Martin Greif
Martin Greif (actually Friedrich Hermann Frey ; born June 18, 1839 in Speyer , † April 1, 1911 in Kufstein ) was a German poet .
Life
Friedrich Hermann Frey was the son of the government director Max Frey (formerly Cabinet Councilor of King Otto of Greece ) and his wife Adelheid Friederike Ehrmann, daughter of the Speyer District Medical Council Christian Ehrmann (called Stellwag), the adopted son of the physician and Goethe friend Johann Christian Ehrmann . In her youth, the mother was cared for by Johannes von Geissel, who later became Bishop of Speyer and Cardinal from Cologne, as a private tutor.
One of Martin Greif's maternal uncle was the Speyer district archivist and painter Peter Gayer (1793–1836), his cousin was his son Karl Gayer (1822–1907), professor of forestry and rector of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.
The father was transferred to Munich , where the family moved. After graduating from high school , Martin Greif joined the Bavarian military, became an officer in 1859 , but in 1867, in order to fully follow his inclination for beautiful literature, he left and settled as a freelance writer in Munich, from where he traveled to England , the Netherlands , Spain , Denmark , Italy and other countries. As early as 1862 he had visited the poet Friedrich Rückert in Neuses .
Through Eduard Mörike's mediation , Cotta published the book Poems in 1868 under the pseudonym Martin Greif, which he was allowed to use as a real name since 1882. In 1869 he moved to Vienna , where, thanks to Heinrich Laube, many of his plays were successfully performed at the Burgtheater . After Laube left the Burgtheater, Greif returned to Munich and wrote national plays for the Bavarian Court and National Theater .
After a long suffering, Greif died at the age of 71 in the hospital in Kufstein . His tomb, created in 1912 by the sculptor Hermann Lang , is preserved in the cemetery of the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Zangberg (Palmberg district) near Ampfing (near Mühldorf am Inn ).
Aftermath
Numerous poems by Martin Greif were set to music. His drama about Agnes Bernauer is still part of the repertoire of Bavarian amateur theater today. B. in Vohburg an der Donau .
In Bavaria and the Palatinate , numerous streets are named after Martin Greif. a. in Munich , Regensburg and Ludwigshafen am Rhein . In 2011, the Martin-Greif-Stube, a small literature museum on the life and work of the poet, was set up in Speyer .
Ratings
“His songs, which usually only contain two or three stanzas, often only one, are best. Every verse has a special charm, refreshing in its unpretentiousness, heart-winning in its naturalness. No grandiose exuberance, no tendency aimed at effect, no violent forcing out sophisticated words and puns. Original strength and overwhelming truth, a light, skilful movement of form, fragrant, delicate imagination and sensual ideas that only sprout from a warm heart are the characteristic properties of Greif's muse. His main strength is to awaken the most beautiful feelings and moods in us with just a few words. [...]
With these realistic poems one feels that one is dealing here with a true poet by the grace of God, with a genuine, genuine folk poet . For not a form mechanically and thoughtlessly copied from nature, not incorrectly applied, touching simplicity of feeling - which a number of watery poets consider to be the essentially folk of lyric poetry - but that realistic artistic, purely poetic, vividly pictorial expression of feeling like them that predominates in Martin Greif's poems is called and is true folk poetry. [...]
The form of Greif's poems is quite unsearched and simple. The views of the poet seem simple to the simple, to the intellectually gifted and deeper looking, witty and full of juice and strength. This is how the true poet must be and write so that his works and words find an echo in all hearts. The verses flow easily and without offense. He knows no phrase-like and artificial entanglements, but only an instinctive, innate force that creates as in a dream and unconsciously commands the language and the rhythms and almost always hits the most grateful and most suitable form. "
“I hold this poet very high; and many call him, along with me, the most important poet since Uhland. The admirable, expressive brevity even allows him to be compared frequently with Goethe. His profound mood, which elegantly ignores and despises the sultry, faunal realism of the glamorous moderns, makes him particularly dear to me. […] At my age, Greif is as clumsy as a child, dreamy and impractical. Wherever he stops, he is the terror of the waiters, since he knocks over the glasses and practices the food on the floor; his appearance is hopeless prose - he lights the cigar at the wrong end, of course - in the coffee house he accidentally drinks the cups of his neighbors, whereby he can look at you with his faithful eyes so sadly that you have to be good to him. "
“Martin Greif has a small but noisy community of his own, on which he seems to have a strong effect. I am reluctant to disturb their joy; whoever feels is ultimately always right. I just can't do it with him. Sometimes I find a purely descriptive verse, but most of the time I am immediately thrown out of my mood by used words, empty sentences and the harshness of the connections. And even with his dramas, I feel like Richard M. Meyer : I can only “appreciate the laudable disposition” in 'such dilettante work'. I don't see a figure, fate behaves like a coincidence, and the verses are unbearable. [...] But for what is perhaps more valid than poetry: he has a tremendous power to inspire. He is almost like a stuttering orator, but whose eyes are so holy that we can feel his attitude immediately. This brings youth to him, and many a superior 'artist' may envy him for it. "
“In his poems we encounter free rhythms, among them the beautiful hymn to the unfortunate King of Bavaria Ludwig II, distiches reminiscent of Schiller's form (“ cremation ”) and sharp epithets [...]. But as an 'elementary lyricist', Martin Greif occupies a significant historical position in that, contrary to the epigrammatic trajectory imposed by Heine's imitators of German lyric poetry, he represents the unadulterated feeling that characterizes the real folk song. "
“Greif's Italian poetry has an almost folk song-like character, to which the simple rhyme and verse structures and the clarity of the language contribute. In addition, the natural poetry reveals itself as a previously neglected element of his literary skills. Italian scenes mostly appear as places of mourning, the supernatural and the memento mori. "
“In a song-like mood, without pathos and without sentimentality, he offered his best performances. What he wanted to achieve as a poet corresponded to the pictures of his painter friends Wilhelm Trübner , Karl Haider and Hans Thoma , who all made portraits of Martin Greif. "
“As far as his verses are concerned, Greif is to be placed right next to Mörike: his verses have a sound, as it were drawn from the soul, such as can only be found in this old master of poetic poetry. It is the high level of sophistication of the language that gives the stanzas, which at first glance seem modest, something eternal. But we also have to admit that of the approximately 1100 verses [read: poems] that can be found in the “Book of Poetry” published in 1909, only perhaps a tenth part can still exist today. Occasional poems such as the “Hymn to the Victory of Sedan” are understandably only of historical value. But the other verses emanate a magic that will never let you go. "
Works
- Bertha and Ludwig. Tragedy in five acts (under the name Friedrich Hermann Frey). JA Finsterlin, Munich 1861 (digitized at archive.org )
- The battle of Leipzig. An epic poem (under the name Friedrich Hermann Frey, on the title page with the addition “The men of those who fell in the freedom struggles”). EA Fleischmann's Buchhandlung, Munich 1863 ( digitized from Google Books )
- Spring storm songs (under the name Friedrich Hermann Frey, on the title page with the addition "Full proceeds for Schleswig-Holstein"). EH Gummi, Munich 1864 ( digitized from Google Books)
- Hans Sachs. Dramatic poem in five acts (under the name of Fr. Hermann Frey). JA Schlosser's book and art dealer, Augsburg 1866 ( digitized from Google Books)
- Poems . Verlag der JG Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, Stuttgart 1868 ( digitized from Google Books)
- Corfiz Ulfeldt, the Imperial Court Master of Denmark. Tragedy in five acts with a prelude . Gärtner, Bamberg 1873 (digitized at archive.org )
- Walther's return home. Festival . Wagner, Innsbruck 1874 ( PDF of the 2nd edition, 260 kB , provided by the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main)
- German commemorative sheets . Metzler, Stuttgart 1875 ( digitized on the BSB website )
- Nero. Tragedy in five acts . Wallishausser'schen Buchhandlung publishing house, Vienna 1877 (digitized at archive.org )
- Marino Falieri, or: The Doge's Conspiracy in Venice. Tragedy in 5 acts . Wallishausser'schen Buchhandlung publishing house, Vienna 1879 (digitized at archive.org )
-
Prinz Eugen. Patriotic drama in 5 acts . Published by Theodor Kay, Kassel 1880 (digitized at archive.org )
- 6th, improved edition in JA Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig 1912 (digitized at archive.org )
- Agnes Bernauer, the angel of Augsburg. Patriotic tragedy . Leipzig 1894 (digitized within the work edition from 1896 at archive.org )
- General York. Patriotic drama in five acts . JA Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig 1902 (digitized at archive.org )
- Conradin , performed in the Kaiserjubiläums-Stadttheater in Vienna on March 3, 1902
- New songs and stories . JA Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig 1902 (digitized at archive.org )
Work edition
- Collected Works. Amelang, Leipzig 1895/96
- Volume 1: Poems (digitized version of the 6th, greatly increased edition at archive.org )
- Volume 2: Dramas. 1st part (digitized at archive.org )
- Volume 3: Dramas. 2nd part (digitized at archive.org )
literature
- Herbert Thiele: Greif, Martin. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 29 ( digitized version ).
- Albert van Geelen: Martin Greif as a playwright in his relationships with Laube and the Burgtheater under Wilbrandt and Dingelstedt. Wächter-Verlag, Graz et al. 1934.
- Adam called Ferdinand Hammerschmidt: Martin Greif as a lyricist: a psychological-aesthetic analysis [Maschinenschr.] - Münster, Phil. Diss. March 18, 1924.
- Fritz Kastner: Martin Greif. Bibliography on his life and work. Palatinate State Library, Speyer 1959.
- Laurenz Kiesgen: Martin Greif. Hesse u. Becker, Leipzig 1905.
- Wilhelm Kosch: Martin Greif in his works. Amelang, Leipzig 1907.
- Otto Lyon : Martin Greif as a poet and playwright . Teubner, Leipzig 1889.
- Simon M. Prem : Martin Greif. Attempt a story of his life and poetry with special consideration for his dramas and his position in German literature. Renger, Leipzig 1892.
- Jocza Savits : Martin Greif's Dramas. A study. Engl, Munich 1911.
- C. Stemplinger: Martin Greif as a poet. In: Old and New World; Illustrated Catholic family sheet. 33rd volume, anthology 1898/99, 10th issue, pp. 626–628.
- Antonia Kostretska (Ed.): Martin Greif. Selected poems in German and Russian. Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-034527-2 . (German Russian)
- Ernst Kreowski : About Martin Greif. In: March. A weekly journal. 7th year, Albert Langen, Munich 1912, p. 315 ff.
- Elias Zolkiewer: Martin Greif's youth poetry. Prague 1917 [handwritten] - Prague Phil. Diss. 1917 = Dt. Sources u. Studies H. 4 [Original: Univ. Knihovna Prague; Microfilm 107].
Web links
- Literature by and about Martin Greif in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Martin Greif in the German Digital Library
- Griffin's manuscripts and letters in libraries and archives
- Website on the 100th anniversary of Martin Greif's death
- Biographical website with picture
- Overview of links to Martin Greif on the Internet
- Martin Greif's estate
- University of Frankfurt . Walther's return home
- Martin Greif memorial rooms in Speyer
- Martin Greif in the literature portal Bavaria
- Works by Martin Greif in the Gutenberg-DE project
Individual evidence
- ↑ On Geissel's work in the Ehrmann house
- ↑ About the relationship to the Gayer family in the supplement to the official and intelligence gazette of the Rhine district № 1 of January 2, 1836, p. 2.
- ↑ On Greif's visit to Rückert (see 1862)
- ^ Poems by Martin Greif with references at lesekost.de
- ↑ More than 100 years of tradition of the Agnes Bernauer Festival Vohburg at the Vohburg Open Air Festival
- ↑ From: Martin Greif. On his 49th birthday, from a Riga citizen. In: Rigasche Zeitung № 112 from May 20 / June 1, 1887, p. 1 ( digitized in the LNB )
- ↑ Harald Wanger , Hans-Josef Irmen (Ed.): Josef Gabriel Rheinberger. Letters and documents from his life , Volume VIII, Prisca Verlag, Vaduz 1987, p. 51.
- ^ From: "Kaiserjubiläums-Stadttheater". In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt № 62 of March 4, 1902, p. 8 ( digitized by ANNO )
- ↑ Friedrich Koch, Max Vogt: History of German Literature Volume 3, 4th, revised and increased edition, p. 179 f. ( Digitized in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ From the short biography Martin Greif on Das Goethezeitportal
- ↑ Alois J. Weichslgartner: Schreiber und Poeten. Writer from old Bavaria and Swabia in the 19th century. Bayerland-Verlag, Dachau 2001, p. 99 ( snippet view on Google Books )
- ↑ From: The grave of the poet Martin Greif in Palmberg (part 1). In: Töginger Stadtblattl № 291 / January 2011, p. 18 (series Heimatbund Töging. Contributions to local history )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Griffin, Martin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Frey, Friedrich Hermann (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1839 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Speyer |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1, 1911 |
| Place of death | Kufstein |