Jakob Ayrer

Jakob Ayrer the Elder (* March 1544 in Nuremberg ; † March 24, 1605 or 1625 there ) was a German playwright and author of carnival games .

Life

Little is known about Ayrer's living conditions. Jakob Ayrer was the son of the sculptor Christoph Ayrer . He lived as an iron merchant in Nuremberg, later he settled in Bamberg ; probably at the city's University then probably to study theology and law. During this time he can be verified as procurator for some time .

In 1593 he was expelled from the city and returned to Nuremberg. There he was granted citizenship a year later . He earned his living as an emperor. Notary and procurator at the Nuremberg City Court. As such, he married Susanne Neukam in 1568. With her he had five daughters and six sons, including Jakob Ayrer, who later became a lawyer , the younger .

Ayrer was the last significant exponent of the carnival game and a very prolific writer. However, it is uncertain whether any of his 106 pieces (69 have been handed down) had ever seen a performance.

Jakob Ayrer is completely in line with Hans Sachs . Ayrer's work can be seen in the context of the appearance of English traveling actors in Germany around 1600. In addition to adaptations of works by William Shakespeare and Robert Brown , Ayrer found his subjects mostly in Greek mythology and Roman antiquity. But he also borrowed literary literature from German popular books and Schwänken .
What is new at Ayrer are the numerous stage instructions, the assumption of the fool character Jan Posset, the use of elaborate sets and costumes and the large number of actors on the stage. Ayrer's works pursue a didactic goal and strive for the religious and moral improvement of the viewer.

In 1618, friends and heirs arranged the Edition Opus Theatricum , a collection of 66 works by Ayr, in his memory. This was printed and published by Balthasar Scherff in Nuremberg.

Works (selection)

• About the building of Rome. 1595.
• From the beautiful Melusina. 1598.
• Of three bad women. 1598.
• By two brothers from Syragusa (after William Shakespeare ).
• Comedia from the beautiful Sidea. 1605.
• Mirror of female discipline and honor. 1618.
• Opus Theatricum. Scherff, Nuremberg 1618.

literature

• Karl W. Schmitt: Jakob Ayrer. A contribution to the history of German drama. Elwert, Marburg 1851.
• Jakob Franck :  Ayrer, Jakob . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 708-710.
• Gottfried Höfer: The education of Jakob Ayrers. Weber, Leipzig 1929.
• Willi Flemming:  Ayrer, Jakob. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 472 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Hans G. Sachs: The German Carnival Games from the beginning to Jakob Ayrer. Dissertation, University of Tübingen 1957.
• Oskar Frankl: The Jew in German poetry of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Diss. Phil. University of Vienna . Papauscheck, Mährisch-Ostrau 1905; Verlag Robert Hoffmann, Leipzig 1905, p. 96, 99–112. Scan from the University of Toronto .

Web links

• Literature by and about Jakob Ayrer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by Jakob Ayrer at Zeno.org .
• Entry about Jakob Ayrer ( memento from July 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) on Literature in Context , a multilingual project of the University of Vienna (in German , archived from the original ).
• Jakob Ayrer in the Bavarian literature portal (project of the Bavarian State Library )