Julius Kober

Memorial for Kober am Rennsteig, near the Suhler Ausspanne.

Memorial stone at the former forester's house Weidmannsheil in Steinbach am Wald

Julius Kober (born August 17, 1894 in Suhl , † July 28, 1970 in Staffelstein ) was a German homeland researcher , writer and from 1937 to 1970 head of the Rennsteig Association in Thuringia .

life and work

Julius Kober was born on August 17, 1894 in the Thuringian mountain town of Suhl as the second son of the dialect poet Friedrich Wilhelm Kober . He attended elementary school and then the upper secondary school, where he passed the Abitur in 1913. Already in his young years he devoted himself to educational hiking , looking after the homeland and protecting nature. From his father, Kober inherited his literary talent as well as the quality of loyalty to his home and sociability with other people. The Suhl dialect was spoken, cultivated and cared for at an early stage. Very soon he became interested in landscape and folklore studies, especially in the Thuringian Forest , which he roamed all over the place . During his traveling apprenticeship, the strong sense of home developed as a driving force for his extensive and successful work. Julius Kober's development was influenced by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Shaped by the war experiences, he wrote and composed several novels a . a. “Three chapters from the experience of a soldier at the front”, “Rolf Henneberg” and “On the life and death of a poet soldier”, later “So be your way”, “The German Day” and 1925 “Rennsteigzauber”.

He studied literature, art history and philosophy in Berlin and Marburg . During his studies in 1914 he became a member of the Hevellia Berlin fraternity . His studies were interrupted by the First World War, in which he fought as a volunteer , most recently as a lieutenant in the field artillery . After the war he continued to study in Berlin, where he met some German brothers as time volunteer a volunteer corps joined and 1919 on the suppression of the January Uprising of the Spartacus League was involved. In Marburg he became a time volunteer in the Marburg Student Corps (StuKoMa) of Bogislav von Selchow . In 1922 he was awarded a Dr. phil. PhD . The title of his doctoral thesis was: The dialect of the city of Suhl and the word-geographical boundaries of its surroundings . In it he proved that the Rennsteig forms a language barrier. North of the ridge trail is thüringisch and south (Suhl) Frankish spoken.

After the death of his father, he was given the leadership of the Joel community in Suhl. He himself appeared as the main actor . The folk play from “L last Schulzen von der Lütsche” or his fairy tale play set to music about “Dieter and Dietlinde's Rennsteigfahrt” were an essential contribution to German amateur literature. In the course of the performance of these pieces he was also recognized as the founder of the open-air forest theater at Suhler Friedberg.

At a young age, his path led him to the Rennsteigverein. As early as 1919 he was appointed to the board of directors for the late August Trinius , from 1920 onwards he revitalized the activities of the ski department and from that point on was successful in organizing hiking over the Rennsteig and other routes in the Thuringian Forest.

In 1932 he was entrusted with the editing of the messenger of the Rennsteig association "Das Mareile". He aroused enthusiasm for the Rennsteig. In an exemplary manner, Julius Kober understood how to combine and promote local research , nature conservation and hiking . Educational hiking was his special concern.

He gave countless lectures with self-recorded motifs in Thuringia and other German areas about his closer and wider homeland. In 1936 he was awarded the silver association pin for his "services to the German hiking issue".

Julius Kober led hikes under his direction, each beginning with a hiking saying. The book “Magic Rennsteigfahrt” proves that Julius Kober, as a poet and hiker, has penetrated deeply into the secrets of the ancient mountain trail.

The Lord God made wandering, the songs all with it,

So that you become a person with the other - you on you.

Julius Kober

After the outbreak of the Second World War , he was drafted into the Wehrmacht . He experienced fateful years (separation from family, his eldest son died as a soldier at the front). After several years in prison, Julius Kober was not allowed to return to his homeland, which was now part of the Soviet Zone . In 1948 he found a "substitute home" in Zapfendorf am Obermain in Bavaria . With the establishment of a mail order bookshop he created a new existence there.

He took over the management of the Rennsteig Association again and won many loyal hiking friends. There, through his commitment together with the newly won hiking friends, the Rennsteig Association was revitalized from 1950 onwards. This and the associated passing on of the tradition of the Rennsteigverein is Julius Kober's greatest post-war merit. In cooperation with the Thuringian daily newspaper in Würzburg , Julius Kober designed the Thuringian home calendar , which appeared annually. He also continued to work tirelessly as editor for the “Mareile”.

Appreciation

Julius Kober died on July 28, 1970. The Rennsteig Association revised and expanded what he had begun to say in 1996, in the 77th year of its existence, at the request of many hiking and homeland friends.

The Rennsteig Association placed a memorial stone for its long-term ruler in 1971 at the “Weidmannsheil” forest house. Another one has been at the Suhler Ausspanne since 1994.

From August 31, 2004 to January 9, 2005, the exhibition Julius Kober - a German way of life was on view in Suhl.

Fonts (selection)

• Magical Rennsteig ride. A Pentecost from the pre-war period (= Thuringian Home Library, Volume 6), Würzburg: Publ. Of the Thuringian daily Nonne 1961.
• Lecture book for the front and home. Exquisite pearls of serious and cheerful poetry from two centuries with instructions for the art of lecturing and programming , Gotha: Engelhard-Reyher 1944.
• Foreword in: Fuchsturm and Fuchsturmgesellschaft. Festschrift to celebrate d. 75th anniversary, ed. From the board of the Fuchsturmgesellschaft, Jena: Neuenhahn 1936.
• German forest, German people [Thuringia]. With 10 photos by Hermann Barthelmes, Weimar: Böhlau 1935.
• The fall of the stars (novel), Jena: Neuenhahn 1927.

Secondary literature

• Julius Kober. A German Way of Life, 1894–1970 (= Kleine Suhler Reihe, Volume 9), ed. v. City administration Suhl, cultural office, Suhl 2004.
• Norbert Moczarski: Julius Kober (1894-1970) - an eventful life near and far from the Thuringian Rennsteig, in: Yearbook of the Hennebergisch-Fränkisches Geschichtsverein, Volume 19 (2004), pp. 363-404.
• Rüdiger Haufe, Jürgen John , Justus H. Ulbricht: Julius Kober - a "Thuringian home keeper", "intellectual front-line fighter" and "fanatical National Socialist", in: Mitteilungsblatt des Rennsteig-Museum des Thüringer Rennsteigverein eV, (2003), issue 1, p 40-45.
• Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume II: Artists. Winter, Heidelberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8253-6813-5 , pp. 407-409.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information from the official website of the Rennsteigverein: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Critical article on Julius Kobers: Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.