Elisar von Kupffer

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Elisàr von Kupffer (born February 20, 1872 in Sophiental, Estonia , † October 31, 1942 in Minusio , Switzerland ) was the founder of a religious movement, artist, anthologist, poet, translator and playwright. For most of his writing he used the pseudonym Elisarion .

Life and aftermath

He studied in Saint Petersburg and Berlin . After traveling to Italy in 1897–1901, he moved to Florence in 1902 with his partner, the philosopher Eduard von Mayer . After both men had left Italy in 1915, they first moved to Muralto and later to Minusio. In 1926 the construction of a sanctuary began, which was opened on August 1, 1927. In 1939, a twelve-sided final building was added to this building, in which the main pictorial work of Kupffers, the "Clear World of the Blessed" was exhibited. After Eduard von Mayer's death in 1960, the building fell into disrepair for a few years and was converted into a community cultural center in 1981. It was named Elisarion . A small archive with the literary estate of both men and the artistic work of Kupffers reminds of the original purpose of the Sanctuarium Artis Elisarion. In addition to the Goetheanum by Rudolf Steiner, the building is the only temple building from the early 20th century in Switzerland and is based on comparable sources. Prominent visitors to the building included Magnus Hirschfeld , Gerhart Hauptmann and Kurt Tucholsky . Tucholsky's novel "Schloß Gripsholm" , published in 1931, makes a satirical reference to the sanctuary and its inhabitants with its allusion to the "Polysandrion".

Clarism as a new religious movement

In 1900, Elisàr von Kupffer initiated a religious movement that was supposed to counteract the widespread monism and at the same time referred to contemporary trends, such as the theosophy of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky . This belief, clarism , was institutionalized in the establishment of various societies: 1911 Klaristengemeinschaft Weimar, 1913 Klaristengemeinschaft Zürich, 1926 Elisarionsgesellschaft. After about three generations, the faith should have blossomed across countries and represent an EU democracy. The divine head of the new science religion should be Elisàr von Kupffer (since 1911 Elisarion) himself. At the same time, clarism is seen as a reaction to life reform movements . Land and food reform, the political form of the “third way” between communism and capitalism can also be found here. Despite misogynist and anti-Semitic tendencies, clarism called for strong social reforms with regard to the women's and homosexual emancipation movements . A pictorial representation of the new faith is shown in numerous paintings, which von Kupffer painted mainly from 1910 onwards. These paintings were exhibited in the sanctuary and created a ritual structure of the building that is reminiscent of the Parzival stagings of the time. The end of this visit was the circular painting 'The Clear World of the Blessed', which was first exhibited in the rotunda of the sanctuary in 1939. With the renovation of the building, it was saved by Harald Szeemann and housed on Monte Verità . Clarism tended to be strongly theorized. Elisàr von Kupffer and Eduard von Mayer wrote numerous works that dealt with scientific theorems, art-scientific discourses and socio-political and religious-theoretical aspects.

Favorite love and friendship in world literature

In 1899/1900 Adolf Brand published one of v. Kupffer compiled anthology of homoerotic literature under the title Lieblingminne und Freundesliebe in der Weltliteratur . V. Kupffer created the anthology in part to protest against Oscar Wilde's imprisonment in England . In retrospect, von Kupffer describes the work on the anthology as' time-consuming secondary work. In the posthumously published autobiography he puts this work behind the significance of his founding religion. Nevertheless, as the only newly published work by Kupffers, it has a decisive influence on today's reception, which led to a complete disregard of the comprehensive character of the entire estate.

Poems

The poems in the book come from a variety of sources and places like the ancient Greece , the Roman Empire , the Bible , the Arab world , Japan , Italy of the Renaissance , England in Elizabethan and Germany of the 19th century. The book also contains a few poems by the editor himself.

At the time when v. Kupffer wrote the book, there was as yet no such compilation, so it took extensive research to find suitable texts. This undertaking was made even more difficult by the fact that there were either no translations of foreign-language poems or that these were mutilated by homophobic censorship, e. B. by replacing masculine pronouns with feminine pronouns. V. Kupffer first had to translate a number of poems or have friends translated them if they were in a language he did not speak. In the light of these difficulties it seems remarkable that v. Kupffer's selection of poems has become timeless and has joined the canon of gay poetry.

From Kupffer's foreword

Probably just as interesting as the anthology itself is the one in Pompeii by v. Kupffer wrote a very political foreword. In it he advocates that homosexuality should not only be tolerated by society, but should be made one of its cornerstones, consisting of (essentially platonic) homosocial bonds between boys and men and men with one another, thereby making society to a greater extent than should ever be strengthened through heterosexual relationships alone.

V. Kupffer also attacks the term third gender , a concept that, in his opinion , was invented by gay rights activists like Magnus Hirschfeld in order to achieve legal recognition of homosexuals and to repeal existing laws against homosexual practices. He also opposes a revisionist historiography in which historical figures such as Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar are portrayed as gays, assuming that the modern concept of gayness revolves around feminized male behavior based on the model of the third sex , which simply does not apply to the circumstances at that time.

Furthermore, v. Kupffer described the "cult of women", which he claims originated in royal France and the court of Louis XIV. A climate in which man-woman relationships are encouraged and man-man relationships are viewed as suspicious is harmful to them Society. The sole advocacy of heterosexuality leads to a comparatively lonely society in which social interactions and culture on a larger scale (such as in the Greek polis ) are largely absent.

Despite Kupffer's argument, however, that today's men, like the ideal Greek citizens of the past, should be both decidedly masculine in their behavior and at the same time cultured enough to lead homoerotic or homosexual relationships, emphasizes v. Kupffer stated that he was not a misogynist and that misogyny actually came from heterosexual men who unconsciously felt restricted in their marriages.

Von Kupffer goes far beyond a position that sees homosexuality as a mere alternative to heterosexuality and therefore has the same rights as e.g. B. calls for marriage , but takes the view that it is more important than heterosexual relationships, namely an integral part of society, which benefits society as a whole through its bonds.

Further publications

  • "Life and Love. Poems" (1895)
  • “Dishonorable! Novellas and Sketches "(1898)
  • “Lord of the world. Tragedy in Five Acts "(1899)
  • Irrlichter (1900, three plays Andrei, Erich and Narkissos)
  • "Resurrection. Earthly Poems" (1901)
  • “Climate and Poetry. A contribution to psychophysics "(1907)
  • “At Eden's gates. Poems "(1907)
  • “ Giovan Antonio-il Sodoma . A study of the soul and art by Elisàr von Kupffer ”(1908) In: Yearbook for sexual intermediate stages , vol. IX.
  • Aino and Tio (1907)
  • “Aphrodite bound. A dramatic poem "(1911)
  • “The unknown god. A word to you and your people "(1912)
  • "What should clarism mean for us? - national force" (1912)
  • "The blasphemies of the Bible and of antiquity" (1912)
  • "Hymns of the Holy Castle" (1913)
  • "3000 Years of Bolshevism" (1919)
  • "Heroic Vision and Good Faith" (1942)
  • "Conversations of the Clear World" (1942)
  • "From a True Life" (1943)

His claristic work was also published in the gay magazine Akadémos by Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen .

In addition, v. Kupffer also a photographer. The estate includes photographic studies of nature, nude photographs, which he used as templates for his paintings, and self-portraits.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Elisar von Kupffer  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eduard von Mayer, 1873–1960
  2. ↑ Deutschlandfunk, Fountain of Youth for Entrückte , A Long Night over Monte Verità, July 9, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Kupffer, Elisar von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kupffer, Elisàr von; Elisarion (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Baltic artist, writer, historian and translator
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Sophiental, Estonia
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1942
Place of death Minusio