Mr. von Ribbeck on Ribbeck in Havelland

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Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland is a ballad by Theodor Fontane from 1889.

content

Fontane tells the story of the generous Mr. von Ribbeck on Ribbeck in the Havelland . He gives away the pears of the tree in his garden to children who come by, whom he addresses in Brandenburg flat ("Lütt Dirn, kumm man röwer, ick hebb 'ne pear"). His son, on the other hand, is stingy . When old Ribbeck feels that his death is near, he orders that a pear be placed in his grave for him. From this a new pear tree sprouts, the fruits of which the children can continue to use freely, although his inheritance keeps the garden and the tree there under lock and key from now on.

"So Segen still donates the Hand
Des von Ribbeck on Ribbeck in the Havelland."

background

The stump of the old pear tree in Ribbeck's village church
Newly planted pear tree next to Ribbeck church

The real model for Fontane's figure is Hans Georg von Ribbeck (1689–1759). Its story appeared for the first time in 1887 in Karl Eduard Haase's collection of sagas from the County of Ruppin and was also published in the Brandenburg weekly Der Bär in May 1889 . From the crypt of those of Ribbeck, until it was knocked over by a storm on February 20, 1911, a pear tree actually grew, the stump of which is now kept in Ribbeck's village church . In the 1970s a tree was replanted, but it did not carry as desired; therefore another new planting took place in April 2000. The double roof house mentioned by Fontane did not yet exist at the time of Hans Georg von Ribbeck.

The old Ribbeck and the pear tree were the subject of at least one other poem before Fontane, created in 1875 by Hertha von Witzleben , a granddaughter of Karl Friedrich Ernst von Ribbeck.

History of the manuscript

With the help of the original manuscript , which consists of three pages - partly in pencil and partly in ink - the origin of the work can be traced by means of the corrections it contains. The manuscript was auctioned off to a German private collector in 2007 for 130,000 euros. Previously, the company had estimated proceeds of just 30,000 euros. The previous history of the manuscript is largely unknown. Contrary to a rumor to the contrary, Fontane had not bequeathed it to the von Ribbeck family, but was in the possession of Fontane's heirs until at least 1933. On October 9, 1933, they tried in vain to have it auctioned at the Berlin auction house Meyer & Ernst .

Design of the poem

The ballad consists of four stanzas of ten verses each, only the second stanza has twelve verses, whereby the two superfluous form exactly the center of the symmetrically laid out poem. Meter and rhyme show that it is a Knittel verse . Each verse has four uplifts with free subsidence fillings. This means that there are four stressed syllables per verse and the space between and before the first accentuation is filled with one or two unstressed syllables freely distributed. Before the first accentuation, there can be no decrease at all, so the verse begins with a stressed syllable. The rhyme is a couple rhyme. This loosely combined form of the Knittel verse is particularly suitable for narrative poems and has been popular since the Middle Ages, especially for popular poems or poems that imitate the popular tone of voice. In contrast to the looseness of the meter stands the rigor of the cadence formation . Each verse ends masculine, i.e. H. with a stressed syllable. This means that around half of the German words are excluded from the design of the mailing. Fontane brings the verse into balance in terms of meter and cadence. This is characteristic of the art ballad and distinguishes it from the folk ballad .

In terms of content, all stanzas revolve around old Ribbeck and the pear tree, the fruits of which he generously gives to the children. The ballad shows a falling plot in the first two stanzas because old Ribbeck dies and the years of enjoyment of the given pears seem to end. This first part culminates in the child's suit in the two closing verses of the second stanza, which, due to their excess, form exactly the middle of the poem. In the last two stanzas, the plot increases again until the children are restored to their old state: they now receive the pears from the tree on Ribbeck's grave. Here, too, the last two verses are a kind of summary. This gives the ballad symmetry and framing, which is even reflected in the choice of words in the first and last verses.

In every stanza there are similar expressions and phrases that run through the poem as set pieces like a red thread and hold it together. Fontane thus achieves two things: he imitates the tone of popular ballads and, by applying the principle of variation (different choice of words, different contexts) shows at the same time virtuoso mastery in handling the building blocks with which he composes the poem.

The ballad usually contains features of the three literary genres, which it also does here. As a narrative poem, it makes use of the design features of lyric (verse, meter, rhyme) and epic (depicting the course of the plot). Verbatim speech is the defining feature of drama .

Ballads tell of incidents in which the extraordinary, the uncanny or the gruesome happen. According to the division of the poem into two parts, some of this happens in the second and fourth stanzas. It is unusual that Ribbeck allows himself to be buried with a pear and that his plan to give the children pears even after his death actually works. In the last verse, the words Ribbeck used to draw the children's attention to the ripe pears are placed in the tree's mouth, so that when walking through the cemetery, the tree's whispering atmosphere creates a fairytale-like, but not eerie atmosphere. At the same time, these words create the framework that connects the beginning and the end.

reception

According to Dirk Ippen, Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland is one of the hundred poems that were most frequently published in German-language anthologies in the 20th century . Marcel Reich-Ranicki took the ballad into his canon of German literature . The poem also found its way into school lessons and its treatment is included in many curricula to this day, so that it is one of the most famous poems in Germany.

The Ribbeck pear tree, which was lost in 1911, became the subject of a poem by Pastor Karl Boelcke, who was officiating in Ribbeck at the time in question; it was published in 1932 in the Märkische Heimat magazine.

Settings of Fontane's ballade can be found on the album Regenballade by Achim Reichel and on the album Schöne singt Kindergedichte by Gerhard Schöne . Another setting is published on the CD Outing by the Saarland songwriter Wolfgang Winkler.

Mr. von Ribbeck is also quoted by Reinhard Mey in the song Dunkler Rum in the refrain :

"Dark rum in a dented canister and the children call me 'Mister' or" le bon 'ti vieux musicien allemand ". And I still have a mark in my hand for each one, like Ribbeck on Ribbeck in the South Sea island. Oh oui, moi bien content. "

as well as in his song Sorry, Poor Old Germany :

"Man, could you see Ribbeck's great-grandchildren on Ribbeck in the Havelland! The laces open for you, my dear Theo Fontane! Ribbeck's pear tree has long been ashes, and the good-natured former child friend fills his pocket as a dealer: 'Come here, baby! Want a joint? '"

The poem and pear tree are also mentioned in the Pfarrer Braun episode Heiliger Birnbaum .

In Friedrich Christian Delius ' story Die Pears von Ribbeck from 1991, the new planting becomes a symbol for the presumptuous treatment of the West with the people of the former GDR . In 2000, a new plant really took place, because the tree planted in the 1970s did not bear fruit as desired.

Matthias Bonitz set the poem to music for soprano, cello and piano in June 2019.

Web links

Wikisource: Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland (Fontane)  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The pear tree on vonribbeck.de, accessed on October 13, 2016
  2. ↑ a b For this entire paragraph: Welt.de , accessed on January 3, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b The poetry book Herr von Ribbeck on vonribbeck.de, accessed on October 13, 2016
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Schneider Writing by hand pays off . FAZ.net , June 26, 2007
  5. ↑ Dirk Ippen (ed.): Des summer's last roses: The 100 most popular German poems . Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-48199-X , p. 5.
  6. ↑ reinhard-mey.de
  7. ↑ http://www.bonitz-classic.de/werksverzeichnis.html , accessed on June 26, 2019