Max Bernstein

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Max Bernstein (born May 12, 1854 in Fürth ; † March 5, 1925 in Munich ) was a central figure in literary life as an art and theater critic, as an organizer, stimulator and promoter of many writers and artists, and as an advocate for the literary and political opposition in the German Empire, whose importance can be seen less in his literary work than in his numerous activities relevant to literary and cultural history.

He was married to the writer Elsa Bernstein , their daughter Eva was married to Klaus Hauptmann , the son of Gerhart Hauptmann .

The art critic

Bernstein became known from 1878 as an art critic who was not afraid of violent satire in the Heine tradition, mercilessly mocked unrealistic art, advocated realism , naturalism , impressionism and modernity , while being a patron of a free art market (as later by the Secession ) and made a decisive contribution to the prehistory of the magazines Kunst für alle and Die Jugend with various magazine projects . In particular, he campaigned for Max Liebermann and Bruno Piglhein .

The theater critic

As a theater critic, Bernstein was so feared with his detailed reviews, which even did not stop at mentioning individual pronunciation errors, that he was able to help determine the program policy of Munich theaters. Henrik Ibsen owes his great impact in Germany to him, and the success of Gerhart Hauptmann in southern Germany is thanks to Bernstein. With his rejection of the large pieces of equipment (e.g. the Meininger ) of this time, he became a theoretical preparer for Max Reinhardt .

Literary life

As a lecturer touring Germany, Bernstein advocated the new literature of naturalism and founded this theoretically in the early 1880s in speeches that were mostly reported on the first page of national newspapers ( Münchner Neue Nachrichten , Frankfurter Zeitung , Berliner Tageblatt ) . Without ever publishing it in book form, he anticipated at these prominent places of publication much of what others later published in books and what is now considered the programmatic justification of naturalism.

In the constant fight against censorship, Bernstein and friends developed methods of staging plays despite a police ban by declaring the performance "unpublished". The triumph of Ibsen's ghosts in Germany is thanks to this trick. Without him, the Free Stage and thus one of the central instances of literary modernism in Germany would never have existed.

The speaker

Bernstein was famous as a freely improvising speaker and was able to move the masses (e.g. against Lex Heinze ). Trials in which he appeared as a lawyer were attended like sensational plays, the major daily newspapers printed his pleadings in such detail that he was accused of circumventing the ban on advertising for lawyers. The Munich district court building had to be rebuilt in order to cope with the crowd.

The censorship attorney

As a lawyer, Bernstein was sought after by writers and artists in all kinds of censorship trials. The legal disputes over the satirical magazine Simplicissimus , which he defended, are among the highlights of legal history - and were often enough prepared by Bernstein and Simplicissimus through planned provocation to gain public attention .

The political lawyer

Bernstein was the star advocate of the political opposition in the empire. During the 1880s he was a lawyer for the SPD and was able to prove in spectacular trials that the allegations made in the Socialist Act were untenable . He defended Maximilian Harden (and was described by Wilhelm II as "dangerous to the public"), the rebellious farmers of Fuchsmühl , Louis Stern , Erich Mühsam and Felix Fechenbach .

The writer

Bernstein himself viewed his literary work as a leisure activity and was aware that his comedies, some of which were successful, were not able to meet the literary demands that he himself, as a critic, made of others. However, he used the medium of entertainment drama to convey left-wing liberal values ​​such as modern upbringing for girls , free sexuality, emancipation, rejection of anti-Semitism, social responsibility, basic democratic attitudes, etc. to a broad audience. His never-collected aphorisms, which are colorfully scattered about his speeches, pleadings and plays, have linguistic quality.

The Bernstein Salon

Together with his wife Elsa, Bernstein ran one of the most important salons of the turn of the century in the palatial round staircase on Brienner Strasse. It soon became known far beyond Munich as a summit meeting of the spiritual world. a. Theodor Fontane , Henrik Ibsen , Paul Heyse , Gerhart Hauptmann , Thomas Mann , Ludwig Ganghofer , Ludwig Thoma , Frank Wedekind , Hugo von Hofmannsthal , Rainer Maria Rilke , Max Halbe , Hermann Sudermann , Otto Brahm , Ricarda Huch , Eduard von Keyserling , Georg Hirth , Erich Mühsam , Klabund , Franziska von Reventlow , Annette Kolb , Tilla Durieux , Richard Strauss , Engelbert Humperdinck , Bruno Walter , Franz von Stuck , Olaf Gulbransson , Friedrich August von Kaulbach , Hedwig and Alfred Pringsheim , Maximilian Harden and Max Weber .

Works (in selection)

  • My new hat - chatting in one act (first performed in Munich 1881)
  • The Little Hydriot (Art Reviews , 1884)
  • Munich Colorful Folder (anthology, 1884)
  • Little stories (short stories 1888)
  • Munich annual exhibition of works of art from all nations (1889)
  • Blue (comedy 1894)
  • D 'Mali (drama 1903)
  • Narrische Leut ' (Stories 1904)
  • Hertha's wedding (comedy 1907)
  • Sin (comedy 1909)
  • The good bird (comedy 1913)
  • Herrenrecht (play 1916)
  • Rabble (Social Drama 1921)
  • Theater letters (reviews in the Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten)

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Max Bernstein  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Karl Stankiewitz: From is and gar is! Taverns, theaters, cafés, night clubs and other lost places of Munich conviviality. Allitera Verlag, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-96233-023-1 , pp. 184 .
personal data
SURNAME Bernstein, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German critic, writer, lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Fuerth
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1925
Place of death Munich