Josef Cornelius (poet)

Relief by Josef Cornelius at the Schängelbrunnen

Josef Cornelius (born April 13, 1849 in Koblenz ; † December 4, 1943 there ) was a German dialect poet . He is the creator of the Schängelliedes , the hymn of Koblenz.

Life and work

The Schängelbrunnen in the courtyard

Josef Cornelius was a shoemaker by profession . After working in England for a few years , he founded a shoe factory in Koblenz on his return in 1906. In 1920 this moved to a new five-storey building on Moselweißer Strasse. Today's Koblenz shoe store Lahr has its roots in this shoe factory. The Lahr family is the direct descendant of Cornelius.

Cornelius was actively involved in the Koblenz carnival and was a gifted handwritten speaker . As early as 1890 he wrote the poem “Tour off dä Keehkopp”, a homage to the Kühkopf in the Koblenz city forest . Cornelius was an avid gymnast and so he created many gymnastics and hiking songs.

Shortly before Shrove Monday 1914, Cornelius was asked to dedicate a song to the Koblenz Schängel . He immediately began to write the lyrics for the song. The melody was created by the music dealer and composer Carl Wilhelm Kraehmer (1874–1918), who lived in his neighborhood on Jesuitenplatz in Koblenz. The happy song with the title “Dat Cowelenzer Schängelche” became a huge success and over the years it became the anthem of the people of Koblenz.

In 1928 Cornelius published “Heiteres aus Meine Vaterstadt”, a selection of his songs and poems. On his 90th birthday, the city of Koblenz wanted to erect a memorial to Schängel in his honor. Due to the outbreak of war, the Schängelbrunnen was only inaugurated in 1941.

Honors

• A relief of his head has been decorating the Schängelbrunnen in the courtyard since 1941
• Josef-Cornelius-Straße in Koblenz-Wallersheim has been named after him since February 11, 1971.

literature

• Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. Verlag für Werbung Blätter GmbH, Ed .: Bernd Weber, Mülheim-Kärlich 2005 (2nd revised and expanded edition), pp. 118f.

Web links

• The Schängellied to listen to (with sheet music)