsg.): The Wittelsbacher and the Electoral Palatinate in modern times. Between Reformation and Revolution. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2013, pp. 851–863.