Katharina Kippenberg

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Katharina Kippenberg (born June 1, 1876 in Hamburg as Katharina von Düring ; † June 7, 1947 in Frankfurt am Main ) was an important promoter of German literature, editor and editor and employee of Insel Verlag .

Family and education

Katharina Kippenberg was born as the fourth daughter of the Hamburg merchant Hermann Hartwig von Düring , whose family comes from Bremen , and his wife Marie Neubourg. After her education she was from 1903 to 1905 at the University of Leipzig as a guest student - probably at philological, historical and philosophical lectures - enrolled since women officially at the Alma mater lipsiensis until 1906 matriculate could.

On December 12, 1905, she married the publisher Anton Kippenberg , whom she had met that same year at a meeting of the Goethe Society in Weimar . The marriage resulted in two daughters, Jutta and Bettina.

Professional activity

Katharina Kippenberg worked at her husband's publishing house, Insel Verlag in Leipzig . In 1914 she was involved in the exhibition committee of the "International Exhibition for Book Trade and Graphics" ( Bugra ) organized by Ludwig Volkmann in 1914 in Leipzig, where she headed the " Book Illustration " subdivision within the special group "Women in the Book Trade and Graphics" and worked intensively endeavored to supply the exhibition with a large amount of artistry on a high level.

During the First World War she even had to take over the management of the publishing house due to the absence of her husband due to the war. On May 5, 1918, she received power of attorney for Insel Verlag and in 1922 became its limited partner .

Her main focus was on promoting young German poets , such as Johannes R. Becher from 1916 , with whom she was to be lifelong friends, and Edzard Schaper from the early 1930s . In particular, she devoted herself to the work of Rainer Maria Rilke , who joined Insel Verlag , who became one of the publisher's most important authors and who felt very close to the publisher, not least through his work and personal contact with her. She wrote a biography about this poet in 1935 : Rainer Maria Rilke. A contribution .

Already in 1917 she tried - albeit unsuccessfully - a continuation of the 1915 of her husband Hugo von Hofmannsthal edited as the editor book series Austrian library , as this mainly due to the war came to a halt. Later she edited several volumes of the Insel-Bücherei , which had been published by the publishing house with overwhelming success since 1912 , such as German chorales (IB 155), Zelter auf Reisen (IB 244/2), Rilke: Gedichte (IB 400 and 480), German poems ( IB 512), Friedrich Schiller : Poems (IB 525 / A), or Georg Trakl : Gesang des Abgeschieden (IB 436 / A).

Shortly before her death, Katharina Kippenberg received an honorary doctorate from the Philosophical Faculties of the Universities of Leipzig (May 22, 1946) and Marburg (June 1, 1946) , which honored her life's work. After the destruction of their house (“Palazzo Chippi”) in Leipzig-Gohlis during a bombing raid in February 1945, the Kippenberg family moved to Marburg with the American occupation troops withdrawing from Leipzig in June 1945 in order to set up a branch of the Insel Verlag.

Contemporary witnesses

"Besides, she is the most intellectually gifted woman I have ever seen, also of great sensitivity and seriousness in the exploration of things in life, art and philosophy." - wrote Oskar Kohnstamm about her on May 22nd, 1913 to Ernst Hardt .

Works

  • Hermann Hartwig von Düring. A picture of his life. Leipzig 1930 ( private print )
  • Rainer Maria Rilke. A contribution . Leipzig, Insel Verlag 1935

literature

  • Sigrid Freytag: A life as "mistress of the island" , in: Hans-Eugen Bühler u. a. (Ed.): Insel-Bücherei. Messages for friends. Insel Verlag Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig 1998, No. 18 p. 28.
  • Werner Marx: The Villa Kippenberg in Gohlis . Leipzig, Bürgererverein Gohlis eV 2001
  • Ingebor Schnack: Dr. phil.hc Katharina Kippenberg , in: Hans-Eugen Bühler u. a. (Ed.): Insel-Bücherei. Messages for friends. Insel Verlag Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig 1997, No. 16 p. 7.
  • Sabine Knopf: Katharina Kippenberg - mistress of the island. Markkleeberg and Beucha, Sax-Verlag 2010.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uwe Wolff : Edzard Schaper, the poet of the 20th century - stations of his life course .
  2. ^ Sabine Knopf: Katharina Kippenberg. Mistress of the island . Sax Verlag, Beucha and Markkleeberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86729-051-7 , p. 129.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kippenberg, Katharina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German editor
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1947
Place of death Frankfurt am Main