Karl Siegfried Döhring

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Karl Döhring (born August 14, 1879 in Cologne , † June 1, 1941 in Darmstadt ; full name: Karl Siegfried Döhring ) was a German engineer , architect , art historian , archaeologist , writer and translator who lived in Siam , now Thailand , from 1906–1917 , worked, but from the mid-1920s onwards mainly focused on writing novels and translated numerous English novels into German. He used the pseudonyms Ravi Ravendro (as author and translator), Hans Herdegen (as author and translator), Dr. Hans Barbeck (as translator).

Life and work in Thailand

Karl Döhring, born in Cologne, studied architecture in Berlin . During his studies he became a member of the Corps Berolina Berlin . Fascinated by the rich art and buildings of back India , he applied for a position in the Royal Siamese civil service in Bangkok after completing his studies in 1905. From July 1906 he then worked in Siam - first as an engineer for the Royal State Railroad .

Between 1906 and 1912 he planned and supervised the construction of various railway buildings in the capital, such as the headquarters of the main administration, crew quarters, warehouses and a printing plant, as well as the train stations in Bangkok Noi ( Thonburi ), Phitsanulok , Phichit , Phichai - a community ( tambon ) in the Amphoe Mueang Lampang -, Uttaradit and Sawankhalok . In addition to his work for the Royal Railway, he also designed a number of residential and commercial buildings, of which concrete examples could not yet be identified.

In 1909 Döhring took on a position as architect and engineer at the Siamese Ministry of the Interior , where he made an excellent career thanks to his exceptional skills. In addition to meeting high-ranking officers of the Ministry, he also attracted the attention of members of the Royal Family who worked for the Ministry, including Prince Damrong Rajanubhab (a half-brother of King Chulalongkorn , who was Thailand's first Minister of the Interior at the time) and Prince Dilok Nabarath, Prince of Sarn (1884–1913; one of the approximately three dozen sons of King Chulalongkorn who died early). In the first two years of his work for the Ministry of the Interior - between 1909 and 1911 - he was commissioned, among other things, to design four important private buildings for members of the royal family and to supervise their construction: a villa for King Chulalongkorn in Phetchaburi , a palace for the prince Damrong, a palace for Prince Dilok and the residential building for Queen Sukhumala Marasri (1861–1927; the sixth wife of Chulalongkorn), which was built in the palace of their son, Prince Paribatra Sukhumbandhu (1881–1944; Field Marshal and Prince of Nakhon Sawan ) in Bangkok has been. He was also responsible for drawing up city maps for Nakhon Pathom and Phetchaburi.

In contrast to the contemporary western architects who were then working in Thailand (Siam), Döhring's designs were not mere copies of European architectural styles. Rather, he tried to functionally combine Western and Thai architecture and to achieve his own, very personal expression by adapting old forms to new needs and tasks. His buildings are extremely individual, because they were designed and built as "custom work" according to the needs and ideas of the client. The villa, for example, which he built for King Chulalongkorn in Phetchaburi, is a magnificent, impressive building and reminiscent of the theater buildings of Oskar Kaufmann , which were very popular in Germany in those years. The palace for Prince Damrong, on the other hand, is of a downright simple elegance; the one for Prince Dilok again economical and straightforward (“masculine”). And the residence for Queen Sukhumala Marasri - according to the character of its female resident - graceful and feminine.

The sudden death of his first wife in 1911 hit Karl Döhring very hard, and the increasing rivalry among foreigners was not to his taste either. So he put down his work for a year and traveled to Germany, where he received his doctorate at the Technical University of Dresden with a thesis on the Chedi Siams ( Das Phrachedi in Siam ). After his return to Bangkok in 1913, the scope of his activities for the Ministry of the Interior was greatly expanded. In addition to his duties as an architect and engineer, he was also commissioned to undertake archaeological excavations and surveys in some of the northern provinces of Siam. Of the commissioned buildings that he designed that year, however, some were not realized (such as the headquarters and the hospital for the Royal Navy). Döhring fell seriously ill with the stress of all the work; his doctors advised him to return to Europe.

Historical and cultural background

When King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) took control of what was then Siam , the country was threatened by the great European colonial powers . The monarch continued the reform policy introduced by his father, following the European model; this brought not only scientific, technical and economic advances, but also European ways of thinking and living.

The modernization of the capital Bangkok was also part of the reform program . In order to impress the western visitors and state guests, the king had the public buildings as well as his palaces built in a European-historical splendor style - but with Asian influences. Significant examples of this can be found in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, such as the Chakri Maha Prasat , built in the Italian Renaissance style, but later fitted with Siamese staggered roofs and mondops at Chulalongkorn's request . The Renaissance or Baroque style architecture should give Siam the necessary recognition as a civilized country. But not only Chulalongkorn was fascinated by the European lifestyle - you can get a convincing picture of it in his living quarters in the Vimanmek Mansion in Bangkok's Dusit district - his sons, who were raised exclusively in Europe, also left their palaces and villas in European style build and furnish according to the latest European fashion. Later, aristocrats , high dignitaries and wealthy citizens who followed the lifestyle of the royal family imitated the king and princes.

Significant buildings

  • Thonburi Railway Station (also: Thon Buri Railway Station ), around 1900:
The train station is right next to the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok ; here the trains ran west, mainly to the province of Kanchanaburi , but also to southern Thailand . The building was built around 1900 in the style of brick expressionism. During the Second World War it was used by the Japanese as a replenishment base and could therefore not avoid being destroyed. After the war it was rebuilt in the same style. (In 2003 the actual train station was relocated about 1 km to the west, since then the old building has been unused. It will be preserved and integrated into the extension of the Siriraj Hospital, the construction of which began in winter 2007/08.)
  • Station building in Phitsanulok , between 1906 and 1912:
The eye-catching building is based on central and southern German half-timbered buildings .
  • Villa for King Chulalongkorn in Phetchaburi , between 1910 and 1916:
The palace villa of Chulalongkorn (Rama V.) in the south-east of the urban area of ​​Phetchaburi, which is now located within a military complex, is called Phra Ram Ratchaniwet Palace (in Thai : พระราม ราช นิเวศน์ ) and is popularly simply Ban Puen Palace ( วัง บ้าน ปืน ) (and sometimes referred to as Phra Ratchawang Ban Peun ). The construction was commissioned by Chulalongkorn around 1910 and completed around 1916. The Art Deco building is reminiscent of the theater buildings by Oskar Kaufmann , which were very popular in Germany in those years. A green tiled, snail-like staircase, supported by columns and spanned by a partially glazed dome, is the eye-catcher of the building; the dining room on the upper floor is lined with yellow tiles. (Today there is a small exhibition in the building, in which Döhring's original construction plans can also be seen.)
  • Palace for Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, 1911:
The Varadis Palace , an unusual building with a Chinese-inspired interior that can be found not far from the busy Lan Luang Road in Bangkok , was the former residence of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab , who played a significant role in the development of modern Thailand. Prince Damrong (1862-1943) was a son of King Mongkut (Rama IV.) And thus a younger half-brother of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). He was Deputy Commander of the Army, Minister of Education and, during Döhring's time, Thailand's first Minister of the Interior. He wrote numerous books on the history , literature, folklore and culture of Thailand and collected relevant literature and art objects. The Varadis Palace (pronounced wo-ra-dit ) was built in 1911 and renovated in 1996 - on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the prince's death - and converted into a museum with an attached library (the Prince Damrong Rachanupab Museum and Library ). (Another building on the park-like grounds is the Prince Damrong Library, with its collection of around 7,000 books in English and Thai.) This is where Prince Damrong was arrested and died during the June 24, 1932 coup d'état on December 1, 1943.
  • Palace for Prince Dilok, between 1909 and 1911
  • Residence for Queen Sukhumala Marasri , between 1909 and 1911 (probably not completed until 1913):
The Somdej Residence is an extension or annex building of the Bang Khun Prom Palace , the former residence of Prince Paribatra Sukhumbandh (1881–1944; the 33rd son of King Chulalongkorn), which is located directly on the eastern bank of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya ( Chao-Phraya River ), north of the entrance to the modern Rama VIII Bridge. The main building of the small palace complex was built between 1901 and 1906 by the Italian architect Mario Tamagno and Karl Döhring's Somdej Residence was completed around 1913. It was intended as a residential building for the mother of the prince, Queen Sukhumala Marasri (1861-1927; the sixth wife of King Chulalongkorn). (The buildings have been owned by the Bank of Thailand since 1945. First they housed the bank's headquarters; from 1992 the ensemble was renovated and turned into a museum on the history of the Thai currency, the Bank of Thailand , the Bang Khun Phrom Palace and life and the work of Prince Paribatra. King Bhumibol Adulyadej opened the Bank of Thailand Museum on January 9, 1993.)

  • Bangkok Noi Railway Station

  • Phitsanulok Central Railway Station

  • Phra Ram Ratchaniwet Palace in Phetchaburi

Second career as an author and translator

After his health was restored in Germany, Döhring wanted to return to Siam, but the First World War (1914–1918) made this project impossible. After the end of the war, he decided to end his career as an architect; from then on he worked as an art historian and archaeologist, as a product designer and translator of English and American literature . Because of his excellent knowledge of Siam, his writings on Siamese art , architecture and culture were received with great interest by western readers. The main source of income, however, were the commissioned translations, which Döhring produced in large numbers, especially for the crime and novel series of Goldmann Verlag.

On November 5, 1920, Karl Döhring married Hedwig Maria Wagner (* 1898 Nuremberg) for the second time. There is a cast bronze medal of this wedding by the Berlin sculptor Rudolf Marcuse. Döhring led the life of a wealthy private scholar; The family lived in Seeheim Palace on Bergstrasse until his death . Hedwig Döhring supported her husband as a translator; together, for example, they translated the Rama legends and Rama reliefs in Indonesia by Willem Frederik Stutterheim , published by Georg Müller in Munich in 1925 .

Crime translations in particular were literally produced on an assembly line at Seeheim Castle. Döhring's pseudonym Ravi Ravendro ("Rawi" is a synonym in Thailand for "Phra Athit" = "sun" in the monastic and court language) appeared, for example, as a translator of almost all Goldmann editions of the Edgar Wallace crime novels; for under bush niggers. Stories from the African jungle. he also wrote an introduction. He has also translated Gwen Bristow , George Rippey Stewart , Headon Hill , Karl Vivian, Ellery Queen , Courtney Ryley Cooper, Martha Ostenso, Joseph Smith Fletcher, Austin J. Small ("Seamark"), James Morgan Walsh , Paul Iselin Wellman, Ethel Lina White and even the espionage revelations of an Englishman by a mysterious author with the pseudonym Vigliant.

Four Siamese novels based on actual events

The four Siamese novels by Karl Döhring are remarkable, all of which are based on actual events. Nevertheless, they remained unnoticed by science until a lecture on the novel Im Schatten Buddhas (published under the pseudonym Ravi Ravendro) on June 15, 2012 at the Berlin Humboldt University. Particularly interesting is the rare second edition of this novel, published in 1940, which was only described by Hans Michael Hensel when this conference was initiated. "In the shadow of the Buddha", which is about a third larger than the 1927 edition, which was apparently edited by the publisher. The appearance of the extended text seems to have been an affair of the heart of Döhring's, which he initiated shortly before his death. (See web links)

It is true, writes Hensel, "due to the times, Döhring's anti-colonial foreword, which spoke of respect for other peoples and races, had to be omitted". Corresponding changes cannot be found in the actual text. On the contrary, Döhring even left the remarks of the main character Prince Chatri in the German Club in Bangkok about the equivalence of races - on pages 148 (1927) and 150 (1940). Elsewhere, passages that portray Asian culture in a very positive way and question European culture have even been expanded. In 1927, on page 269, it was only possible to read that Prince Chatri had "no longer had a bad conscience" because of his twelve wives, while in the 1940 edition on page 271 there was the following extension:

"I no longer have a guilty conscience in this regard. It was artificially instilled in me in Europe. There, all eroticism is publicly frowned upon, but secretly it looks completely different. I'm glad that I have now shed this hypocritical morality again . The erotic itself is neither good nor bad. It is simply there and natural. "

Döhring died at the age of 61 in a Darmstadt hospital. Hedwig Döhring is said to have moved to Wuppertal-Elberfeld in 1942.

Publications (selection)

  • Karl Döhring: The magnificent building in Siam. In: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, year 1912, 693–806.
  • Karl Döhring: The Bôt (main temple) in the Siamese temple complexes. Berlin 1914 (dissertation) online  - Internet Archive .
  • Karl Döhring: Buddhist temples in Siam . Bangkok and Berlin 1920, 3 volumes (greatly expanded new edition: Buddhist temples in Thailand , 2014, ISBN 978-3-7357-3903-2 )
  • Karl Döhring: The Indian culture in individual representations: Siam. Darmstadt 1923 (only the first two of three volumes announced have appeared).
  • Karl Döhring: Siam. Country and people. Folkwang-Verlag, Darmstadt 1923. Reprinted by White Lotus, Bangkok 1999.
  • Karl Döhring: Indian art. An introduction and overview. Berlin 1925.
  • Karl Döhring: Let your body burn. [Report by Mrs. AH Leonowens about the death of the then high priest of Siam.] Munich-Neubiberg: Oskar Schloß Verlag 1926.
  • Karl Döhring: The Thoth Kathin celebration in Siam. Hanover: Heinz Lafaire 1927.
  • Ravi Ravendro: Dancing Flame Dok Mali. [A novel based on real events.] Leipzig 1927.
  • Ravi Ravendro: In the shadow of the Buddha. Novel by a Siamese Prince [novel based on a true story]. Berlin 1927.
  • Ravi Ravendro: The Day of the Nang Dara. [Novel with details based on the book Siamese Harem's Life by Anna Leonowens.] Leipzig 1929.
  • Hans Herdegen: 34th Bruton Street. Detective novel. Berlin undated [approx. 1936].
  • Karl Döhring: Escape from Buddha's Law. Princess Amarin's love. Novel. Berlin 1937.
  • Ravi Ravendro: Shadows in the Castle. Novel. - Berlin 1937.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Address list of the Weinheimer SC. Darmstadt 1928, p. 37.
  2. ↑ http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=121&did=900978921&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1273139603&clientId=60279 Proof of work in Proquest
  3. ↑ Varadis Palace in Bangkok
  4. ^ Italian architects in Bangkok

literature

  • Krisana Daroonthanom: The architectural work of the German architect Karl Döhring in Thailand. Logos Verlag, Berlin 1998.
  • Krisana Honguthen: Karl Dohring and His Architecture in Siam. In: Muang Boran Journal , Volume 25, No. 1, January / March 1999.
  • Hans Michael Hensel: "Almost unknown today: Karl Döhring's Siamese novel about Prince Dilok" - TIP newspaper for Thailand July 8, 2012 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Döhring, Karl Siegfried
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Döhring, Karl; Döring, Karl (frequent misspellings)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect, art historian, archaeologist, writer and translator
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1941
Place of death Darmstadt