Karl Söhle

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Karl Söhle
Karl Söhle

Karl Söhle (born March 1, 1861 in Uelzen ; † December 13, 1947 in Liegau-Augustusbad ) was a German writer , music critic and honorary music professor.

Life

Karl Söhle was born in Uelzen. A few weeks later, however, his father was transferred to the Isenhagen office as rent master. So the later music poet spent his childhood and youth in Hankensbüttel . The impressions and experiences of his childhood remained alive and formative for Söhle until his death, so that they inspired him to his later literary works.

His father aroused his interest in nature at an early age. A visit to a concert in Nordhausen is considered the initial spark for his musical passion. The literary works of Fritz Reuter strongly influenced Söhle and gave direction. After attending the grammar schools in Lingen (Ems) and Salzwedel , which Söhle left without the Abitur, his teacher Piep and his father convinced him to take up the teaching profession.

After visiting teacher Piep's preparatory institute and the Wunstorf teachers' college, Söhle first became a village teacher in Ochtmannien , 30 km south of Bremen. After two years he switched to the school in Wittingen near his old home, but Söhle proved unsuitable for the teaching profession. He made contact with the Hankensbüttler magistrate Franz Töpel, with whom he initially played in a string quartet. In Töpel, Söhle, now at the age of 24, found a patron, and he began studying music at the Dresden Conservatory , where local judge Töpel supported him financially.

Söhle did not complete his studies, however, as Töpel's funds flowed only irregularly and health problems prevented Söhle from practicing music. At the conservatory Söhle met the later famous Dresden singer and university professor for solo singing Maria Berge , whom he described as his "salvation". In 1893 the couple married. At the urging of his wife and with the support of the writer Ferdinand Avenarius , Söhle began to write and publish stories in order to earn a living. In his works he describes folk traditions from his heather homeland as well as his own experiences from childhood and his teaching activities. His musician stories therefore mainly take place in the Isenhagener Land, today's northern district of Gifhorn . They provide an extremely valuable cultural and historical insight into rural life in Lower Saxony in the 19th century. His autobiographical novel "The corrupted musician" describes the arduous journey from the heathen boy to the well-known writer and music critic.

From 1893 he worked as an editor and freelance music critic for the magazine Der Kunstwart . His books on Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also found great recognition. After years of aimlessness, he became a respected citizen in Dresden and a well-known and successful writer throughout Germany. In 1917 the Kingdom of Saxony awarded him the title of honorary music professor. Karl Söhle died on December 13th in the Luisenhof nursing home in Liegau-Augustusbad near Dresden in 1947, having survived the bombing war with great difficulty .

Numerous streets in northern Germany are named after him to this day; In 2007 a documentary was produced with scenes about Söhle, which extensively portrays and honors his life and work as a "musician poet". A biography in book form followed in 2011.

Novels and short stories

  • Stories of musicians . Eugen Diederichs, Florence and Leipzig 1898
  • Musicians and eccentrics . B. Behr, Berlin 1900
  • Sebastian Bach in Arnstadt . B. Behr, Berlin 1902
  • Silence hour, pictures, etc. Shape from d. Lueneburg Heath . B. Behr, Berlin 1905
  • Mozart , L. Staackmann , Leipzig 1907
  • The spoiled musician . Roman, L. Staackmann, Leipzig 1918 ( 1919 edition online  - Internet Archive )
  • The holy grail . 1911, from: Musicians and eccentrics
  • Angle musicians . Hillger, Berlin 1913
  • Eroica . Volksbildungsverein, Wiesbaden 1917, from: Musikantengeschichten
  • Stories of musicians . Final popular edition in one volume, L. Staackmann, Leipzig 1919
  • Peace on earth (printed together with Christmas in the pastor's house. Holy Christ's Eve by F. Reuter). Font Distribution Agency, Berlin 1920
  • The Holy Grail. A musician's story . L. Staackmann, Leipzig 1920, from: Musicians and eccentrics

literature

  • Heinz Burghard: Foreword in Söhle: Musikantengeschichten . Leipzig: Staackmann 1919 (= reprint 1991, published by Volksbank Hankensbüttel)
  • Horst Hoffmann: Karl Söhle, the spoiled musician. For the 125th birthday of the poet der Heide and the musicians. In: Der Heidewanderer , yearbook 1986. Ed. By Hans E. Seidat. Uelzen: C. Beckers 1987
  • Jan CL König: "1866 and the consequences in the country using the example of the teachers and poets Karl Söhle and Christoph Nieschmidt: If only we had stayed in Hanover!" In: Arne Drews (Ed.): The long farewell: The end of the Kingdom of Hanover . 1866 and the aftermath. Göttingen: MatrixMedia 2009
  • Joachim Lücke et al. (Editor): Karl Söhle - an encounter. Documentary film with scenes from the life of the writer and music critic (1861–1947) who grew up in Hankensbüttel and later became successful in Dresden . Germany: Medienwerkstatt Isenhagener Land 2007
  • Joachim Lücke: The musician poet. Karl Söhle (1861–1947) . Sprakensehl-Hagen: Asaro Verlag 2011 ISBN 978-3-941930-42-1
  • Walter Schöne: Karl Söhle in memory. In: Raabe-Jahrbuch (1950), pp. 147–151.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Söhle, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Uelzen
DATE OF DEATH December 13, 1947
Place of death Liegau-Augustusbad