Royal Highness

This article is about Thomas Mann's novel, Royal Highness ; for the 1953 film of the same name, based on the novel, see Royal Highness (film) , for the salutation Royal Highness as such see Highness (nobility) .

Publisher's cover of the first edition in 1909

Royal Highness , Thomas Mann's second novel , was written between the summer of 1906 and February 1909. In it, Mann processed the romance that preceded his marriage to Katia Mann in February 1905 in a fairytale-like form . First published in the Neue Rundschau in 1909 , the work met with great enthusiasm among the public, although it was not entirely shared by the critics.

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Situation in the Grand Duchy of Grimmburg

The novel is set at the turn of the 20th century in the fictional German small state of Grimmburg , which despite the efforts of Minister Trümmerhauff , Dr. Krippenreuther and Knobelsdorff is characterized by economic decline and high national debt . Agriculture is underdeveloped, the mines are exhausted, the railways unprofitable, the university provincial. The income from the medicinal Ditlinden spring is limited, the castles scattered across the country are falling into disrepair. Symbol of all that is a rose bush in the courtyard of the Old Palace , the beautiful flowers after Moder smell.

Klaus Heinrich's birth

The Grand Duke's only son, Prince Albrecht , is ailing; he is not expected to reach old age. That is why the joy is great when Prince Klaus Heinrich is born six years after Albrecht , unfortunately with a stunted left hand and a shortened left arm, which the Jewish physician Dr. Sammet declared as amniotic inhibition . An adviser to the Duke recalls an old Gypsy prophecy that once a prince would give the country more with one hand than others with two. Nevertheless, Klaus Heinrich is urged from an early age to hide this flaw, as “ the sight of the prince [...] should arouse feelings other than pity in his people. "

Klaus Heinrich's upbringing

Little Klaus Heinrich and his sister, Princess Ditlinde , who is two years younger , are brought up appropriately by a tutor , a “ Madame from Switzerland ”, whose most severe and effective punishment is to look at her protégés “ sadly ”. " You pure, you finer, " reads the prince in all faces and lived through his childhood overprotected and unrealistic. His and Ditlinde's favorite pastime is “ rummaging ” through unknown areas of the old castle in which they grow up. They meet once a stray suppliers, the shoemaker Hinnerke who opens their eyes that they live in a world of illusion, and the corruption and malice behind the apparent ease of lackeys points.

Later on, Klaus Heinrich was taught at Schloss Fasanerie , together with a small group of selected classmates, but with the greatest possible care. Professor Kürtchen only calls him if the prince has shown by the type of reporting that he can answer. Due to his special origin, but also the spoiled and presumptuous demeanor of the young aristocrats, the prince cannot develop a really friendly relationship with his classmates .

On the other hand, he has an almost friendly relationship with the young assistant teacher Dr. Raoul Überbein , a little bit sick eccentric. Exceptionally ugly, in his own words a “ mishap from birth ”, he grew up as an illegitimate child under poor living conditions in a foster family, but then developed irrepressible ambition. At every opportunity he tells the students that, unlike them, he has already " let the wind blow around his nose ". He does not treat Klaus Heinrich with the submissive consideration of the other teachers and thereby wins his heart. When, as is customary, the prince is transferred to the top of the public high school for the final year of school , he demands that Überbein, who is with Dr. Sammet is friends, his mentor remains.

During this time there was an embarrassing experience: Klaus Heinrich danced with enthusiasm at the annual citizens' ball and enjoyed the fellowship with young people that he was so often denied. He uses the word “we” in every sentence with enthusiasm. But when Überbein, who has left the prince out of sight for some time, returns to the ballroom, he finds Klaus Heinrich, a bowl lid on his head, receiving the homage to the tipsy youth, who apparently took advantage of the situation to meet the prince to " pull yourself down, down, down ".

Klaus Heinrich takes the school leaving examination and goes on an educational trip, which also serves the purpose of initiating him into the secrets of sexual life in a suitable manner. He attends the university for a year and becomes a member of a student association , whose hard drinking and banging habits are toned down to a " sensible approximation " for him . In the end he joined the Grand Ducal Guards Fusilier Regiment as a lieutenant , was soon promoted to major , although he had never shared the life of a soldier, and finally moved into the Hermitage Palace .

Klaus Heinrich as prince

After the death of the Grand Duke, the crown passed to the eldest son Albrecht II , who very soon left the representative duties to Klaus Heinrich and gave him the title of “Royal Highness”.

Klaus Heinrich is not reluctant to pursue his “ high occupation ”: whether he lays the foundation stone for a town hall or walks off a veterans parade, whether he awards prizes at the Fünfhausen fishing days or opens an agricultural exhibition, everywhere is “a day of celebration and honor , the people glorify themselves even in the festival, gray life is transfigured and becomes poetry ”. The prince acquires the most necessary specialist knowledge before such occasions, he hastily prompted his employees to prompt additional information on site, he takes complaints from subjects “seriously” without, of course, getting involved in the matter. Even the generous the people granted " free Audiences " advised whether their formal rigidity and the technical incompetence of the Prince of farce .

The Spoelmann family

Vogel Roch

One day the American steel tycoon and billionaire Samuel Spoelmann , a true " Leviathan ", a " Roch bird ", announced himself to a cure in the royal seat to cure a kidney disease there with the water from the Ditlinden spring . It is so good for him that a year later he and his daughter Imma , her companion, the mad Countess Löwenjoul , the personal physician Dr. Watercloose , the hysterical Collie Perceval and other staff finally moved to the Grand Duchy, where he bought Delphinenort Castle for a handsome price .

Soon the Spoelmanns became the focus of public attention alongside the grand ducal family . Samuel Spoelmann is of an inconspicuous figure, attaches little importance to external appearances in his " discolored paletot " and, as a rather misanthropic art collector and organ player, does little to make himself popular. But he still allows the people free access to his castle park, can be seen drinking tea and donates exactly the same amount as the Princely House on appropriate occasions. Accordingly, it also attracts beggars, scroungers and plan-makers of all kinds.

His daughter Imma attracts attention through her degree in mathematics at the university, but in particular through her resolute demeanor towards a guard battalion that wants to block her way. The Countess Löwenjoul finally attracts attention through confused talk of "dissolute women", of unruly wives of sergeants who sneaked into her room at night and scratched her chest. She would also like to be called "Frau Meyer" at times.

Klaus Heinrich and Imma Spoelmann

After seeing Imma's appearance in front of the guard battalion, Klaus Heinrich arranges a seemingly "coincidental" encounter with her during a visit to the now run by Dr. Collectively managed Dorotheen Children's Hospital . Imma's self-confident, sometimes mocking demeanor arouses Klaus Heinrich's lively interest.

He later visits her at Delphinenort Castle under the pretext of wanting to see her father's art glass collection. At first Imma meets Klaus Heinrich in a snippy and arrogant manner, teaches him about foreign words like " parallax ", makes fun of awkward questions or accuses him of his " sham existence ". He has a “ cold ” effect on her, she says several times, because he has no real function in life at all and only appears to take part in everything. In particular, she urges him to forbear Countess Löwenjoul, whose strange behavior can be traced back to traumatic experiences with an unfaithful and violent husband. After all, her father did not like to be asked about the reasons for moving to Europe; Because of his Indian blood , he was always exposed to discrimination in America .

Nevertheless, Prince Klaus Heinrich and Imma Spoelmann gradually come closer to each other at countless other meetings at Delphinenort Castle and when they go out on horseback. Imma appreciates improvising wild horse races in which she defeats the prince on her Arab mare Fatme , who is not too safe in the saddle of his bay Florian because of his handicap anyway . While the tabloids are enthusiastic about the romance, Dr. Überbein expressed his displeasure with reference to Klaus Heinrich's position.

All attempts by Klaus Heinrich to convince Imma on these excursions that he is by no means cold and superficial and only " for show ", as Spoelmann puts it, in life and people, initially fail. One day, however, Minister of State Knobelsdorff explains the disastrous economic situation in the country to the prince. Klaus Heinrich, surprised to be actually confronted with facts and thus taken seriously, draws the conclusions: he procures works on economics , closes in his rooms and begins a kind of study of economics on his own . After initially being upset about Klaus Heinrich's apparent withdrawal, Imma took part in these studies and in this way Klaus Heinrich managed to change their minds. A key scene is the moment when Imma discovers the prince's withered hand and realizes that he too is struggling with difficulties that were previously hidden from her.

Engagement and wedding

On Knobelsdorff's initiative, Imma is specifically invited to court circles. Against the objections of both the Grand Duke and Spoelmann, the wedding was finally prepared. An initially morganatic marriage is agreed , whereby Imma, as soon as she has given birth to an heir to the throne, is to be declared an equal . Spoelmann granted the Principality one a gift resembling credit of 350 million marks, which leads to a sudden economic growth of Grimmburg.

The novel ends with the description of the magnificent wedding. Shortly before Klaus Heinrich's engagement, his long-time mentor Überbein shoots himself, ostensibly because of professional quarrels, who always pointed out the duties of people in general and of the prince in particular, but who neglected interpersonal relationships too much. With this, a prophecy of Imma comes true. The rose bush is transplanted from the musty courtyard of the Old Palace to the Hermitage Palace, where instead of the musty, it should finally spread the scent of flowers.

"Albrecht" and "Klaus Heinrich" (Heinrich and Thomas Mann)
Photography Atelier Elvira , around 1902

interpretation

Autobiographical

The protagonists of the novel show clear references to Thomas Mann and his wife Katia, née Pringsheim. The names of the "royal highness" are those of Thomas Mann's eldest son Klaus and his brother Heinrich Mann . The latter can be seen as a model for the heir to the throne Albrecht. Even decades after the novel was published, Thomas Mann often made a connection with Royal Highness when he reflected on his relationship with his older brother . The favor of the reading public was at times distributed similarly to the two brothers as that of the people in the novel.

Imma is not only wealthy like Katia Pringsheim. The snippy arrogance with which Imma initially confronts Klaus Heinrich, even though Katia Mann was later to assert that she had been oversubscribed in this regard, is also significant. An incident in 1904 in which Katia Mann had asserted herself in a similarly resolute manner against ticket inspectors on the tram served as a model for Imma's energetic demeanor towards the guard battalion blocking her way. The algebra -Studies incumbent upon both Katia and Imma. Riding out on horseback with Imma corresponds to the joint bike rides into the Isar floodplains , on which Thomas Mann courted his wife.

With his “ tiger sense ”, Spoelmann suspects “ young people ” just as critically as the Pringsheims and especially Katia's grandmother Hedwig Dohm did with Thomas Mann. Spoelmann's complexes because of his “ Indian ” blood correspond to the stigmatization of the Pringsheims as Jews , which may have made it easier for the artist Thomas Mann, who was not yet fully established at the time, to gain access to the long-established and financially strong house.

Last but not least, a literary memorial was erected in Royal Highness to a predecessor of the well-known Bauschan : with a hysterical collie, the Mann family also had their dearest need.

Wilhelm II covered his stunted left hand.

Contemporary history

Despite everything that is fairy-tale about the novel, Wilhelmine Germany is always present in the background . The small state of Grimmburg clearly bears the characteristics of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . The ambivalent relationship between the young Klaus Heinrich and his classmates, who come from lower class, but sometimes more affluent families, alludes to a comparable situation between the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg and the wealthy princes of Putbus on Rügen .

The motif of Klaus Heinrich's crippled hand was very familiar to Mann's readership at the time, as Kaiser Wilhelm II suffered from the same deformity.

Many of the names of the figures refer to the history of Prussia , in addition to the prince's name that of Minister Knobelsdorff , Ranzau or Bühl zu Bühl, but also Baroness von der Schulenburg-Tressen or Grand Adjutant Major von Platow .

Fairytale

In addition to autobiographical and historical references, the novel often contains fairytale-like elements. Prince Klaus Heinrich was born on the “Grimmburg”, built by the “ancestor of the royal family” “Margrave Klaus Grimmbart”; “In the course of fifteen generations” only two children “saw the light of day in other castles: both of them came to an unnatural and worthless end.”

Prophecies

Prophecies tell of a prince who would give the land more “with one hand” than others with two, and of the rose bush, which would then lose its musty smell. These predictions are ironically broken: Minister Knobelsdorff, for example, points out early on that hand prophecy can be instrumentalized . The prophecy about the rose bush is "helped" a little by transplanting it into a more favorable environment as soon as the land actually heals.

intertextuality

In Royal Highness the content of identifiable folk and art fairy tales is alluded to on several occasions : for example Andersen's Snow Queen , with whom his mother, the cold Grand Duchess Dorothea , is compared. Snow White contains the mirror motif, which is also important in the life of the beautiful Dorothea. Andersen's mermaid , who will play a role again in Doctor Faustus much later , also appears. And the steadfast tin soldier , who is known to stand out from the crowd due to a casting error, should also be thought of with the “ one-handed ” prince who always maintains his composure. After all, not only the legendary Roch bird , with which the extremely rich Spoelmann is compared, but also the name of Imma's riding horse, Fatme, refers to the oriental fairy tale circle . This interpretation becomes explicit when “ Madame from Switzerland ” Klaus Heinrich and Ditlinde read out “ French fairy tales ”, with whose princes and princesses the children can identify more realistically than their peers from other classes.

Prince motif

The central motif of the “ Prince ” is downright magical . In the work of Thomas Mann, it has a long tradition: In the Confessions of Felix Krull , the longing of the main character, to rise above the mundane expresses, is that they can wake up as a child with the decision already today once an eighteen year old prince named Karl to and this fiction is maintained throughout the day. The world tour under the borrowed identity of the Marquis de Venosta should also be mentioned. The motif also appears several times in the Buddenbrooks : Hanno is portrayed as the prince of decadent decline, and Tony Buddenbrook, who admires the nobles, is pointed out by Morten Schwarzkopf that, as the Luebish patrician daughter, she is in principle equally privileged and special in society like those she admires.

The prince motif is reflected once more in the figure of Imma Spoelmann. Although she is not a princess of the blood, Thomas Mann invokes this association several times. Spoelmann's father is known as the “railway king”, the family lives in Delphinenort Castle - which is reminiscent of the title of the heir to the French throne, Dauphin - and is in no way inferior to the Grand Ducal family in terms of luxury and splendor. Their brown-livered lackeys correspond to the white-uniformed pages of the Spoelmanns. The billionaire and his daughter are just as much in the focus of public interest as the Grimmburgs, they appear in a similar way as benefactors and also perform representative duties.

Your Highness and Cold

The concept of " Highness " and the related word field "high" runs through the novel like a red thread . It appears in the title of both the work and the protagonist. Mention should also be made of the “high occupation” that Klaus Heinrich pursues, “ the heights of mankind ”, on which he walks according to the words of his teacher alluding to Schiller . His sister Ditlinde marries a prince of Ried-Hohenried . The “ arrogance ” of the members of the Princely House is emphasized again and again . But also in their physiognomy and clothing a lot is “high”: the forehead of the old Grand Duke, for example, as well as his cheekbones. The figure of his wife Dorothea is described as "erect", she wears "high gloves".

The “sovereignty” of the Princely House is also reflected in the people themselves on several occasions. When the already mentioned grand ducal cheekbones are described as a “general feature” of his tribe, when the “highness” of the grand duchess causes an “exaltation” of the people who look at her and their cheeks can be colored “higher” when the people shout “up” , but mean yourself and “ believe in high things at this moment. ". Accordingly, the drunken "Down, down ..." calls of the youth at the citizens' ball, which Klaus Heinrich are supposed to bring down to their own level, form a stark contrast to this.

The downside of the omnipresent sovereignty is the coldness that always emanates from it and is inextricably linked with it: it is particularly evident in the Grand Duchess Dorothea. In her distant relationship with her children, she is compared to the Snow Queen from Andersen's fairy tale, in whose candle hall the children's hearts freeze. Her smile is of " cool perfection ". She rejects little Klaus Heinrich with a " cold look " and the admonition to watch out for his hand whenever he seeks love and security in her. Her older son, Prince Albrecht, is portrayed as " cold out of self-consciousness ", but on the other hand he also constantly suffers physically from the northern cold of his country, which is why the prospect of central heating for the old castle definitely gave him the approval of his brother's not entirely befitting wedding facilitated. But even Klaus Heinrich himself will later have a " cold " effect on Imma Spoelmann in his pseudo- existence .

Fake existence

Royal Highness can be understood as a parable of a "sham existence". Klaus Heinrich spent his childhood and youth largely shielded. In the old castle, later in the pheasantry and in the residential high school, the “real life” only penetrates the prince very sporadically, for example when the shoemaker Hinnerke reports on the corruption of the lackeys or at the citizens' ball. His later acting as regent is also " without real everyday life " and is made up of "a lot of highly tense moments ". His brother Albrecht compares it to that of a madman who is well known in the city and gives the signal to a train that is already departing. Accordingly, Klaus Heinrich lacks real commitment in his work and, due to a lack of personal knowledge, he always has to rely on the keywords of his ' prompter '.

His teacher Schulrat Dröge calls this the " high job ". Dr. Überbein speaks of a " symbolic, [...] formal existence ", which gives him " no right to immediate confidentiality ", but rather obliges him to "act". Imma finds clearer words: “You went to school as a pretense, you went to university as a pretense, you served as a soldier as if you were still wearing your uniform; They appear to give audiences and appear to play archer and Heaven knows what else; You came into the world as a pretense, and now you want me to believe that you are serious about something? ” The common self-study of economics ends this sham existence. It leads to active and useful work and ultimately to the connection between the Princely House and the American steel magnate.

The parallels between the apparent existence of the “prince” and that of the “poet” are unmistakable: he, too, is only in contact with life through literature. He does not take part in directly active creation, but only reflects on it. This idea was not alien to the time the novel was written. Thomas Mann himself is likely to have dealt with Nietzsche's criticism of Wagner , which starts with this problem. The appearance of the drunk, melancholy poet Martini (sic!) In the middle of the story can also be interpreted in this context as an ironic portrait of his own work. Martini appears exactly where the story treads dramatically and tells of the difficulty of artistic creation. In the drama of history it has no dramaturgical, but only a "choral" function.

Outsider

The novel is populated in large numbers by social outsiders of all kinds. Prince Klaus Heinrich himself is one of them, not least because of his “sham existence” already mentioned, but also because of his crippling . His teacher and friend Dr. About leg because of his ugliness , his illegitimate birth , his upbringing in a foster family and his life as unsociable eccentric socially stigmatized, Dr. Sammet because of his affiliation with Judaism , Countess Löwenjoul because of her madness . Mention should also be made of the ailing poet Axel Martini, who is far from life, and the madman who is well known in the city and who gives the departure signal to trains that are already departing. Even the billionaire Spoelmann is an outsider because of his unique wealth, which lifts him into the sphere of a Leviathan , but also because of his Indian blood. At Imma she also studied algebra , which was unusual for a woman of the time .

The subject of outsider existence is developed in abstract terms in Dr. Sammets to the old Grand Duke:

“ No equating principle [...] will ever be able to prevent exceptions and special forms from being preserved in the midst of common life, which are distinguished from the bourgeois norm in a lofty or disreputable sense. The individual will do well not to ask about the nature of his special position, but to see the essentials in the award and in any case to derive an extraordinary obligation from it. You are not at a disadvantage compared to the regular and therefore comfortable majority, but at an advantage if you have one more reason than they to perform unusual. "

Land and water symbolism

A central motif of the novel is the contrast between land and water. The former is represented by the down-to-earth sex of the Grimmburgs. The third chapter of the novel, in which the conditions in the Grand Duchy are described, is entitled " The Land ". At first the princes are peasants; their wealth consists of land, their income from agricultural yields. The " fields stretched and spread ", cattle breeding , milk processing and dairy farming characterize the picture, the people have an almost intimate relationship with the forest . Then there are brickworks and "a little salt and silver mining " - also very earth-related industries. Incidentally, Mann's portrayal ironizes the country monographs of the “ Historical School of Political Economy” that was in place at the time the novel was written .

In contrast, the element “water” is represented by the Spoelmann family. A Leviathan is the very rich magnate, the sea monster from biblical mythology. Because of healing water, the Spoelmanns come across the sea to Grimmburg with a "giant steamer " . There they initially live in the Quellenhof , later they buy the Delphinenort Castle , where they are served by " swan trimmings " and have a " beautifully chiseled fountain " installed. They come from the Adirondacks , a landscape “ with pretty lakes ”, and prefer to spend their summers by the sea, in Newport, for example, or in Venice , where their yacht is also moored . Imma's face is described several times as " pale as the pearls of the sea ", her neck has the " color of smoked meerschaum ", her clothes are " shimmering ", made of " sea-green , shiny silk "; sometimes she wears a “green velvet jacket”, sometimes a “ robe made of pale green Chinese crepe ” and in this respect reminds us of Andersen's mermaid, who is expressly mentioned in the work - albeit in a different context. Imma's eye language is also continuously characterized as "fluent". Even the name Spoelmann naturally suggests water - and the 350 million that the family “flushes” into the grand ducal coffers.

The land / water symbolism can also be seen as an allusion to the antagonism between the continental power Germany and the sea power England - or its descendant USA - at the time of the novel's publication . The Wilhelmine Empire with its squires and manors was for a long time in a similar situation to the more industrialized England as the Grand Duchy of Grimmburg was to the big capitalist world of the Spoelmanns.

References to other works by Thomas Mann

The hero's outsiderhood

A real outsider from birth because of his status or origin, of all the protagonists in Thomas Mann's work, except Prince Klaus Heinrich, only Gregorius from The Chosen One , whose story has fairytale traits like Royal Highness and also has a happy ending. As Pope, of course, he has to forego the happiness of love that awaits Klaus Heinrich and Imma .

Love story with a happy ending

The old Oeverdiecks, marginal figures in Buddenbrooks , who are accustomed to assign each other with the nuptial nicknames, are probably the only characters of Thomas Mann with a love marriage and happy partnership. Love stories usually end tragically even in Buddenbrooks . Gotthold Buddenbrook marries under his rank, is largely disinherited for this and does not live too happily with the Stüwing born and the three envious unmarried daughters. Tony is not allowed to marry the man she loves and is driven into two failing marriages of convenience. Thomas follows the train of his heart to Gerda's morbid beauty and has to experience that she gives birth to only one, not very viable heir and becomes the talk of the town because it is generally believed that she is cheating on her husband with the musical lieutenant von Trotha. Christian marries his beloved Kokotte and is placed in an institution by her, whereupon she continues her previous life, and even Clara's clerical husband finally turns out to be an inheritance sneak. The marriage of Erikas, Tony's daughter, was not a lucky star from the start and ended accordingly.

The connection between the poor prince and the rich bourgeoisie is not initially envisaged and raises questions of class differences and succession, which are, however, settled to everyone's satisfaction. No other love story with Thomas Mann finds such an end. On April 2, 1953, after he had sent the manuscript of his last story Die Betrogene to the publishers , he wrote in his diary :

Erika's remarks about how much it belongs in my "original stuff". Tells of Klaus' excitement about the fact that all my love stories belong to the realm of the forbidden and the deadly [sic!] - when I am "a happy husband and father of six." Yes, yes ... This story, still the same another exaggeration.

In fact, almost all of Thomas Mann's love stories correspond to the scheme of this “primal stuff” - they “forbid” themselves and then have the corresponding consequences.

Be it the homophile element that plays a role in Tonio Kröger and in Death in Venice , be it the age difference, which is also discussed in Death in Venice and taken up again in Die Betrogene , or be it even the bond with the devil , who in Doctor Faustus lets Adrian Leverkühn's love impulse end fatally - none of these conditions apply to Royal Highness . Compared to other characters of Thomas Mann, Imma Spoelmann and Klaus Heinrich are an almost 'normal' couple. Thomas Mann called his Prinzenroman the “attempt at a comedy in the form of a novel”. The lovers who finally find each other in the comedy after all sorts of obstacles are, as the audience wishes, characters of likeable averageity.

Disability

And yet Klaus Heinrich is an outsider not only because of his parentage, but also because of his physical handicap. When Royal Highness was filmed in the fifties, Erika Mann was usually there and tried to influence what happened. But once Mann gave an instruction himself: Dieter Borsche , the actor Klaus Heinrichs, should hide his left hand even more clearly and rub her back more often - in other words, draw the audience's attention to the actually concealed peculiarity. Apparently this detail was important to him.

With his physical limitations, Klaus Heinrich has a long tradition in Thomas Mann's work. Even the little Mr. Friedemann is hunchbacked, excluded from "normal" life and perishes from it. Broker Gosch in Buddenbrooks is not hunchbacked, but for decades Gerda Buddenbrook only raves from afar, possibly one day dedicating the translation of Lope de Vegas works to her, on which he has worked almost his entire life. Sesemi Weichbrodt, another hunchback in Buddenbrooks , limits herself to a “learned” existence, and the high-shouldered, clumsy, literary interested girls in Tonio Kröger will probably not face a significantly different fate. Cipolla , another case of spinal curvature in Thomas Mann's work, atone for the kiss he lets hypnotized Mario give him with death. Finally, Anna von Tümmler, the clubfoot artist from Mann's last story Die Betrogene , gave up love at an early age.

All of these physically handicapped characters of Thomas Mann keep a certain distance from their fellow men and lead a lonely life. Before the happy ending, Klaus Heinrich's left hand is only touched twice by other people - at the community-building, but ingloriously ending, citizens' ball and when Imma kisses it. Except for Klaus Heinrich, however, everyone is involved in some way with the arts, or at least with science. This difference collapses when you consider that Klaus Heinrich embodies Thomas Mann himself. For Thomas Mann, physical impairment seems to be a cipher for the distant artist or art lover, who observes or even portrays fellow human beings and their works, but only has a limited share in their lives.

A related topic is disease. In Der Zauberberg , Hans Castorp once said: Illness and stupidity do not go together, illness should be something worthy of reverence. He reaps the sharpest contradiction of the humanist Settembrini, but the disease - which is not really present in Castorp - enables him to increase, "increase" his average existence, which he would never have achieved in the "lowlands". Similarly, the heroine with lung disease in Tristan . Compared to her plump, vivacious husband Klöterjahn, the piano-playing young woman is a pure and fine existence and shows the same blue veins under her pale skin that the more sensitive and artistic natures in Buddenbrooks have. The motif of increasing genius through illness is brought to the summit in Doctor Faustus : the composer Adrian Leverkühn owes his genius to a syphilis infection , an old idea of ​​Thomas Mann (which was obvious after the fate of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche ), who was already concerned with the At the turn of the century, he inquired about relevant works at his Munich bookseller and thus triggered an affected reaction.

Conclusion

Since the artistically “influenced” or active sympathizers in Thomas Mann's works often have physical peculiarities above average, the hero of Royal Highness fits perfectly into the work context. That his love story ends happily for once and that, he hopes, further, albeit "strict", happiness awaits with consideration for his subjects and the country (similar to how Tonio Kröger wants to oblige the true artist to an outwardly bourgeois and decent life) , is unusual in comparison to other creations of Thomas Mann, but can be explained by the dating of the novel and the autobiographical background.

History of origin

Thomas Mann's first plans for a novel about a prince branded an outsider date back to 1903. In December of this year, the final title was already fixed. Of course, the project only took shape under the influence of the engagement time with Katia Mann , which was ultimately to be addressed in a variety of ways in the novel.

Mann did not start writing until after the wedding on February 11, 1905. The figures were redesigned several times over the years. In particular, the stigmatization and outsider motive was originally much more pronounced. Imma Spoelmann, for example, was originally supposed to be Jewish and called Imma Davidsohn .

The manuscript was completed in February 1909. The novel was first published in the Neue Rundschau and finally in October by S. Fischer Verlag .

Impact history

audience

After its appearance, Royal Highness was enthusiastically received by the audience. The 30th edition was printed after just two years, and 165,000 copies were in circulation in 1918.

criticism

The echo in the literary world remained subdued, as the novel was classified as somewhat shallow, as “certainly the weakest” of Mann's novels ( Reinhard Baumgart 1989) , especially when measured against the Buddenbrooks published a few years earlier .

That even the author himself viewed his work with mixed feelings is shown by the following passage from his communication to the Literarhistorische Gesellschaft Bonn from 1907: “A prince, a billionaire, a chauffeur , a pedigree dog, a romantic assistant teacher and a princess of a special kind step up - so be curious. Sometimes the whole thing seems so new and beautiful to me that I laugh to myself - and sometimes so silly that I sit on the chaise longue and think I'm dying. "

As " Simplicissimus -Humor" appeared the all too eloquent names (the confused Countess Löwenjoul [Swedish, pronounced Löwenjaul ], the clever Knobelsdorff , the finance minister Krippenreuther , the gentle doctor Sammet , the court minister Trümmerhauff , the ugly Überbein , the English bath doctor ) Watercloose - the "far away from any concern recently schools" leitmotif generations durchporträtierende court painter also called Lindemann. But especially the happy ending , the romantic fairytale wedding, the connection between love and highness, was “weighed and found to be too easy” - as a common judgment of the critics, referring to the words of the old Grand Duke towards the personal doctor. There was talk of a “descent into the flatlands of optimism” ( Kurt Martens 1910), of a “superimposed” (Helmut Jendreiek 1977), a “hasty” ( Friedhelm Marx 1988) solution.

Hellmuth Karasek explained this criticism in 1991 with the traditional expectation of the German novel " to end tragically , fatally, in downfall, in the twilight of the gods ."

Apology

Apologetic approaches came from Joachim Rickes in particular. The novel by no means ends with a clear happy ending . It remains open, for example, whether the rose bush will actually smell. The recidivism of the amnestied murderer Gudehus and the apparently ongoing corruption of the lackeys also cast light shadows. Neither the Countess Löwenjoul nor the dog Perceval would be cured of their madness. Finally, it should be noted that the wedding is not least due to reasons of state , as emphasized by the " mischievous eye wrinkles " of Knobelsdorff, who acts as registrar, but also the ironic sermon theme " He will live and he will be given gold from the kingdom of Arabia " ( Psalm 72 , 15 in the version of the Luther Bible 1545). The " extensive misunderstanding " of Royal Highness should be used as an opportunity for a new literary methodology.

Thomas Mann's son Golo also points out that the novel is at most " an operetta joke for the uninitiated (...) ".

filming

The novel was filmed in 1953 by Hans Abich and Rolf Thiele under the same title Royal Highness . Harald Braun directed the film . The feature film was produced in the studios of Film Aufbau GmbH Göttingen in Agfacolor .

The main roles were played by Dieter Borsche , Ruth Leuwerik and Lil Dagover . In addition, Thomas Mann's daughter Erika was also in front of the camera as head nurse Amalie . However, Erika Mann was primarily an artistic advisor.

radio play

Radio play version HR / SWF / DRS 1954 , edited by Hartmann Goertz , director: Ulrich Lauterbach , speakers: Dietrich Haugk , Inge Langen , Rudolf Fernau , Mathias Wieman , Erich Ponto , Boy Gobert , Siegfried Wischnewski

expenditure

• Thomas Mann: Your Royal Highness . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-596-29430-4 .
• Thomas Mann: Your Royal Highness . Published by Heinrich Detering in collaboration with Stephan Stachorski. Text and commentary in a cassette, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-10-048321-9 .

Secondary literature

• Heinrich Detering: "Jews, women and literates". A figure of thought in the young Thomas Mann . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2006.
• Erich Heller : The embarrassed muse . In: EH, Thomas Mann. Der ironische Deutsche , Frankfurt am Main 1975 (1959), pp. 61–125. ISBN 3-518-36743-9 .
• Hellmuth Karasek : Your Royal Highness . In: Thomas Mann Yearbook . Volume 4, 1991, pp. 29-44.
• Jürgen Manthey : Prince in the realm of the Snow Queen. Thomas Mann's "Royal Highness" . In: Merkur 50, 1996, pp. 480-490.
• Jürgen H. Petersen: The fairy tale motifs and their treatment in Thomas Mann's novel "Royal Highness" . In: Sprachkunst . Volume 4, 1973, pp. 216-230.
• Joachim Rickes: The strange rose bush. A work-centered investigation into Thomas Mann's novel “Royal Highness” . Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / New York 1998, ISBN 3-631-33486-9 .
• Frithjof Trapp: Artistic transfiguration of reality. Thomas Mann's novel “Royal Highness” against the background of the contemporary press reception . In: Hermann Kurzke (Ed.): Stations of Thomas Mann Research: Articles since 1970 . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1985, pp. 25-40.
• Hans Wysling : The fragments of Thomas Mann's "Prince Novelle". To the original handwriting of the "Royal Highness" . In: Source-critical studies on the work of Thomas Mann . Bern / Munich 1967, pp. 64-105.
• Hans Wysling: Your Royal Highness (1990). In: Hans Wysling: Selected essays 1963–1995 . Frankfurt am Main 1996, pp. 219-230.

Web links

• Royal Highness in Project Gutenberg ( currently not usually available for users from Germany )
• Pre-printed in the Neue Rundschau : Vorspielhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D24~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DVorspiel~PUR%3D , Die Hemmunghttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D25~ double-sided%3D~LT%3DDie%20Hemmung~PUR%3D , Das Landhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D43~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDas%20Land~PUR%3D , Der Schuster Hinnerkehttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D182~ double-sided%3D~LT%3DDer%20Schuster%20Hinnerke~PUR%3D , Doktor Überbeinhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D201~ double-sided%3D~LT%3DDoktor%20%C3%9Cberbein~PUR%3D , Doktor Überbein (continued)http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D332~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDoktor%20%C3%9Cberbein%20%28Fortsetzung%29~ PUR% 3D , Albrecht II.http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau11909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D351~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DAlbrecht%20II.~PUR%3D , Albrecht II. (Continued)http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau21909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D482~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DAlbrecht%20II.%20%28Fortsetzung%29~PUR%3D , The high professionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau21909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D499~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDer%20hohe%20Beruf~PUR%3D , Immahttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau21909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D637~ double-sided%3D~LT%3DImma~PUR%3D , Imma (continued)http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau21909franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D795~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DImma%20%28Fortsetzung%29~PUR%3D , Imma (Continued)http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau191213franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D939~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DImma%20%28Fortsetzung%29~PUR%3D , The fulfillmenthttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau191213franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D1109~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDie%20Erf%C3%BCllung~PUR%3D , The fulfillment (continued)http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau191213franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D1252~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDie%20Erf%C3%BCllung%20%28Fortsetzung%29~ PUR% 3D , The rose bushhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dneuerundschau191213franuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D1272~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DDer%20Rosenstock~PUR%3D
• Figure lexicon on Royal Highness by Eva D. Becker in the portal Literaturlexikon online
• Tilmann Lahme, The Poet Prince and Leviathan's Daughter, at thomasmann.de (PDF; 182 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "So the singer should go with the king, they both live on the heights of mankind!" The Maid of Orleans I, 2
2. ↑ See above under "Intertextuality".
3. ^ Original edition Fischer 1909 p. 395
4. ↑ Diaries, Volume 10, S. Fischer 1995, p. 43 books.google
5. ↑ Considerations of a non-political . S. Fischer, Berlin 1918, p. 61
6. ↑ Thomas Mann: Communication to the literary historical [sic!] Society in Bonn in Essais I. 1893-1914. Frankfurt a. M .: Fischer 2002. p. 173 The text was originally published without a title under the name of the author in the communications of the Literarhistorische Gesellschaft Bonn in 1907; the incorrect title goes back to the reprint in the essay collection Interview and Answer in 1922.
7. ↑ Tilmann Lahme, The Poet Prince and Leviathan's Daughter, at thomasmann.de (PDF; 182 kB)
8. ↑ Psalm 72 (Luther 1545) .