Leo Lenz

Leo Lenz (born January 2, 1878 in Vienna as Josef Rudolf Leo Schwanzara ; † August 29, 1962 in East Berlin ) was an Austrian writer who mainly wrote comedies , but also libretti , poems and texts in other literary forms.

Life

Josef Rudolf Leo Schwanzara was born on January 2nd, 1878 in Vienna as the son of the general manager Josef Schwanzara and his wife Katharina Kaus. In 1887 the family moved to Bautzen , as the father had been given the management of the United Bautzner paper mills. Lenz attended the secondary school " Drei-König-Schule " in Dresden , where he passed his Abitur in 1896. He started at the Technical University of Dresden , a mechanical engineering degree , which he completed in 1902 with the state examination. He then worked as an engineer in the office of a government construction manager at the Royal Saxon State Railways .

He was already composing plays during his studies, and after leaving his office he lived as a freelance writer. The first poems and dramas appeared between 1900 and 1906. His romantic comedy about the French poet François Villon premiered in 1909 at the Royal Theater in Dresden. During the First World War , in which Lenz participated as a captain , he received numerous medals. In 1917, he married; His son was born in 1919 and his daughter in 1923. In 1920 or 1922 the family moved to Berlin . With his comedies, which followed at short intervals, Leo Lenz celebrated great successes thanks to his feeling for the mood and taste of the audience. The prolific writer, who had started with profound pieces, was aware that he was not creating any high-level literature, but at least that he was making people forget the worries of everyday life for a while. Within forty years, over fifty stage works were created, some of which were made into films. The comedy Heimliche Brautfahrt , published in 1925, was played on over 400 stages. One of his most successful plays was the comedy The Man with Gray Temples , composed in 1932 , which was an integral part of the program in a series of 350 performances in the Berlin theater on Behrenstrasse . Between 1933 and 1936 he wrote together with the director of this entertainment theater, Ralph Arthur Roberts , other pieces tailored to the establishment . In February 1939, the early days of television, the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) / Deutscher Fernseh-Rundfunk Paul Nipkow broadcast The Man with the Gray Temples . During the Second World War , the comedy Vitamin L , written together with Lothar Sachs, went on a Wehrmacht tour in early 1944 .

In June 1944, the Lenz family's house in Berlin was completely destroyed by air raids . Leo Lenz not only lost all his belongings and his valuable library, but above all various drafts for future work. After the bombing, he and his relatives moved to Eisenach , where he spent twelve years and served as President of the Association of German Stage Writers and Stage Composers. At the end of 1948 his comedy A Woman Who Pays was premiered in the Eisenach Theater . At that time, several of his pieces were popular in the Scandinavian countries . On German stages, in addition to Heimliche Brautfahrt and The Man with Gray Temples, the works Duett zu Dreitt und Marriage in Cans celebrated long-term successes.

In the post-war period , Lenz wrote operetta libretti together with Richard Bars and Waldemar Frank . The Operetta Nights in Shanghai , which premiered in the Metropol Theater in Berlin in 1947 , with lyrics by Günther Schwenn and the music of the composer Friedrich Schröder , achieved wide recognition . In 1956 Lenz returned with his family to East Berlin , where he spent a quiet retirement without thinking of any further stage plays, as he had to realize that his style no longer suited the time. Leo Lenz died in Berlin on August 29, 1962.

Works

Drama

• 1898: Bud violence. Drama in five acts
• 1900: Sultry nights. Drama cycle
• 1902: The last song. Tragedy in one act
• 1909: Francois Villon. Romantic comedy in four acts
• 1912: little weasel. Comedy in three acts
• 1912: The master's right. A comedy from the Middle Ages in a prelude and four acts
• 1920: Bettina's engagement. Comedy in three acts
• 1921: the last attempt. A cheerful diplomatic piece in three acts
• 1922: Woman connoisseur. Comedy in three acts
• 1924: Children of Kings. Comedy
• 1925: Secret bridal trip. A comedy in a prelude and three acts
• approx. 1928: Toms Tippmamsell or The Girl from Foreign Countries. Comedy in four acts
• 1929: My wife's perfume. Comedy in three acts
• 1930: The silent partner. Comedy in three acts
• 1931: Serenade at night. Comedy in three acts
• 1931: The curse of the good deed. Comedy in three acts
• 1932: The man with the gray temples. Comedy in three acts
• 1933: trio. Comedy in three acts (also rent out a small room )
• 1933: Fabian, the elephant. Comedy in three acts [with Ralph Arthur Roberts]
• 1934: Ask Mrs. Elfriede. Schwank [with Ralph Arthur Roberts]
• 1934: The three eternal words. Comedy
• 1934: canned marriage. Comedy in a prelude and three acts [with Ralph Arthur Roberts]
• 1935: Court hunt in Steineich. Comedy in three acts [with Rudolf Presber ]
• 1935: Closed for love. Comedy in three acts
• 1935: My daughter - your daughter. Comedy in three acts [with Ralph Arthur Roberts]
• 1936: The fight with the Tatzelwurm. Comedy in three acts [with Ralph Arthur Roberts]
• 1937: childhood love. Comedy in three acts after Rudolf Presber
• 1938: Honeymoon without a husband. Comedy in three acts
• 1939: hen party. Comedy in three acts [together with Waldemar Frank]
• 1940: Bachelor tax. Comedy in three acts
• 1940: Telephone from Nice. Comedy [with Waldemar Frank]
• 1941: The gallant envoy. Comedy in three acts
• 1941: Small perfumery
• 1942: Beautiful souls are found. Comedy in three acts based on Nikolaus Asztalos
• 1942: The unapproachable woman. Comedy in three acts
• 1942: Five women around Adrian. Comedy in three acts
• 1942: Vitamin L. Comedy in three acts [together with Lothar Sachs]
• 1942: Duet for three. Comedy in three acts (also udT my wife's chauffeur )
• 1944: Black Hussars. Comedy with music
• 1948: My wife wants to get married. Comedy in three acts
• 1948: a woman who pays off. Comedy in three acts

Epic

• 1929: Thursday night. A railway novel in 9 chapters, based loosely on John O'Cardigan . Verlag Otto Stollberg, Berlin.

prose

• 1902: The Lie of Love. A psychological study in dialogue form . Carl Reissner, Dresden.
• 1904: love fights. Four fragments of life . Carl Reissner, Dresden.
• 1968: cheerful psyche. A selection, compiled by Lilli Lenz from the estate . Private publisher, Hannoversch Münden.

Poetry

• 1900: Holy Laughter
• 1902: Sonnamira. Poems . Carl Reissner, Dresden / Leipzig.

Libretti

• 1942: The forbidden kiss. Comedy operetta in three acts [together with Waldemar Frank]
• 1947: Nights in Shanghai. Operetta in three acts [together with Waldemar Frank]
• 1947: The dancing Helena. Operetta in three acts [with Richard Bars]
• 1948: confetti. Operetta in three acts

Film adaptations

• 1932: The black hussar (idea). UFA .
• 1939: Marriage in cans (based on the play of the same name). Cine alliance sound film .
• 1939: The Man with Gray Temples (early television production, broadcast February 9, 1939). Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) / German television broadcasting company Paul Nipkow.
• 1941: Before becoming a husband (after a honeymoon without a husband ). Astra movie .
• 1963: Reunion in installments (after canned marriage ). ZDF .
• 1972: All cats are gray at night (based on My Wife's Perfume ). DFF

Radio play productions

• 1946: trio . ORF .
• 1948: The man with the gray temples . ORF.
• 1949: The silent partner . ORF.
• 1952: Honeymoon without a husband . ORF.
• 1958: Honeymoon without a husband . SR .
• 1961: Secret bridal trip . BR .

Quote

“When I sat at the Dresden court theater as a primary schoolboy and witnessed a great success, then I never really envied the actors, but only those who had the matter on their conscience, so to speak. To be able to write such pieces, I thought to myself, that would be fantastic! During the performances of my first (serious) pieces, I soon noticed that the cheerful scenes in particular met with a lively response. In wise self-restraint, I recognized myself that the wreaths of immortality were hanging a little too high for me. And now I set myself the task of making people happy. And without arrogance, I think I can say that in the course of my life as an author I have made thousands upon thousands of laughs. "

- Leo Lenz : program booklet German National Theater, season 1939/40

reception

Comedies

The stage works distributor, Felix Bloch Erben, advertises with the sentence: “The secret of the success of Lenz's comedies lies in the precision of their technical structure, in the cleanliness of the dialogue, in their wit and humor, paired with a dose of cheerful life philosophy, the should definitely make the audience think. "

The theater critic of the Allgemeine Thüringische Landeszeitung Deutschland , E. Fr. Müller, summed up in 1940: We know his way of creating a good idea in a moving and sparkling manner, so that it develops like a stage. “He knows how to tie knots and how to untie them in such a way that the audience is not stumbled upon the solution in the first act. He understands the effect of the situation and he knows how to present comedy figures that are not templates, but give the role bearer the opportunity to typify and freely design. "

The first-rate theater critic Herbert Ihering did not like the comedies. In 1933 he wrote about Fabian the elephant : “The text is almost indifferent. In this case he is even particularly penetrative. The dialogue between two young girls is hard to beat for tactlessness. A cheesy piece […]. ”Two years later, after my daughter - your daughter's visit, he wrote that Lenz should stop writing such pieces, because:“ Even banality has its limits ”.

The less well-known Peter Trumm said in 1936 about the adaptation of Eugène Scribe's comedy Les doigts de fee ( Fairy Hands ) under the title Léonie : “With all his skill, Lenz did not achieve much more than a superficial dressing up with cheap current tinsel [...]. "

The audience felt - the critics admitted - mostly well entertained.

On the poet's 80th birthday, Der Morgen wrote : “Leo Lenz - that is the whole secret of his uninterrupted successes - drew his material from circumstances that concern everyone. He did not construct exaggerated conflicts and left the heart in the right place everywhere. A casual humor is inherent in him, who was born in Vienna. "

The Schwerin district newspaper Der Demokratie quoted the German Writers' Association in an obituary with the words: "Around the turn of the century and up to the early 30s, his numerous comedies were among the great and lasting successes of the bourgeoisie with audiences."

Operettas

The dancing Helena has Lenz, was commented positively in the Rheinische Post published in Düsseldorf on the occasion of the twin premieres (Düsseldorf and Bonn), “with borrowing from the tried and tested game of confusion, not without humor”.

The assessment in Bonn's Westdeutsche Rundschau was rather neutral : "With his text that is carefree of any problem, and often even witty, Leo Lenz meets the requirements of an operetta."

The left-wing newspaper Die Freiheit, also published in Düsseldorf, took a negative view : "What the librettist Leo Lenz did not know how to spice up in places, Willy Richartz [...] made digestible again."

Awards

• Archducal Saxon Karl Eduard Medal for Art and Science

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia . 2nd Edition. tape 6 . Kraatz – Menges. KG Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-598-25036-1 , Lenz, p. 358 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Lenz, Leo . In: Austrian National Library (Ed.): Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin, 18th to 20th century . tape 2 . Authors J – R. Saur Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , pp. 814 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Leo Lenz. In: vvb.de. Sales office and publishing house Deutscher Bühnenschriftsteller, accessed on October 11, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Lenz, Leo. In: felix-bloch-orben.de. Felix Bloch Erben GmbH & Co. KG Verlag für Bühne Film und Funk, accessed on October 11, 2017 . 
5. ^ Leo Lenz Archive. Short biography / history of the institution. In: adk.de. Retrieved October 11, 2017 . 
6. ↑ I [ngid] B [iegler]: Lenz . In: Heinz Rupp , Carl Ludwig Lang (ed.): German Literature Lexicon . The 20th century. Biographical and bibliographical manual . Founded by Wilhelm Kosch . Third, completely revised edition. tape 9 : Kober - Lucidarius. A. Francke Verlag, Bern / Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7720-1538-7 , Sp. 1232-1233 .
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Helmut Blazek: Lenz . In: Wilhelm Kühlmann (Ed.): Killy Literature Lexicon . Authors and works from the German-speaking cultural area . 2nd, completely revised edition. tape 7 , Kräm - Marp. Walter De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2010, ISBN 978-3-11-022048-3 , p. 340 .
8. ↑ Theater, music and film reviews in the Third Reich. 1932/1933. Berlin theater. NZZ, October 22, 1934, noon edition, No. 1894. In: horst-schroeder.com. Horst Schroeder, August 10, 2016, accessed October 11, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Knut Hickethier : The television game in the Third Reich . In: William Uricchio (ed.): The beginnings of German television. Critical approaches to the development up to 1945 (=  media in research + teaching ). Series A, volume 30 . Max Niemeyer, 1991, ISBN 3-484-34030-4 , ISSN  0174-4399 , 5. Das Fernsehspiel des Rundstudios, p. 74–123 , here p. 100 (also p. 134).
10. ^ Rüdersdorf / Lothar Sachs . In: Nieuwe Apeldoornsche Courant . No. 13896 , February 14, 1944, p. 1 (Dutch, kb.nl [PDF; 1.8 MB ; accessed on October 11, 2017]).
11. ↑ Bor .: Leo Lenz is seventy . In: Thuringian regional newspaper . January 3, 1948 (day not specified in the newspaper clipping, January 3 deduced).
12. ↑ ^{a b} Leo Lenz passed away . In: The Democrat . Schwerin September 5th, 1962.
13. ↑ Leo Lenz: Leo Lenz about himself. (From an interview) . In: Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (Ed.): Program booklet . Season 1939/40. Weimar 1939, p. [4d] (from the stapled quadrilateral unnumbered program list to Polterabend between the program guide pages 4 and 5, thus "4d").
14. ^ E. Fr. Müller: German National Theater Weimar. "Hen party" . In: Allgemeine Thüringische Landeszeitung Deutschland . January 5, 1940.
15. ↑ Herbert Ihering: Fabian, the elephant . In: Magdeburgische Zeitung . February 24, 1933, theater in Berlin.
16. ^ Herbert Ihering: III. "My daughter - your daughter" . In: Magdeburgische Zeitung . May 21, 1935, theater in Berlin.
17. ^ Peter Trumm: Léonie. First performance in the theater . In: Munich Latest News . November 23, 1936.
18. ↑ Leo Lenz 80 years . In: The morning . January 3, 1958.
19. ↑ –t .: "The dancing Helena". First performance of the operetta at the Dreieck . In: Rheinische Post . Düsseldorf April 30, 1947.
20. ↑ bs: Städtische Bühnen: "The dancing Helena" . In: Westdeutsche Rundschau . Bonn April 30, 1947.
21. ^ K. Schm .: "The dancing Helena". West German premiere in the Theater am Dreieck . In: Freedom . Düsseldorf May 1st 1947.

Web links

• Leo Lenz Archive in the Archive of the Academy of Arts , Berlin
• Leo Lenz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Leo Lenz at filmportal.de
• Leo Lenz in the audio game database