Karl Schäfer (local poet)
Karl Schäfer (born May 13, 1849 in Brensbach as Johann Leonhard Schäfer; † November 13, 1915 in Darmstadt ) was a German teacher , local poet and singer . A street and an oak tree in Brensbach are named after him.
Life
On May 13, 1849, Johann Leonhard Schäfer saw the light of day as the youngest of five siblings in Brensbach . He later took the first name Karl. His parents' house - now a listed building - stood at Römerberg 14, where his father, master blacksmith Leonhard Schäfer, ran his workshop. After completing the teachers 'seminar, he initially got jobs in Hüttental and Klein-Karben before he was transferred to the city girls' school in Darmstadt , where he worked until his retirement in 1906. An eye disease forced him to do so. In 1906 he married a second time, having been a widower in 1886 after only eleven years of marriage.
In addition to his teaching activities, Karl Schäfer devoted himself to poetry and became known far beyond the Odenwald for his native poems. His novels Der Einsiedler von Auerbach and Der Falkner vom Rodenstein in particular brought him literary recognition. His poems and citizen-oriented stories were so well known among the rural population that some of them could be found in reading books at schools.
In 1911 the version of Eulenspiegel in the Odenwald was created. In it, Schäfer described the funny pranks of a Brensbacher who, as a bannoser in the Gersprenztal, carried on his mischief. Also in his poems like Lindelgret, In Böllstein auf der Höh or with the saga of the Rodensteiner , Karl Schäfer conveyed a special kind of home feeling to his readers. With the title of his epic poem Der Auerbacher Rott , Karl Schäfer combined legend and reality and described the in pithy words Ride of the Erbacher Schenken to the Reichstag in Worms .
His friend Friedrich von Flotow set some of his poems to music, which is why they were included in the songbook of the Odenwald Club, to which Karl Schäfer belonged for many years. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, the club at Brensbacher Oberwald planted an oak tree for him and made Schäfer an honorary member.
Karl Schäfer died on November 13, 1915 after suffering for a long time in Darmstadt and was buried there with great sympathy.
Fonts
- The hermit of Auerbach. Story from the time of Charlemagne , Müller and Rühle, Darmstadt 1896
- Falconer from Rodenstein. A song from the Odenwalde, period: from 1483-1500 , Aigner, Darmstadt 1891
- Eulenspiegel in the Odenwald. Cheerful stories from the old days , self-published, Darmstadt 1911
literature
- Ludwig Ready: Country life and literary tradition. The Odenwald and its poets. Ges. Hessischer Literaturfreunde, Darmstadt 1997
- Obituary . in: Centralanzeiger for the Odenwald , 1915
- Report on the 100th anniversary of Karl Schäfer's death , Georg Kredel in: Brensbacher Nachrichten , 2015, vol. 50 / no. 46, p. 4f. (also localbook Brensbach )
- Brensbach Family Register , 2015
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shepherd, Karl |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schäfer, Johann Leonhard (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German teacher and local poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 13, 1849 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brensbach |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 13, 1915 |
| Place of death | Darmstadt |