Literary Association of the Palatinate

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Memory book of the Palatinate Literary Association for the Palatinate soldiers, 1916. Title drawing by August Croissant
The association magazine "Heimaterde", anniversary number for the 50th anniversary of the association's foundation, 1928

The Literary Association of the Palatinate was founded in 1878 and is based in Landau in the Palatinate . Its goal is to maintain and promote literary creativity and life in the Palatinate. Birgit Heid has been the first chairwoman since 2016.

history

1878 to 1929

The Literary Association of the Palatinate was founded on September 15, 1878 as an association of Palatinate writers, artists and friends of art and science in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and for the first 30 years consisted of a small circle of idealists. 1884 the association magazine Palatinate Museum was published. Because of the high workload and the production costs, the magazine was published from 1903 together with the historical association and six other associations.

In 1900 it was renamed the Palatinate Literary Association . The number of members remained low at 70 members. Only after 1910 did the association experience a boom through the establishment of local groups and, from 1916, its own magazine. This year the association already had 336 members. The change in social mood in connection with the First World War contributed to the upswing, as local poetry regained its identity.

Association members were mainly teachers, businessmen, professors, civil servants, pastors and editors. Four percent of the members were women, usually without any professional training. In 1916, the Palatinate am Rhein was created as a new newsletter for members . Soldiers in the field received “Heimatgrüße”, a ribbon with texts and pictures by the Landau painter August Croissant . An anthology appeared. In 1920 the association had 450 members.

The people of the Palatinate were particularly interested in humorous dialect literature - while the club also tried to achieve a certain "demanding" level. In 1922, after Ludwig Eid, Dr. Georg Reismüller elected as board member. The people's education association and the people's library movement emerged, and the literary association wanted to provide professional support. The traditions of the times of French occupation, the Rhineland question, the provisions of the Versailles Treaty and the “Regiebahn” and the resulting impoverishment of the population were of particular importance.

The small magazine for Palatinate literature and art , with the subtitle "Heimaterde" appeared from 1923. It was the first free Palatinate literary magazine with the focus on young authors. In 1930 it had to be reinstated. Of the Palatinate writers, only Gert Buchheit , Roland Betsch , Wilhelm Michael Schneider , Willi Gutting, Leopold Reitz , Lina Staab , Martha Saalfeld , Richard Schneider , Hugo Ball , Kurt Kölsch , Ludwig Dillmann, Luise Rösinger and Paula Best emerged. The successor magazine Literarian Pfalz was also discontinued in 1932. In 1929 Leopold Reitz became the first chairman.

time of the nationalsocialism

In 1932, some members and authors committed themselves to National Socialism , also in the last edition of the magazine Literarian Pfalz . Other texts by Palatinate authors were printed in Nazi publications without being asked. The so-called synchronization of cultural institutions also affected the literary association. Kurt Kölsch became Gaukulturwart, Hermann Emich provisional director for art and popular education. In March 1933, rallies for cultural workers took place in Kaiserslautern . Kurt Kölsch gave an anti-Semitic hate speech. At the end of the rallies, there was a book burning. The board members of the literary association had to resign; their posts were taken over by the NSDAP , which suppressed regionalist tones. The Palatinate Literary Association welcomed the reorganization. Some members of the literary association found themselves in the specialist committees of the cultural umbrella organization of the NSDAP, the Volksbildungsverband.

The literary association was unlawfully dissolved by the board resigning. Leopold Reitz was later one of the employees of the “Westmark” circle, which did not save with baiting Jews. The literature should essentially repeat the demagogic party phrases. Roland Betsch became the first chairman of the working group that replaced the literary association. He denounced what he had previously used for his own purposes. Kurt Kölsch spread pathetic catchphrases and gave instructions on how to write future books.

From 1945

The friends of this Nazi cultural administration remained intact even after the Second World War . Kölsch found new tasks in magazines and newspapers. Under the pseudonym "Peter Luginsland" he published dialect poems in daily newspapers. In the magazine Pfalz und Pfälzer by Oskar Bischoff there are texts from former party comrades and party-affiliated authors, for example Kölsch, Ludwig Dillmann, Paula Best, Karl Schworm and Leopold Reitz. The literature in demand was nostalgic and home-based.

After the Second World War , the literary association was re-established on September 8, 1951 in Landau. The initiator was a group around Oskar Bischoff, who published the cultural magazine Pfalz und Pfälzer at Verlag der Rheinpfalz and was friends with Kurt Kölsch. In 1952 Hermann Sauter became the first chairman of the association. The book by Leopold Reitz "Der Weinpfarrer von Wachenheim" was selected as the annual edition 1953. Again, there were disputes about the attitude to tradition and claim. The anthology “Traces and Paths” for the 80th birthday of the association in 1958 was intended to make it clear that they wanted to move away from the local poet clichés. Nevertheless, the backward-looking literary perspective remained dominant after the war.

The emerging preferences of the readers for modern and international literature triggered a split in traditionalists and modernists in the association, especially since a large part of the Nazi functionaries were still active in the association. Both the 1968 annual “Young Voices” (first publication opportunity for young authors) and Kurt Kölsch's 1969 annual “The Green Cantor” led to resignations. At the 1960 annual meeting there was a reading of “young talents”: Gerd Forster , Susanne Faschon and Wolfgang Schwarz . The association slowly opened up to young authors, who, however, again lacked the local flavor. Literary competitions for young authors were organized. The Ministry of Culture supported the annual gifts and the district association of the Palatinate the association in general. In 1976, Hilde Domin designed the poetry lesson during the annual meeting. In 1977 Artur Schütt became the new board member.

Contact with young authors was increasingly sought. Erwin Damian and Gerd Forster took over the leadership of literary groups. These two-day author talks have been moved to the Pfalzakademie Lambrecht. 30 to 40 participants took part in the constructive discussions with mediating moderation. In 1981, the annual edition “Lenz in Landau and other stories” was published; they were texts from these discussions with young authors.

The association magazine Neue literäre Pfalz has been published since 1981 . In 1982 Wolfgang Diehl became the association's first chairman. In 1985 the association had almost 500 members. Since local groups were strong and self-sufficient, the desire to break away from the association arose occasionally. The aspect of the Palatinate community had to be pointed out repeatedly. In addition, the competition from the mass media became more and more noticeable. In 1987 a Matha Saalfeld Medal was awarded for the first time . In 1989 Michael Dillinger from Zweibrücken became chairman. The texts of Palatinate authors were still hardly read nationwide. In 1998 Thomas Wieckhorst became chairman, 2001 Lutz Stehl, 2003 Barbara Franke , 2006 Klaus Haag, 2016 Birgit Heid.

activities

The LVP organizes literary events in the groups of authors in its sections, through author seminars, through members 'circulars, the annual publication of the members' magazine "Neue literäre Pfalz" (nlp) and an annual edition (yearbook) as well as through networking and personal assistance. The association pursues exclusively charitable purposes.

List of yearbook editions since 1953

  • 1953 Leopold Reitz : The wine pastor of Wachenheim
  • 1954 From the Palatinate countryside. An almanac
  • 1956 Willi Gutting: Legends about Mirjam
  • 1958 tracks and paths. Palatine and Saarland poetry of the present
  • 1959 Susanne Faschon : Not a game for dreamers
  • 1960 Erneste Fuhrmann-Stone: In passing
  • 1961 prisms. Palatinate and Saarland poetry
  • 1962 Erni Deutsch-Einöder : The pigeons fly because of us
  • 1963 Pälzer Hausschadull. Poems in dialect
  • 1964 Emil Sauter: The shadow
  • 1965 Heinrich Kraus: short circuits
  • 1966 Erwin Damian: Snow days
  • 1967 Ernst Johann: Written for the day (feature pages)
  • 1968 Young Voices. Poetry and prose from the Palatinate
  • 1969 Kurt Kölsch : The green cantor
  • 1970 Helmut Stier: Experiences along the way. Of people and pictures
  • 1971 Manuel Thomas: Texts and drawings
  • 1972 Oskar Bischoff : Dedicated to the word
  • 1973 Gerd Forster : Zwischenland. Poems and prose
  • 1974 Anneliese Hutzler: Perspectives. Insights and impulses
  • 1975 Artur Schütt: To look for friendliness. Poems
  • 1976 The Mandelwingert: Stories by Palatinate Authors
  • 1977 Martha Saalfeld : Colorful Pictures. With illustrations by Werner vom Scheidt
  • 1978 Festschrift: Hundred Years of the Palatinate Literary Association
  • 1979 Hermann Sauter: memories and thanks
  • 1980 Frank Peter Woerner: be on the move. Poems and stories
  • 1981 Lenz in Landau and other stories. With drawings by Gerd Ditz
  • 1982 Sweet Hope / Bitter Truth. Poetry and prose for 150 years of the Hambach Festival
  • 1983 The Palatinate in search of itself. 150 years of descriptions of the Palatinate
  • 1984 Schnookes. Palatine humor in dialect and standard German
  • 1985 Gerd Weber, Rolf Paulus (eds): Hermann Sinsheimer
  • 1986 Wolfgang Diehl (ed.): Martha Saalfeld
  • 1987 childhoods. Palatinate writers remember
  • 1988 The rope walker. Texts by young authors
  • 1989 Wolfgang Schwarz: Way star in all of the world. With drawings by Hermann Croissant,
  • 1989 Martha Saalfeld : Poems and Stories (special edition)
  • 1990 The sky of Speyer
  • 1991 Heiner and Oskar Kröher (Hg): Our song palace
  • 1992 Erich Renner: Stories were always there. Workshop discussions
  • 1993 Only the pen is free. Competition texts for the Limburg Literature Prize
  • 1994 Artur Schütt: The cook's spiraling thoughts while peeling potatoes. Pictures by Armin Hott
  • 1995 handwritten. Author graph collection of Palatinate authors
  • 1995 Wolfgang Ohler : The red fiddler on the magic mountain (special edition)
  • 1996 Karlheinz Schauder: You were here. Literary search for traces in the Palatinate
  • 1996 Wolfgang Diehl : Konrad Krez. Poets and freedom fighters in Germany and America
  • 1997 Strange Neighbors. Student texts
  • 1998 The day is blank. A reading book from Zweibrücken
  • 2001 Fichtner's legacy. The Kurpfalz thriller. Hit the bull's eye with 23 authors from the region
  • 2002 upside down in the sky. anthology
  • 2003 Wolfgang Diehl : The history of the literary association of the Palatinate 1978-2003
  • 2005 From paths. anthology
  • 2006 Winfried Anslinger: Water music for Mrs. Bercelius
  • 2008 Insights and Outlook. Literary voices from the Palatinate
  • 2014 Wolfgang Schuster: Under the wooden moon. Poems
  • 2015 Regina Pfanger: Moussa or the ban on images
  • 2016 Diana Ecker: Freedom's short summer. In Mathilde Franziska Anneke's footsteps through the Palatinate-Baden revolution of 1849
  • 2017 drawn time. anthology
  • 2018 Winfried Anslinger: The Lutherturm. stories
  • 2019 From the sound of worlds and times. Poetry anthology

literature

  • Wolfgang Diehl : Home, Province and Region in the Mirror of Literature, 125 Years of the Literary Association of the Palatinate , Annual Edition 2003, Landau 2003, ISBN 3-9809078-0-5

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