Limestone (donor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The novella Kalkstein by Adalbert Stifter was published in 1853 in the “ Bunte Steine ” collection.

Short summary

The apparently authentic encounter between the narrator and a poor preacher is reported. In his work as a surveyor, the narrator arrives in a barren area where the preacher ekes out his existence. In terms of his environment, he is regarded as a stingy loner, until after his death it turns out that his modest life was only meant to save money to found a school in order to make the long and dangerous journey to school easier for the children in a remote village.

backgrounds

According to his style, Stifter constructs a complex framework around the incident. It is true that you have a moralizing story in front of you, in the work edition the story is called “The poor benefactor”, but Stifter uses this to accommodate all kinds of descriptions of nature, people and ways of life. There is also an unmistakably Stifters thunderstorm scene. One is inclined to assume that for Stifter the story of the poor preacher, who is only valued by his fellow men after his death, served more as a vehicle to let his eagerness to paint a scene rule. It is no coincidence that one is often reminded of stories by Thomas Bernhard . But also the wandering land surveyor K. from Kafka's “ Das Schloß ” may be a relative of the limestone self. One can doubt Stifter's sense of humor, but that doesn't change the bizarre character of the poor preacher, which Stifter paints with virtuosity, together with the hopeless undertaking during the protagonist's lifetime, the establishment of a school, to which he sacrifices his existence and which is pursued with the help of his estate his death can be realized.

literature

  • Adalbert Stifter: Works and Letters Historical-Critical Complete Edition. Volume 2.1, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-17-007112-2
  • Adalbert Stifter: Colorful stones. Ditzingen 1994.
  • Marianne Schuller: Measuring. Stifter's story "Kalkstein ". In: Thomas Gann and Marianne Schuller (eds.): Fleck, Glanz, Finsternis. On the poetics of the surface with Adalbert Stifter . Wilhelm Fink, Paderborn 2017, pp. 99–119.