Norbert Jacques

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Waldemar Flaig : Portrait of Norbert Jacques, 1927

Norbert Jacques (born June 6, 1880 in Luxemburg-Eich ; † May 15, 1954 in Koblenz , Germany ) was a Luxembourgish writer who wrote his texts in German and mainly for the figure of Dr. Mabuse is known.

Life

Norbert Jacques was the son of the businessman François Jacques and his wife Marie nee. Schmidt. After graduation, he left his homeland and went to Germany. In November 1901 he began to study law at the University of Bonn . However, since he only dealt with art and literature at this time (and wanted to start a private theater at the same time), Jacques finished his studies after two semesters.

Jacques met his first wife, the actress Olga Hübner , at the Bonn City Theater . At the end of 1902, shortly after the marriage, Hübner accepted an engagement at the theater in Beuthen . Jacques went with her, although at that time the marriage could already be considered broken.

Jacques earned his living there as a journalist for the Upper Silesian Border Newspaper . He thus became a colleague of the later writer Balder Olden . From the start, Jacques caught the eye for his political articles that led to his dismissal in the summer of 1903. Jacques divorced during this time and went to Berlin . With effect from January 1, 1904 he became a member of the editorial team in the Berlin office of the Frankfurter Zeitung . After three months he was also dismissed here because his political statements could not be reconciled with the political position of the newspaper.

After a short interlude at Lake Constance , Jacques settled in Hamburg in 1905 . As a freelance journalist, he made the acquaintance of the ship owner Albert Ballin there . This enabled Jacques to make a free crossing to Rio de Janeiro on his steamer “Rhätia” ; via Lisbon and Funchal . After arriving in South America for four weeks , Jacques began an eight-week tour of Brazil . He then returned to Germany and later settled in Salenstein ( Canton Thurgau , Switzerland ) on Lake Constance.

In 1912 Jacques Margerite married Samuely from Vienna , a former secretary of Arthur Schnitzler . With her he had two daughters, Aurikula and Adeline. The honeymoon lasted 16 months and took the couple around the world in an adventurous way. They started in Trieste with a ship via Singapore to Hong Kong . In China they undertook a 3000 km journey by boat and horse up the Yangtze River to the vicinity of Tibet and back again. The couple then sailed on a freighter to Sydney and from there to Peru . After extensive excursions inland, another ship brought them to Rio de Janeiro. From there, the two began their journey home to Hamburg; just interrupted by a stay in Madeira .

Back in Europe , Jacques and his wife rented Luxburg Castle near Romanshorn (Canton Thurgau, Switzerland) . In 1914, immediately after the beginning of the First World War , Jacques volunteered in Berlin , but was turned away as a foreigner. As a correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung , he repeatedly traveled to different sections of the front in order - according to his own statements - to provide journalistic support to the German Reich.

In October 1914, Jacques visited the front in Belgium and a year later processed his impressions in his work “The Refugees” . In November of the same year he visited London to interview various politicians. Then he went through Switzerland to France to report from there. A summary of these reports appeared in 1915 under the title London and Paris at War . In the autumn of the following year, Jacques reported on various sections of the front in the east and in 1916 published his book In der Schwarmlinie des Austro-Hungarian allies . In these three works, Jacques openly took a stand for the German Empire. Jacques undertook all these trips with his Luxembourg passport, which in the Grand Duchy caused absolute incomprehension for reasons of neutrality policy.

In the summer of 1918 Jacques bought the moated castle in Gaissberg (Canton Thurgau, Switzerland), but had to file for bankruptcy within a year because he had completely taken over financially. But as early as 1920 he was able to acquire a farm ("The house was new and hideous, cheaply built, but spacious") in Thumen in the community of Schlachters near Lindau , which remained his property and main residence throughout his life.

With effect from October 17, 1922, Norbert Jacques was granted German citizenship .

In 1924, Jacques was hired as a consultant by a film company and traveled with a film crew for several weeks in Brazil.

Jacques helped found the artists' association Der Kreis (Lake Constance region) ("without considering the existing political national borders"), which existed from December 18, 1925 until its dissolution in 1937 and of which 12 artists were founding members.

In 1928 he crossed the Andes : Jacques rode from Colombia to Ecuador on horseback . A year later he traveled completely on his own from Egypt to Rhodesia . Between his trips, Jacques stayed at Gut Adelinenhof and put his travel experiences on paper.

1938 was also a fateful year for Jacques and his family: his wife belonged to the Jewish faith. The couple divorced and Margerite emigrated to the USA in early 1939 . Through his relatives in Luxembourg, Jacques was able to obtain Luxembourg citizenship for his two daughters; he himself could not bring himself to leave his beloved adopted home Germany forever.

In 1940 Jacques Maria Jäger from Switzerland married. Pressed by the requirements of the Reichsschrifttumskammer , he shifted his writing more and more to historical topics. Above all, I should mention “Passion” , a novel about the early Schiller . The account of Duke Carl Eugen was then read as a disguised criticism of Hitler and caused him some difficulties; nevertheless, the novel was made into a film under the title Friedrich Schiller - Triumph of a Genius . During these years Jacques earned most of his living as a film wage clerk, but he also wrote several scripts on his own.

When the war spread westwards in 1940, his two daughters - now stateless - returned to Gut Adelinenhof. Until the end of the war in 1945, Jacques supported German propaganda with his readings, especially in the Benelux countries. This is the reason for Jacques' rejection in his home country, which continues to this day. The 65-year-old experienced the last days of the war as mayor of Schlachters. Immediately after the end of the war he was denounced, arrested and transferred to Luxembourg by the French military police. There he was charged with treason in the same year and in 1946 expelled “forever” from the Grand Duchy.

Jacques spent the last few years alternately in Hamburg and on Lake Constance. In 1950 he was able to publish the first part of his autobiography under the title Lived with Lust . This part extends until 1928; the second part remained unpublished throughout his life. In 2004, on the 50th anniversary of his death, a significantly expanded new edition was published, which also includes the thirties and forties.

His last big trip took Jacques once more across South America. The result of this venture was the illustrated book From Tierra del Fuego to the Equator , which he published in 1953 together with Kurt Peter Karfeld .

At the age of 73, Norbert Jacques died on May 15, 1954 of a heart attack in a hotel in Koblenz. He was there on the occasion of a wine festival at which an author reading was planned with him. Norbert Jacques found his final resting place in the cemetery of Schlachters. In an obituary, his friend and colleague Kasimir Edschmid described him as a "type of masculinity and literature that no longer exists!"

Services

In 1909 Jacques made his debut as a writer with the novel “Funchal” . The publisher Samuel Fischer was made aware of him by Bernhard Kellermann .

In Funchal , Jacques describes the life of the shipwrecked Tho, who lives uprooted between two cultures on Jutland . In this hero wanderlust and love of homeland collide; a problem that Jacques had not left untouched throughout his life.

Jacques 'political' works can be limited to The Refugees (1915), London and Paris at War (1915) and In the Swarm Line of the Austro-Hungarian Allies (1916). He was probably far less interested in a purely journalistic job than a purely literary one.

His novel Piraths Insel was published in 1917 . It tells the story of the German engineer Peter Pirath, who left Europe in 1913 because of his marital problems. He lives and works very successfully on Java for a while; some time later he wanted to return to Europe because he was homesick. On the way home he is shipwrecked and can save himself on the fictional island of Kililiki. There he meets the local population, who soon worship him as a god.

Since Jacques always tried to look "behind the scenes" on his travels, he was also aware of the problems caused by European colonialism . “Piraths Insel” is therefore also a Robinsonade in which the criticism of Eurocentrism has a high priority. From today's perspective, however, the result is not much better than the original state and, moreover , is afflicted with sexist overtones. After Mabuse , this became his most successful novel.

Jacques reacted to the end of the First World War and the associated political and social upheaval with his novel Landmann Hal . The novel shows an almost religiously exaggerated view of country life into which the hero tries to escape. The autobiographical implementation was just as unsuccessful for the author on Lake Constance as his hero.

The character of Dr. Mabuse was also driven by the desire for a new society. His Brazilian colony Eitopomar is supposed to enable him to escape from the depraved, corrupted European society. (Consider the profound upheavals and the enormous social contrasts the author witnessed; even if he was inclined to Eurocentrism and sometimes to patriotism , he kept a keen eye for the negative aspects of the society around him.)

His little book Die Limmburger Flöte , a satire on his homeland, is also worth mentioning . In this work Jacques tells the story of the (fictional) Limmburg musician Pierre Nocké, who was able to play a flute which he didn't have to buy first . This work is still partly to blame for the fact that the author is persona non grata in his homeland .

According to a quote from Balder Olden - "The higher the fees, the deeper the poet dived" - Jacques, as a successful writer, hardly placed any value on quality. The travelogues hold a level that his crime novels hardly ever reached. Here he often sold below value and delivered "lurid shreds of weariness" that were only aimed at quick profit. However, he was able to finance his numerous trips in this way.

His work includes over 50 books and several hundred short stories and short stories . His articles, essays and glosses in literary magazines such as Die Aktion , Hyperion , März , Neue Rundschau , Die Rheinlande or Die Weißen Blätter remained countless. He has also worked as a translator, broadcaster and screenwriter. Several of his novels were made into films, with Jacques being consulted as a consultant for almost all of them.

Almost unnoticed alongside his own work, Jacques translated works by Maurice Renard (Orlac's hands), Rudyard Kipling ( fishermen's boys ) and Hugh Walpole ( Jeremy at school ).

Important literary critics such as Emil Factor , Heinrich Eduard Jacob , Monty Jacobs , Alfons Paquet and Batty Weber , despite all the criticism, always expressed positive comments about him. The latter predicted a great future for Jacques as early as 1909. But colleagues and friends among the journalists such as Franz Theodor Csokor , Richard Dehmel , Robert Musil , Willy Seidel , Fritz von Unruh and Berthold Viertel were full of praise for his work.

" ... [who] cultivates the adventurous and entertaining in the better sense with proven talent " was Thomas Mann's saying about Norbert Jacques. René Schickele even compared Jacques with Honoré de Balzac and Arthur Schnitzler found him "simply gifted!"

Norbert Jacques has long been forgotten. Only his ingenious master criminal Doctor Mabuse survived him. The novel Dr. Mabuse, the player appeared in 1922, was made into a film by Fritz Lang in the same year (based on the script by Thea von Harbou ).

Most of the literary estate of Norbert Jacques is in the Saar-Lor-Lux-Alsace literature archive at the Saarland University . In his native Luxembourg, Norbert Jacques is usually rated negatively because of his proximity to Germany. More recently, the philosopher Volker Zotz, who teaches in Luxembourg, has called for a reassessment of Jacques' there.

Works

  • In the spell , poems, Pierson, Dresden 1901.
  • The port of Roman, Fischer, Berlin 1910.
  • Hot cities. A trip to Brazil , Fischer, Berlin 1911 [Later also under the title Heisses Land: A trip to Brazil ]
  • The refugees. From a trip through Holland behind the Belgian front , Fischer, Berlin 1915.
  • London and Paris at war. Experiences while traveling through England and France during wartime , Fischer, Berlin 1915.
  • In the swarm line of the Austro-Hungarian ally , Fischer, Berlin 1916.
  • Piraths Insel , Roman, Fischer, Berlin 1917.
  • Landmann Hal , Roman, Fischer, Berlin 1919.
  • Siebenschmerz , Roman, Fischer, Berlin 1919.
  • The Trotzturm , Hillger, Berlin 1919.
  • The holy Lant , novel, Wegweiser Verlag, Berlin 1920.
  • In the kaleidoscope of parts of the world. Travels by Norbert Jacques , German Book Association, Berlin around 1920.
  • Dr. Mabuse, the player . Ullstein, Berlin around 1920 [New edition: Area-Verlag, Erftstadt 2004, ISBN 3-89996-833-6 ]
  • The woman of Africa. Novel from the tropics , Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich 1921.
  • On the Chinese river , travel book, Fischer, Berlin 1921.
  • The Lake Constance Book of 1921/1922/1923. Eighth / ninth / tenth year , Reuss & Itta, Konstanz 1921/1922/1923 [New edition under the title Der Bodensee in the back. 33 cultural-historical sketches , De-Scriptum-Verlag, Uhldingen 1995, ISBN 3-931071-02-2 ]
  • Battering ram. A sailing ship journey through the Pacific , Gyldendal-Verlag, Berlin 1922.
  • Mariens Tor , stories, Seifert, Stuttgart 1922.
  • The powder mill , Roman, Gyldendal-Verlag, Berlin 1922.
  • The two in the South Seas , Ullstein, Berlin 1922.
  • South seas. A travel book , Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich 1922.
  • Engineer Mars , Roman, Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich 1923.
  • Funchal. A story of passion , Seifert, Stuttgart 1924.
  • Human against human , novel, Scherl-Verlag, Berlin 1924.
  • At dawn , Fleischhauer & Spohn, Stuttgart 1925.
  • New trip to Brazil , Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich 1925.
  • The merchant of Shanghai , Roman, AWA-Verlag, Munich 1925.
  • Der Feueraffe , Roman, Ullstein, Berlin 1926.
  • The Prisoner of the Rock Island , Roman, Verlag der Deutschen Rundschau, Berlin 1926.
  • The Limmburg flute. Report on Pierre Nocke, the famous musician from Limmburg, who could play a flute that he didn't need to buy , Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1927 [Reprint: Röhrig-Verlag, St. Ingbert 1985, ISBN 3-924555- 05-2 ]
  • Plüsch and Plümowski , Roman, Neufeld & Henius, Berlin 1927. Film adaptation 1947
  • Trip to Sumatra. Fates of people and animals , Hanseatische VA, Hamburg 1929.
  • The tiger ship , novel, Drei-Masken-Verlag, Munich 1929.
  • Five in the South Seas , Roman, Knorr & Hirth, Munich 1930.
  • The pirate fort. German landscape experiences, German house library. Hamburg, around 1930.
  • Gold in Africa , novel, Reckendorf-Verlag, Berlin 1931.
  • Man and the devil , Roman, Gerlach, Berlin 1934.
  • African diary , Fischer, Berlin 1936.
  • The Bundschuhhauptmann , Roman, German Book Society, Berlin 1936.
  • The master of the port. An adventurous novel , Aufwärts-Verlag, Berlin 1937.
  • No power over Isabel , Roman, Deutscher Verlag, Berlin 1939.
  • Passion. A Schiller novel , Deutscher Verlag, Berlin 1939.
  • Vortex of the world. Experiences, reports, events , Wittich-Verlag, Darmstadt 1942.
  • The card on the ball. Knight Martin Behaim, globe maker and seafarer (alternative title: Martin Behaim, seafarer and star calculator ), Wilhelm-Limpert-Verlag, Berlin 1942.
  • Drummer Barnum. Novel of a circus man , Deutscher Verlag, Berlin 1943.
  • Confusion in the Bellvue Hotel , Roman, Aufwärts-Verlag, Berlin 1943.
  • The Behaim star calculator , Abendland-Verlag, Wuppertal 1947.
  • On the edge of the world , novel, Toth-Verlag, Hamburg 1947.
  • The legacy of Sumatra . Taurus-Verlag, Hamburg 1949.
  • The will of Dr. Mabuse or Mabuse's last game. Novel of a demon ,?, Munich 1950, [Div. New editions]
  • Tsetse. An Africa novel , Habel-Verlag, Berlin 1950.
  • Lived with pleasure. Novel of my life , Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1950.
  • From Tierra del Fuego to the Equator , Apollo-Verlag, Neumünster 1953 (with Kurt Peter Karfeld)
  • Two stars above the Säntis. Novel of a great love , Veitsburg-Verlag, Ravensburg 1955.
  • The night on the ice floe. A radio play ,?,?
  • Love evening in Biesigheim. Landscape experiences . Stark-Verlag, Besigheim-Bissingen 2003, ISBN 3-925617-81-7 .
  • Lived with pleasure. Novel of my life . Annotated, illustrated and significantly expanded new edition, edited by Hermann Gätje, Germaine Goetzinger, Gast Mannes and Günter Scholdt , Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2004, ISBN 978-3-86110-357-8 .

Translations

  • Maurice Renard: Orlac's hands. Three masks, Munich 1922.
  • Rudyard Kipling: Staks and Comrades. Tricks. P. List, Leipzig 1928.

Scripts based on stories Norbert Jacques

  • Dr. Mabuse, the player (director: Fritz Lang), screenplay by Thea von Harbou , 1920
  • Human versus human (Director: Hans Steinhoff )
  • Brazil trip
  • The women's refuge in Rio (Director: Hans Steinhoff)
  • The will of Dr. Mabuse (Director: Fritz Lang)
  • A woman comes to the tropics (Director: Hans Steinhoff)
  • The Scarlet Brigade
  • Export in blonde

literature

  • Josef Hoben: Norbert Jacques (1880–1954). The inventor of the “Dr. Mabuse ” . De Scriptum Verlag, Uhldingen 1994.
  • P. Karr: Entry Jacques in Lexicon of the German crime authors online dictionary.
  • Günter Scholdt : The Norbert Jacques case. About the rank and decline of a narrator (1880–1954) . Akademischer Verlag Heinz, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-88099-021-2 (also dissertation, University of Saarbrücken 1976)
  • Volker Zotz : The uncomfortable Norbert Jacques . In: Luxembourg Forum for Politics, Culture and Society. Issue 242 / December 2004.

Documentaries

  • Renata Grünenfelder: In the shadow of Dr. Mabuse, The Daughters of Norbert Jacques. Halbbildhalbton.ch, 2009.

Web links

Commons : Norbert Jacques  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual references, footnotes

  1. ↑ Barbara Michel Jaeger Huber: encounters. Flyer for an exhibition from the holdings of the art collection of the Lake Constance district in Meersburg 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Jacques, Norbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Luxembourgish writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Luxembourg oak
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1954
Place of death Koblenz , Germany