Karl Sauvagerd

Karl Sauvagerd (born August 19, 1906 in Gronau ; † February 6, 1992 in Nordhorn ) was an Evangelical Reformed master tailor, Low German poet and novelist, and local history researcher.

Profession and life path

Karl Sauvagerd was the oldest child of a master tailor from Gronau in the Münsterland. In 1910 his family moved to the Niedergrafschafter peasantry in Wilsum , where his father started his own business as a bespoke tailor. Sauvagerd attended the reformed elementary school here from 1912 to 1920. His father was drafted after the outbreak of the First World War, so that his mother and three underage children got into trouble. As an elder, Karl had to help out on the surrounding farms and so came into close contact with rural life. During the First World War, the Wilsum students had to spend a lot of time collecting medicinal herbs and medicinal plants, which led Karl Sauvagerd to a lifelong interest in the local flora. He later collected many native plants himself and created a herbarium in which he provided them with their botanical and German names, where they were found and when they were found. In 1921 Sauvagerd started an apprenticeship with his father. In 1924 he passed his journeyman's examination as the best of the guild. The tailor's apprentice then worked in Uelsen, then in Bentheim, where he worked musically as a choir singer and musician. In 1928, his parents bought a house on Hauptstrasse in the Niedergrafschaft court in Neuenhaus and opened a shop there. Karl Sauvagerd moved there in 1929. In December 1931 he passed his master craftsman examination in Lingen and then became an independent bespoke tailor in Neuenhaus. Sauvagerd took part in the Second World War as an intelligence soldier. He was married to Auguste Hilfers from Bentheim . The couple had a daughter. In 1981 Sauvagerd moved to his daughter's family in Uelsen , where he spent the evening of his life.

Working in public

Early on, Karl Sauvagerd published Low German poems under the pseudonym "Lyrikus", and in 1931 he managed for the first time to get a work from the Grafschafter Presse in the "Grafschafter Heimatkalender for the year 1931". His Low German poems, which were printed in many newspapers and magazines in the following years, made him famous as a poet. In 1948, the Heimatverein of Grafschaft Bentheim published Sauvagerd's first volume of Low German poetry entitled “Häideblomen”, followed by “De Tied blif Baas” in 1955. Sauvagerd was known in Bentheim country as "the sealing Sniederbaas", his poetry was at school festivals and home evenings often argued where he was also happy even invited as a reciter.

In the autumn of 1956 the lively Low German poets and publicists from the Emsland / Grafschaft Bentheim region founded the “Schrieverkring an Ems un Vechte”. The hard core of this group included Maria Mönch-Tegeder , Hans Wessels , Bernhard Uphus and Josef Hugenberg from the county, as well as the Neuenhauser Ludwig Sager and Karl Sauvagerd, as well as Christa Brinkers , who came from the county but lived in Emsland . This association of authors was chaired by the Grafschafter linguist and teacher Dr. Arnold Rakers . In 1948, Rakers contributed significantly to the fact that the Heimatverein published Sauvagerd's first volume of poetry and wrote an afterword and a list of words with explanations.

The "Schrieverkring" maintained close connections to similar associations from the neighboring Dutch regions of Twente, Drenthe and Salland, so that Karl Sauvagerd is known to this day among the Nedersaks writers in the eastern Netherlands and is even represented with a biographical entry in this Wikipedia language version. This was due not least to the fact that he was also represented with his works in various Nedersaksisch magazines, for example in “Dbod en stadt. Grunneger Moandblatt ”, in“ Moderspråke en Nåberschůp ”and in“ 't Swieniegelje ”, in which he was a regular contributor.

Through his work in the Schrieverkring Sauvagerd was well networked in the Low German scene in the Netherlands and Lower Saxony, including his participation in conferences of Low German authors, publishers and Germanists in Bad Bevensen and his membership in the Hamburg " Fehrs-Gilde " to promote the Low German Language and journalism contributed. As an excellent expert on Grafschafter Low German, Sauvagerd contributed to the Low German dictionary. He also took part in the development of a uniform script for Low German, the Vosbergen script, for which he advertised in the 1957 yearbook of the Grafschafter Heimatverein. The font was designed for Low German writers at the German-Dutch "Second Lower Saxony Symposium" of the University of Groningen in Haus Vosbergen near Groningen , so that Low German scripts, which were previously written according to either Dutch or High German writing rules, could be read on both sides of the border. His second volume of poetry, published in 1955, was apparently the first book to be published in this spelling.

Sauvagerd was almost annually from the beginning of the 1950s until the late 1980s with articles in the "Yearbook of the Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim" and the monthly supplement of the " Grafschafter Nachrichten ", the "Grafschafter" (temporarily unnamed in "Between Castle and Drilling Tower “), Represented. The spectrum of his publications ranged from the (Low German) poetry, which made up the bulk of his work, to novels and regional historical research, for example about the gasworks in Neuenhaus or the Neuenhauser pastors. There are also botanical publications from him. At the same time Sauvagerd became widely known through newspaper articles, especially in the " Grafschafter Tagespost ". There he published the novel "Godi en sien söwende Kind" in 27 sequels from 1959 to 1960, the story "Strange Story" from 1960 to 1962 and "Dat teken van de doadenburg" in 47 sequels in 1964. His novel "Die Wunderorgel" was to be read from 1975 to 1977 in 25 sequels in "Grafschafter", at the time renamed "Between Castle and Drilling Tower".

In 1975 he published a collection of the Grafschaft's “Wortgut” under the title “Our Grafschafter Platt”, which was followed in 1986 by a supplementary volume. This should expressly not be a dictionary, but a collection of the word inventory with detailed examples of use, with which he wanted to enrich the Low German vocabulary of the readers. Sauvagerd's love for nature and the Grafschafter flora testifies to a richly and colorfully illustrated font from 1973 under the title "Heimatliche Naturheilkraft" (local natural healing powers), into which his knowledge of Grafschafter flora and his herbarium flowed. The corresponding illustrations came from his daughter.

The long-time member of the home association of Grafschaft Bentheim was appointed to its board in 1966, to which it then belonged for 23 years. In addition, Sauvagerd was involved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a member of the church council and as a lay preacher in the Evangelical Reformed community in Neuenhaus.

Appreciations

The local history association of the Grafschaft Bentheim appointed the poet, local researcher and supporter of Low German in 1976 as an honorary member. He also became an honorary member of the Neuenhaus Transport and Event Association. The state of Lower Saxony recognized Sauvagerd's services for the preservation and promotion of the Low German language and for his cross-border work with the award of the Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit, which was presented to him by the Grafschafter Oberkreisdirektor in mid-February 1977. Prof. Dr. HJ Prakke from the Netherlands, representing the “Drentse Schriewerkring”, gave a laudatory speech. In the meantime forgotten in Lower Saxony, the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe honored it by including it in the Lexicon of Westphalian Authors. An exhibition organized by Heimatfreunde Neuenhaus in 2017 about the poet's life and work was a great success and brought the poet back to mind. In September 2019, an overview of his widely published lyrical work was published with some Low German hearth fire stories, enriched with material from his estate. This overview of his work is supplemented by a scholarly classification of his work, a biography and an examination of the Low German language in the area of ​​Grafschaft Bentheim, Emsland, Overijssel and Drenthe. In September 2019 the Heimatfreunde Neuenhaus published a book that for the first time provided an overview of the breadth of his lyrical work in nine chapters and with scientific contributions from Verena Kleymann, Dr. Helmut Lensing and Prof. Dr. Dieter Stellmacher classified or examined the work, life and the regional Low German language, whereby the study on the Low German language in the eastern Netherlands, the county of Bentheim and the Emsland was also printed in Dutch.

Works (selection)

• As an air intelligence soldier in the field, in: Grafschafter Heimatkalender 1941. Das Bentheimer Land, Vol. XXVI, Bentheim 1940, pp. 44–48.
• Häideblomen: Poems and stories ut de Groafschup Bentheim. Met Noawoord en Woordliste van Arnold Rakers (Das Bentheimer Land, Vol. 31), Paderborn / Osnabrück 1948.
• De Tied blif Baas: Gedichten et Joor rund (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 90; De Junge Graafschupp, 1), Nordhorn 1955 (2nd edition revised by the author, Nordhorn 1976).
• From the new spelling for Low German, in: Yearbook of the Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim 1957 (Das Bentheimer Land, Vol. 47), oOuJ, pp. 144–147.
• Colorful pictures, in: Grafschafter Tagespost from 1958 - 1959 (27th continuations)
• Godi en sien söwende Kind, in: Grafschafter Tagespost from 1959-1960 (27 sequels).
• The Neuenhauser Gaswerk, in: Yearbook of the Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim 1960 (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 51), oOuJ, pp. 182-184.
• Strange stories, in: Grafschafter Tagespost from 1960-1962 (40 sequels).
• Dat teken van de doadenburg, in: Grafschafter Tagespost from 1964 (47 continuations).
• From the history of a Niedergrafschafter farm, in: Der Grafschafter, Episode 182, Nordhorn 1968, pp. 509-510.
• The Evangelical Reformed Church of Neuenhaus and its pastors, in: Yearbook of the Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim 1966 (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 60), oOuJ, pp. 103–111.
• The Reformed Church in Neuenhaus, in: 1369-1969. 600 years of the city of Neuenhaus. Festschrift for the 600th anniversary of the city of Neuenhaus on September 29, 1969, Neuenhaus / Schüttorf 1969, pp. 59–61.
• Botanical sights, in: Yearbook of the Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim 1972 (Das Bentheimer Land, Vol. 75), Nordhorn (1971), pp. 41–49.
• Die Wunderorgel, Roman, in: Between Burg and Bohrturm, series 2-12, Nordhorn 1975, and in: Between Burg and Bohrturm, series 1-12, Nordhorn 1976, and in: Between Burg and Bohrturm, series 1-6, Nordhorn 1977.
• Local natural healing powers (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 83), Nordhorn 1973.
• Our Grafschafter Platt, Nordhorn 1975 (2nd volume 1986).

literature

• Gövert, Erich: Karl Sauvagerd, local poet from Grafschafter, grew up in Wilsum, in: Bentheimer Jahrbuch 2003 (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 159), Bad Bentheim 2002, pp. 377–383.
• Kuiper, Heinrich / Titz, Hubert: In memory of Karl Sauvagerd. The Grafschafter Heimat poet would have been 100 years old in August, in: Der Grafschafter No. 8 from August 2006, Nordhorn 2006, p. 31
• Lensing, Helmut: Sauvagerd, Karl, in: Emsländische Geschichte 24, Haselünne 2017, pp. 244–300 (with list of publications).
• Karl Sauvagerd, "De Tied blif Baas" - Selected texts and a picture of life. Edited on behalf of Heimatfreunde Neuenhaus eV by Bernd Vette and Klaus Vorrink (studies and sources on the history of the Emsland and the county of Bentheim, 3), Haselünne 2019, ISBN 978-3-9818393-7-1
• Voort, Heinrich, Grafschafter deserving of memory: Karl Sauvagerd * August 19, 1906 + February 6, 1992, in: Bentheimer Jahrbuch 1993 (Das Bentheimer Land, vol. 127), Bad Bentheim 1992, pp. 5-7.

Web links

• Karl Sauvagerd in the Lexicon of Westphalian Authors
• Andre Berends: Neuenhausers bring back memories of Karl Sauvagerd. In: Grafschafter Nachrichten. February 9, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2017 .