Karl Röttger

Alfred Karl Röttger ( pseudonym : Jacobus von Rahden , born December 23, 1877 in Lübbecke , † September 1, 1942 in Düsseldorf ) was a German writer .

Life

Karl Röttger was the son of a master shoemaker. From 1883 to 1892 he attended the elementary school and the Selecta in Lübbecke, from 1892 to 1898 the preparandy and the teachers' college in Petershagen / Weser . From 1898 to 1899 he held his first teaching position in Preussisch Ströhen , then from 1899 to 1901 he was a teacher in Schwenningdorf and from 1901 to 1905 in Lübbecke. In 1905 he moved with his mother to Düsseldorf-Gerresheim , where he was a teacher until 1908. In 1908 he married Julie Kruse , who was also active as a writer and with whom he went to Berlin in 1909 . There Röttger worked as co-editor of the magazine " Charon " and from 1911 to 1914 as editor of the magazine " Die Brücke ".

After his wife became seriously ill in 1914 and Röttger herself had to struggle with health problems, the family returned to the Rhineland in 1915 , where Röttger again worked as a teacher in Düsseldorf. In addition, he worked as a theater and art critic and published the magazine “ Das Kunstfenster ”. From 1926 the family of five lived in their own house in Düsseldorf-Gerresheim, where numerous poetry readings , lectures and music evenings took place in the following years . In 1927, the city of Düsseldorf celebrated Röttger's 50th birthday with an official celebration, as did his 60th birthday in 1937. In 1940 the author went on a study trip to Salzburg and Vienna ; the following year he retired early due to illness.

reception

Karl Röttger's literary work consists mainly of poetry , novels , short stories , plays and essays , including those on educational topics. Röttger, who was in contact with a large number of writers and artists of his time, was influenced in his strongly religiously colored work by Leopold Schefer and the philosophy of the anti-naturalistic , neo-romantic Charon circle .

Works (selection)

author

Autobiographical

• The distant islands. From the days of childhood . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1921.
• The indestructible or the completion of the once. Memories and confessions . List, Leipzig 1937.

Poems

• When your soul becomes simple Poems . Charon-Verlag, Groß-Lichterfelde 1909.
• Days of Abundance. New songs and landscape poems and the circle of the year . Charon publishing house, Groß-Lichterfelde 1910.
• The songs of God and death . 2nd edition Horen-Verlag, Berlin 1930.
• Longing and destiny. A collection of poems . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1913.
• The soul of space and the meaning of dreams . Saaleck-Verlag, Cologne 1923.

prose

• From my worlds. A book for quiet people . Friesenhahn publishing house, Leipzig 1900.
• Happiness and other things . New Literature Institute, Vienna 1902.
• Legends . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1914ff.

1. The one and the world. Legends, wisdom, wandering, night and luck . 2nd edition 1917.
2. Christ legends . 1914.
3. The feast of the saints. The legend third and final volume . 1917.

• The avenue. Novellas . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• Voices in the room. Tales from the hours of the landscapes and fate . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1920.
• The pain of being. Three stories . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1921.
• The crisis . Bayern-Verlag, Munich 1925 (special print from Gegenenspiel. Monthly sheets for new poetry , vol. 1, 1925).
• The heart in the wine press. Novel . German book club, Berlin 1927.
• Between the times. Stories and legends . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1927.
• Book of love . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1928.
• On summer paths . German Poet Memorial Foundation, Hamburg 1929.
• Book of Mysteries . Horen-Verlag, Berlin-Grunewald 1929.
• Holderlin . poetic representation of his life and fate . Society of Book Friends, Chemnitz 1930.
• Kaspar Hauser's Last Days or The Short Life of a Very Poor. A documentary novel . Zsolnay, Berlin 1933.
• The saint and his disciple. Novel . Zsolnay, Berlin 1934.
• The Savior's Way. Legends . Zsolnay, Berlin 1935.
• Act of sacrifice. Three German legends . List, Leipzig 1935.
• Demon and angel in the land. Novel . List, Leipzig 1936.
• The maid. Narration . Eichblatt-Verlag, Leipzig 1937 (Eichblatt's German home books; 118).
• Legends, myths, poems . Schöningh, Paderborn 1938 (The German source).
• On the German river. Rhine home greeting . Wallmann-Verlag, Berlin-Steglitz 1940 (Protected Homeland; 6).
• The murderess. Two stories . Zsolnay, Vienna 1940 (The Hundred Little Books; 13).
• Under the arch of heaven. From unpublished or unfinished books . Self-published, Düsseldorf 1940 (annual edition of the Society of Book Friends in Chemnitz; 1941).
• Mercy before justice. Symbol and likeness; two stories . Chemnitz 1941.
• To the friends of poetry . Düsseldorf 1947.
• Well and always . Flothmann Verlag, Kettwig 1952.
• The guest. The boy and the miracle. Two stories . Aschendorff-Verlag, Münster / Westf. 1963 (Kleine Westphalian series / &; 26).

Non-fiction

• Life, art, the child . Bremen 1905.
• Child and idea of ​​God . Modern-Pedagogical and Psychological Publishing House, Berlin 1908 (Guide to Life; 2).
• The flame. Essays . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• The child's religion . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• On the drama and theater of the future . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1921.
• The children's theater . Patmos-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1922 (publications on art education and theater maintenance).
• Individual soul, drama, communal stage . Self-published, Gotha 1924.
• Johann Sebastian . Verlag Herrcke & Lebeling, Stettin 1924.
• The book of the stars . List, Leipzig 1933.
• The calling of Johann Sebastian Bach . List, Leipzig 1935 (Lebendiges Wort; 3).
• "You float, you ghosts, next to me". Encounters with Beethoven , Friderike von Sesenheim , Clemens Brentano , Bettine and Jean Paul . Amthor-Verlag, Leipzig 1937.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . List, Leipzig 1941.
• Jean Paul . Rauhen Haus agency, Hamburg 1965.

Plays

• Split souls. A chamber play . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• Hatred or The Sunken Image of Christ. Drama in four acts . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• Samson. A drama . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1921.
• The last judgment. Six Games from Life; with a prelude "In the Hereafter" . Matthes-Verlag, Leipzig 1922.
• The six swans. Fairy tale game . Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1950 (reprint of the Leipzig edition 1922).
• Faithful John. Fairy tale game in 5 acts . Callwey, Munich 1926 (reprint of the Berlin 1922 edition).
• The return home. Dramatic legend . Kaiser, Munich 1926 (Munich Laienspiele; 25).
• The St. Elizabeth . A legend game . Callwey, Munich 1927 (The Treasure Trove Stage; 31).

Work edition

• Hella Röttger (Ed.): Selected works . Lechte-Verlag, Emsdetten (Westphalia) 1958 (two volumes).
• Time poems 1918–1938. Poems and stories . Henn Verlag, Kastellaun 1978, ISBN 3-450-17926-8 .

editor

• The modern Jesus poetry. an anthology . Klotz, Gotha 1950 (reprint of the Munich edition 1907).
• Wilhelm Schäfer . For his 50th birthday . Müller-Verlag, Munich 1918.
• The creative child. Exhibition and lecture series . Bagel-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1924.
• Gustav Schwab : Fortunat and his sons . Hirt, Breslau 1932 (with 10 woodcuts from the Augsburg edition of 1509).
• Gustav Schwab: The beautiful Magelon . Hirt, Breslau 1932 (with 7 woodcuts from the Augsburg edition of 1535).

literature

• Wilhelm Hermanns (Ed.): Karl Röttger. Confessions to a Poet . Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1922.
• Walter Behrens: Karl Röttger. About the poet's lyrical, epic and dramatic work . Triltsch, Würzburg 1939 (also dissertation, University of Jena 1940).
• Joseph Anton Kruse (Ed.): Karl Röttger. Poet and educator. 100th birthday commemorative exhibition; December 20, 1977 to February 28, 1978 . Heinrich-Heine-Haus, Düsseldorf 1977.
• Helmut Hüffmann (ed.): Karl Röttger in memory. On the occasion of the Karl Röttger exhibition in the Lübbecke culture hall . Lübbecke 1978.
• Gisela Fleckenstein :  Röttger, Karl. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 8, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-053-0 , Sp. 537-541.

Web links

Wikisource: Karl Röttger  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Karl Röttger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Karl Röttger in the Lexicon of Westphalian Authors
• Karl Röttger , biography and estate in the portal rheinische-literaturnachlaesse.de