Hermann Meister

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Hermann Meister (born April 5, 1890 , † August 8, 1956 in Heidelberg ) was a German publisher and writer .

Life

Meister was a friend of Herbert Grossberger , with whom he founded his first publishing house, in which only a small octave volume was published, in 1908 at the age of 18 and after the "name of the handwritten magazine that the literary enthusiast has been with since he was 16" Grossberger created, called Pendel-Verlag .

His second attempt with the Saturn publishing house was more successful. In addition to the magazine SATURN , from 1912 he was also able to publish the small books on Saturn and, with Die Flut, the first collection of expressionist prose, while Richard Weissbach published the first collection of expressionist poetry in Heidelberg with Der Kondor by Kurt Hiller .

In 1919 he changed the name to Verlag Hermann Meister , began publishing sports books and, since 1928, also added a series of small books to his program. In 1926 he also added a printing company to his publishing house, for whose operation he learned the printing trade on an autodidactic basis. Meister was enthusiastic about rugby and published a rugby newspaper: Deutsche Rugby-Zeitung . In his private life he also tried his hand at composing.

During the time of National Socialism he initially continued his activities and survived the closure of the publishing house and printing company in 1943 as managing director of a Schwetzingen printing company.

Soon after the end of the war he resumed his publishing activities and published 124 volumes alone in the series Die Kleine Meisterbücher , to which from 1946 he added a series of illustrated collector's prints - stories from world literature designed by artists - in the Sesam library . A total of about 450 books appeared in his publishing house; plus magazines and sports yearbooks.

Hermann Meister was also active as a writer: as a theater critic he wrote for various magazines, a. a. for Die Schaubühne , in 1910 ran a largely private literary cabaret Zum Wasseresel with his friends Theo Engel, Maxim Schneider and Grossberger for a short time and founded a puppet theater in 1914. After the Second World War he became involved in the Society of Music and Art Friends, which he directed from 1952.

Works (selection)

  • The rusted lyre. Pendel-Verlag, Heidelberg 1908.
  • The death of Joseph Hurka. With illustrations by Herbert Grossberger . In: Saturn 1 (1911) (after Roland Krischke a fantasy about Josef Breuer, head waiter of the Heidelberger Café Häberlin)
  • Fridolin G. Lechner. A complicated résumé. Saturn-Verlag Hermann Meister, Heidelberg 1912
  • Casanova in the sleeping car. Little Saturn Books. Saturn-Verlag Hermann Meister, Heidelberg 1913
  • A tenor bondini. Saturn-Verlag Hermann Meister, Heidelberg 1914
  • The friends. Essays. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1920
  • History of the rugby football game . Verlag Hermann Meister, Heidelberg 1921
  • The youth. Novellas. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1922
  • The church mouse and other fairy tales. Verlag Hermann Meister, Heidelberg 1923
  • The white heart . Hermann Meister publisher, Heidelberg 1925
  • The wheel. Aphorisms. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1931
  • Graduation to rugby. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1934
  • Memories of a baton. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1939
  • The return. Narrative. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1942
  • Life is stronger. Novellas. Hermann Meister publishing house, Heidelberg 1948

literature

  • Roland Krischke: A master of his trade. Series: Forgotten publishers (4): Meister-Verlag . Börsenblatt 87/2, November 1999, pp. 16-20
  • Roland Krischke: Kurt Wildhagen 1871-1949. The sage from Heidelberg . HVA, Heidelberg 1997, ISBN 3-8253-7110-7 , p. 32f .; P. 197
  • Thomas Hatry: Crowd - Hermann Meister and his publishers. Life summary and bibliography (1908-1956). Heidelberg, 2016.

Web links