Karl Cramer (writer)

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Karl Cramer (born July 17, 1807 in Elberfeld , † February 3, 1860 in Cologne ) was a German writer , businessman , journalist , poet and editor . He also published under the pseudonym "Karl vom Rhein" or "Karl am Rhein".

Life

origin

As the son of a family of manufacturers, Cramer attended high school in Cologne and learned the trade of a businessman. He then studied in Bonn and Heidelberg. After the early death of his parents, he was a partner in his father's eau de Cologne factory, but then established himself as a journalist and writer.

Act

At first he appeared as a poet under the name "Karl vom Rhein" but was called by the people because of his appealing appearance "the beautiful Karl von Rhein". His poems, which are in various sheets and books, z. B. appeared in the Kinkel's yearbook, were characterized by popularity. That is why it was also possible for songs like “Jan und Griet” (1838) to develop into a first-rate folk song, especially on the Rhine. “Jan und Griet”, which goes back to a Cologne legend, has become more famous than any other song composed in Cologne this century. He was engaged in the carnival, on the Cologne stage he appeared as Faust. The art scholar Merlo wrote that Cramer influenced Jacques Offenbach and led him "on the path of slippery opera antics".

In addition to poems, he wrote for many daily newspapers, among others. a. for the "Augsburger", the "Weser" and the "Düsseldorfer Zeitung". His main activity, however, he turned to the fiction magazines and the feature pages. So he found himself in the "Munich House Chronicle", in the "Fliegende Blätter", the "Düsseldorfer Monatshefte", the "Berner Unterhaltungsblätter", the "Stuttgarter Illustrierte Zeitschrift" and in the features section of the "Mannheimer Abend-Zeitung" and the " Kölnische Zeitung ”set friendly memorial stones among the readers through his novellas, always dressed in a cheerful garb. With his farce “Die Bursenbraut”, which was performed many times on stages in Cologne, Cramer also tried his hand at the dramatic area.

At the side of Franz Raveaux he belonged to the opposition group in the Carnival of Cologne in the pre-March period . In the revolution of 1848/49, Cramer was one of the leaders of the political democrats in the struggle for the republic. Also in the years 1848/49 he was the editor of the political-satirical magazine "Der Wächter am Rhein" a paper for the discussion of public affairs. He set up the editorial office in the center of Cologne, at 29 Breite Str. Cramer was a leading member of the Cologne " Democratic Society ", in 1849 he took part in the constitutional struggle in southern Germany. He then went to Swiss asylum, but returned to Cologne in 1851.

Karl Cramer died of a carbuncle at the age of 52 in Cologne's Bürger-Hospital, part of his estate is in the historical archive of the city of Cologne.

Works

  • Poem: "Jan and Griet".

literature

  • Merlo, Johann Jakob (1884): The genesis of the Cologne song by Jan and Griet. In: Annalen des hist. Verein für den Niederrhein, Volume 42, pp. 141–49.
  • Marcel Seyppel, The democratic society in Cologne 1848/49: urban society and party formation during the bourgeois revolution. Published by Janus Verlag 1991.
  • Lewejohann, Stefan, Cologne in unholy times. The City in the Thirty Years' War (accompanying volume for the exhibition of the Cologne City Museum, June 14th - October 5th, 2014).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The democratic society in Cologne 1848/49: urban society and formation of parties during the bourgeois revolution.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cramer, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rhein, Karl vom (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer and editor
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1807
PLACE OF BIRTH Elberfeld
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1860
Place of death Cologne