Nataly von Eschstruth

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Nataly von Eschstruth. Xylography 1892.

Nataly (Natalie) Auguste Karline Amalie Hermine von Eschstruth (married name : Nataly von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff ) (born May 17, 1860 in Hofgeismar , Electorate of Hesse ; † December 1, 1939 in Schwerin , Mecklenburg ) was a German writer and one of the most popular storytellers of the Wilhelmine epoch . In her entertainment novels, she describes in a catchy way the life of court society as she knew it from her own experience.

Life

She came from a Hessian family and was the daughter of the royal Prussian major Hermann von Eschstruth (1829-1900) and the Amalie Freiin Schenck zu Schweinsberg (1836-1914). She grew up first in Hofgeismar, then in Merseburg and Berlin , where her first poems were published.

In 1875 she completed an apprenticeship at a girls' boarding school in Neuchâtel , Switzerland, and later toured the most important European capitals. As a result of her mother's illness, she and her sister had been running the parental household since 1885.

On February 23, 1890, she married the royal Prussian major in Infantry Regiment No. 113 Franz von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff (born September 1, 1857 in Nakel near Bromberg, West Prussia; † June 27, 1903 in Freiburg im Breisgau , Baden- Württemberg), the son of the landlord and royal Prussia. Lieutenant Colonel Kunibert von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff (1827-1896), landlord on Klein-Sabow near Naugard (Pomerania), and Ida Hartwig called von Naso (1837-1925). With her husband she had a daughter and a son, the couple lived in different garrison towns, most recently in Schwerin. After her husband's death in 1903, she moved to Teplitz , and in 1933 she lived on Mozartstrasse in Schwerin.

The Hessian court judge, music writer and composer Hans Adolph Friedrich von Eschstruth is a great-great-uncle.

In the town of her birth, the Eschstruthplatz named after her and various exhibits in the Hofgeismar City Museum are a reminder of her work.

Awards

plant

Book page from the novel Die Bären von Hohen-Esp , edition of the illustrated novels and short stories from 1904: Typical book page with a painting integrated into the text (here by F. Schwormstädt) illustrates the entertainment character and the attempt, both in the text and in the Edition of the book to be as descriptive as possible
Advertisement for their novels. Apoldaer Tageblatt November 28, 1908

Von Eschstruth wrote novels for women set in the class of the Wilhelmine aristocratic society or with high court officials and told fictitious biographical stories there . These run almost without exception over several generations, which gives them narrative depth. For example, Polish Blood from 1887 begins with a detailed description of the circumstances and experiences of the parents' generation, with one child already living in this environment. This child then grows up in a later part of the book and becomes the main hero , so that a clear turning point and a local, motivic and also zeitgeist new narrative approach follows.

At the same time, the actions and influences are always laid out in the parent generation. The stories therefore do not live from the narrative of the emancipation of the children's generation, but rather they pursue didactic goals in that they report on the errors of a children's generation that the reader should not repeat. For example, in Die Bären von Hohen-Esp of 1902, the father's fears about the intended husband are proven, or the children follow the prejudice that the parents have long unsuccessfully combated: The story in Polish blood revolves around a daughter who despises Poland , and in Die Bären von Hohen-Esp about a daughter who does not consider sea rescuers to be capable of heroism towards the soldier. In both novels it is only in the last fifth of the plot that the daughters cast off their prejudice through an experience and thereby simultaneously find their love. The maturation process, which was introduced by von Eschstruth with a didactic claim, is therefore rewarded by the love found. This shows that in von Eschstruth's novels there is no claim to emancipation in the sense of the Enlightenment. The fact that didactic backgrounds often determine the plot can be demonstrated in the book Die Bären von Hohen-Esp , which von Eschstruth wrote at the request of Wilhelm II , as he wanted to see the necessity of sea rescue made public.

These motivations of the author can be summarized in such a way that she propagated a return to the “traditional values ​​of the nobility” in her work as a whole. These were values ​​such as wisdom, freedom from prejudice and helpfulness, but also firmness in pursuing goals that were recognized as correct. She wanted to anchor these values ​​again in the younger generation and had a restorative impetus insofar as she thereby affirmed the claim to leadership of the nobility over the bourgeoisie in the outgoing German monarchy.

Von Eschstruth's work cannot be considered significant from a literary point of view, as there are clichéd courses of action, such as the “marriage that is made in heaven”, in which early encounters between a female and a male hero, often in childhood, come to an end of the book inevitably lead to unification. The characters also rarely become sharp, they follow a number of typical habits, but do not become apparent as a personality with internal contradictions and character diversity. This is often also due to the confusing number of people with whom von Eschstruth populates her books. She always chooses a clear chronological order for order. However, von Eschstruth's books reached a certain level in comparison with other contemporary entertainment literature, such as Wilhelmine Heimburg's . Due to its complexity and the quite well elaborated characters, Hazard from 1888 can be regarded as comparatively noteworthy in literary terms , inferior in quality due to its inconsistency is Hofluft from 1889.

Even at the age wrote of Eschstruth and added newest theme, so in longing of 1917 the subject of an aviation pioneer who finally reached warlike heroism. But she had left her well-mastered field as an author, whose heroes move among the Wilhelmine aristocracy, and now seemed to be trying harder.

The context of the novels of her main creative period in the 1880s and 1890s gives an impression of everyday and historical details today; von Eschstruth's books have lost none of their entertainment value. Her book The Erlkönigin from 1888 was therefore published again by Lichtenberg-Verlag in 1975 and in 1977 by Heyne-Verlag as a paperback.

Works

  • The Little Rittmeister , Berlin 1883
  • Pirmasenz or Karl August's bridal trip , Berlin 1883
  • The order of the Count von Guise , Berlin 1884
  • Wolfsburg , Stuttgart 1885
  • The mad spirit of the palace , Berlin 1886
  • Gänseliesel , Jena 1886
  • Humoresken , Berlin 1886
  • Katz 'and Maus , Berlin 1886 ( digitized and full text in the German text archive )
  • Polish blood , Jena 1887
  • Potpourri , Dresden 1887
  • Wegekraut , (poems), Dresden 1887
  • The Erlkönigin. Magic water , Jena 1888
  • Hazard , Jena 1888
  • Wandbilder , Jena 1888
  • Hofluft , Berlin 1889
  • Forbidden fruits and other stories , Jena 1889
  • In a bell shirt , Jena 1890
  • Shooting stars , Berlin 1890
  • The Mill Prince , Jena 1891
  • Comedy! , Jena 1892
  • Shards , Leipzig 1893
  • The Haidehexe and other short stories , Jena 1894
  • In disgrace , Leipzig 1894
  • Unequal! , Jena 1894
  • By God's grace , Jena 1894
  • Johannisfeuer , Leipzig 1895
  • Storm mermaids and other dramas , Leipzig 1895
  • The star of luck , Leipzig 1896
  • Young freed , Leipzig 1897
  • Spuk , Leipzig 1897
  • The primogeniture lord , Leipzig 1898
  • Little moonlight princess , Leipzig 1898
  • The misunderstood Puttfarken , Berlin 1899
  • The regimental aunt , Leipzig 1899
  • Spring storms , Leipzig 1899
  • From full life , Leipzig 1900
  • Nightshade , Leipzig 1900
  • Haunted stories and other narratives , Leipzig 1900
  • At the finish , Leipzig 1901
  • Osterglocken , Berlin 1901
  • Rainy weather , Berlin 1901
  • Sun spark , Leipzig 1901
  • The prodigal son , Leipzig 1902
  • The bears of Hohen-Esp , Leipzig 1902
  • Inexplicable , Berlin 1902
  • At the lake , Leipzig 1903
  • The Countess ' mood , Wolfenbüttel, 1904
  • To each his own , Leipzig 1904
  • At the end of the world , Leipzig 1905
  • Peace , Leipzig 1905
  • The order of the Count of Guise. Symone , Leipzig 1910
  • The Roggenmuhme , Leipzig 1910
  • The juggler , Berlin 1911
  • Vae victis , Schwerin 1911
  • The tobogganing aunt , Schwerin 1912
  • An eerie cake and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Dog roses and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Young love and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Page pranks and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Chatterbox and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Magic water and other stories , Leipzig 1913
  • Longing , Leipzig 1917
  • Groom and bride , Leipzig 1920
  • Eternal youth , Leipzig 1920
  • A stone in the street , Leipzig 1921
  • All's well that ends well , Leipzig 1921
  • In the haunted castle Monbijou , Leipzig 1921
  • Living flowers , Leipzig 1921
  • Halali! , Leipzig 1922
  • Lichtfalter , Leipzig 1922
  • The Flying Dutchman , Leipzig 1925
  • Redeemed , Leipzig 1926

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eschstruth, Nataly von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eschstruth, Natalie Auguste Karoline Amalie Hermine von; Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, Nataly von (married); Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, Natalie Auguste Karoline Amalie Hermine von (married); Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, Natalie von (married); Knobelsdorff, Natalie von (married)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Hofgeismar
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1939
Place of death Schwerin