Maurus Lindemayr

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Engraving from 1777
Relief medallion in the Lambach baroque theater

Maurus Lindemayr (born November 17, 1723 in Neukirchen bei Lambach , † July 19, 1783 ibid) was an Austrian writer . He wrote numerous plays in Upper Austrian ( Middle Bavarian ) language in the 18th century, which were an important source for the dialect of this time. Lindemayr was a pioneer in the writing of Bavarian.

Life dates

Maurus Lindemayr was born on November 17, 1723 in Neukirchen near Lambach ( Upper Austria ) and baptized with the name Kajetan Benedikt Maximilian Lindemayr. After attending the Jesuit grammar school in Linz, Lindemayr became a monk in the Lambach Benedictine monastery in 1747 , taking on the religious name Maurus, under which he also published his later literary work. He studied theology at the University of Salzburg and was ordained a priest in 1749. In the following years he devoted himself to missionary tasks in the then religiously divided Vicariate of Aichkirchen ( Counter Reformation ). He showed particular rhetorical talent and was therefore called back to the monastery as prior and novice master by the abbot of Lambach Abbey in 1754. From 1759 he was a pastor of his home community Neukirchen bei Lambach at his own request and stayed there until his death on July 19, 1783.

writer

First and foremost, Lindemayr was a clergyman and an excellently trained theologian who also emerged as a writer of lasting interest. In addition to five comedies, he wrote sacred songs and occasional poems, translated psalms and sequences as well as theological writings in “High German”. However, he became known and interesting for linguistic and literary research through his numerous plays and poems in Upper Austrian dialect. His most famous works include " The entertaining wedding contract ", " The serious fun ", " The devil in the barrel ", " The freed land recruit ", " The wedding for money ", " The traveling Ceres " and " The walk to the judge " .

His comedies consist of cheerful stories and amusing dialogues and are mostly set in the milieu of the rural village population. Lindemayr lets his characters appear in humorous, rustic and sometimes crude language. However, there is always an educational claim in the pieces that wants to draw the audience's attention to grievances, problems and injustices of their time. Often, figures from the upper class, such as aristocrats, officials and clergy, are caricatured and negative character traits such as envy, vanity and avarice are ridiculed.

Upper Austrian dialect of the 18th century

His plays are mostly written in the Upper Austrian dialect ( Bavarian ) of the time in order to bring important content closer to the then largely illiterate audience. Compulsory schooling was not introduced in Austria until 1774 under Maria Theresa . Lindemayr used the dialect not only for this practical purpose, his mother tongue and thus the language actually spoken and understood by his audience was very important to him. Since then (as now) there was no generally recognized written system for Bavarian, he developed his own rules and his own orthography . The “Saxon” written language developed by Martin Luther was already the most widely recognized language in Germany for Maurus Lindemayr at that time. But he wants to shape his preaching style and his plays in the local Austrian way.

His numerous plays and poems are an invaluable source for the Upper Austrian dialect in the 18th century and therefore important in linguistics and also particularly interesting for modern dialect speakers who want to know: How much has the dialect changed in 200 years?

Written language Bavarian

In Catholic Austria at that time there was still no definitive decision on “Lutheran” Standard German. As Maurus Lindemayr impressively demonstrated, it was very possible to write Bavarian into writing and also to use it as an educational language. It was not until the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1774 and the associated decision to teach High German at school that this discussion ended and Bavarian as a written language was the fatal blow. The main arguments for this were mainly the Habsburgs' claim to rule over the whole of Germany (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ). The Habsburgs competed with Prussia for supremacy in Germany ( War of the Austrian Succession 1740–48 and Seven Years War 1756–63) and therefore did not want to promote Austrian regionalism, but rather present themselves and their crown lands as an integral part of Germany. At court in Vienna, and especially in the family, even Maria Theresia spoke Bavarian. On official occasions in diplomacy or in noble society, French was not the language of the time, but rather German. At that time, Maria Theresa could not foresee that Habsburg would have to give up the German imperial crown forever only a few decades later (1806). However, this epoch was decisive for the future of Bavarian and the written language in Austria.

Text example

The distress of the farmers - or the desperate farmer a treasure hunter . (A farmer complains about the tax burden) from Schmieder Pius, 1875

I can think of má's unmigli necessary,
What d'Herren with ins no.
A Baur should si wáhrla grads henká,
So kám á serves wög vo den Löbn.
Sán d'Rüstgeldá came zán dáschwingá.
And at the same time Höbn's Noiringa
And thain ins án Toifel afdingá
The dignity itself can nenná necessary.
I bsinn mi, i z'brich má 'n Schedl,
I often raith half a night.
I röd out of the thing with my Gredl,
How vil hoir makes my expense shan.
Cain Nachbá, no bailiff can know;
And look in the Büechel, how it's going
Is it ainwög good German so thrown,
Because it's in Latin.
My Huimátel can easily piss me off.
I like má came 's Traidl dábaun;
Is nothing, as á sagrischi Frötn:
Bein window thuet d'Neath auaschaun.
Ain Gaiss'l; two newcomers, six ants
And 's Peondel is all my Vámögn.
Mag mi and dö Kiná kám gwándten,
d'Kostirung and 's Jahrláhnl göbn.
Does ainár appreciate á Geldl von Airen?
Fuchzg sánd grads, as how, we go there.
Bring a hair from Bavaria:
'n country hair káft in no place.
Cain Schwabn han i need z'n vákáfá,
Customs' allisamt even hinta's god.
There is nothing to dáláfá with failure.
And 's hay is á um án ridicule.
Sinst has má do at the same time with'n Spinná,
With linen, burlap and thread
À Geldl dárobern aft kinná;
Iez be má da á gestigelt warn.
Three stamp wages cost án groschen;
And 's Tuech, dös kain Stempel necessary trait,
Is schölmisch and zrissátást d'Goschen,
Má takes it; you will gfrait ga necessary.

Works

  • The high German comedies . Volume 1: Text; Volume 2: Commentary. Ed. U. with an afterword v. Christian Neuhuber (= Praesens TextBibliothek (PTB), Volume 5; see: Writings on literature and language in Upper Austria, Volume 9). Praesens, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7069-0349-0 .

Comedies

Poems

  • Shepherd's song to St. night
  • The distress of the peasants
  • The deceived world
  • The plaintive farmer
  • The stamps
  • The bad times
  • The changed times
  • The old and the new time
  • From Haruk
  • Song of the Lutheran Faith
  • The child baptism
  • The witch
  • The sick farmer
  • From bloodletting
  • The peasant dream
  • From city life
  • Wedding song 1761.
  • Bridal song 1765.
  • Vacation song 1770.
  • Locksmith song
  • The Schmiedsepperl z'Lambach
  • The French doctor
Coat of arms of Neukirchen von Lambach

Trivia

The linden leaves at the ends of the cross in the coat of arms of Neukirchen bei Lambach are reminiscent of the most famous son of the place, Father Maurus Lindemayr.

swell

  • Pius Schmieder (Ed.): Maurus Lindemayr's Complete Seals. Linz 1875.
  • Herbert Tatzreiter : A dialect writer in the 18th century - P. Maurus Lindemayr (1723–1783). In: H. Eichner, P. Ernst, S. Katsikas (Hrsg.): Festschrift for Otto Back on his 70th birthday. Edition Praesens, Vienna 1997.
  • Karl Heinz Huber (ed.): The wedding for money by P. Maurus Lindemayr. Facsimile print. Gaspoltshofen 2000, ISBN 3-901483-11-X .
  • Maurus Lindemayr, Ernest Frauenberger: Piano songs in the Upper Austrian peasant language. ed. by Peter Deinhammer and Christian Neuhuber . Publishing House Library of the Province, Weitra 2015, ISBN 978-3-99028-262-5 .

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Maurus Lindemayr  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Lindemayr, Maurus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1723
PLACE OF BIRTH Neukirchen near Lambach
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1783
Place of death Neukirchen near Lambach