Oswald Hafner
Oswald Hafner (baptized name: Oswald Adam Hafner) (born October 21, 1806 in Neustadt an der Waldnaab ; † August 28, 1882 ibid) was a German homeland poet .
Life
Hafner was born on October 21, 1806 at Fröschaustraße 9 in Neustadt an der Waldnaab. The house where he was born still stands today (2019) and bears a plaque commemorating the poet. ⊙ Hafner was the only child of the turner Joseph Hafner and his wife Walburga, née Bayerl, from Altenstadt . When he was two years old, he lost his left eye in an accident. His mother died when he was 2½ years old, his father when he was 7 years old. Both parents died of lung addiction . Hafner was taken care of by the city of Neustadt to a widow Scharnagel who lived in Freyung. He only went to school for a year, but in that short time managed to learn to read and write.
As a child he began to work as a shepherd boy for the village shepherd in Buch ⊙ near Parkstein . He used the time with the flock to read books that he borrowed from the pastor in Neustadt. Later he worked as a farmhand for a farmer and in a brick factory .
He became seriously ill. Benefactors paid for his hospital stay in Nuremberg .
When he was healthy again, he did fortification work in Ingolstadt and helped build the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal .
In 1826 Hafner returned to Neustadt an der Waldnaab. The pastor of Neustadt helped him to get a teaching internship in Kohlberg . Hafner's application for a teaching position was rejected on February 18, 1828 on the grounds that he only had one eye and was not sufficiently musical.
In 1828 Hafner's first book Mixed Poems with 23 poems was printed by JE von Seidel'schen Offizin in Sulzbach . Two copies of this book have been preserved, one in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich and one in the Union Theological Seminary -Library in New York .
Hafner spent the year 1828 through March 17, 1829 moving around to find work. He was arrested again and again for wandering around and brought back to Neustadt. In Neustadt he had to sit partly in arrest, partly to knock stones and to build roads for the roads to Floß and Püchersreuth . For each pile of stones he received four Kreuzer wages (equivalent to approximately 0.60 euros). Since Hafner had a weak constitution and health, he was not up to these activities.
When Hafner's aunt, Margareta Hafner, with whom he was able to live, became mentally ill, Hafner was assigned an apartment with three shepherds in the city, where he was allowed to live for three months each.
On March 17, 1829, Hafner was given a job as day and night watch in the community of Ilsenbach ⊙ , which he held for eight years. This activity gave him plenty of time to write poetry. During this time the prose piece Nachtwache was created, but only one paragraph has survived:
“The loneliness of the night watch is to me the deeply hidden island of peace; far from the vortex of the humming of the world my introverted spirit can focus more clearly on its destination, friendly then dawns on its gaze the distant coastal land of veiled eternity in the endless sea of aether - and holy shudder blows around him at the thought that he will one day be that light-flooded island will swing up. "
In 1837 Hafner returned to Neustadt. In 1838 he emigrated to Goldbach ⊙ in Bohemia . Here he worked as a gardener for 10 years and wrote poetry alongside this activity. In Goldbach, where there was a large glassworks at that time, Hafner's main work, Die Glasmacherkunst ( The Art of Glassmaking) was created , which unfortunately has been lost except for a few fragments.
Driven by the turmoil of the revolution in 1848 , Hafner returned to the quiet Neustadt. Here he fell into great poverty again, but on December 23, 1852 he found a job as a night watchman in Neustadt-Freihung. After a short time he switched to a job at the tavern owner Anton Weiß in Neustadt and then to Ilsendorf, where he worked as a shepherd, guard, gardener and straw hat maker.
On August 18, 1858, his book Blüthenfeld unfolded songs and poetic experiments appeared at the Mader'schen Buchdruckerei in Weiden. This book must have existed in 1911 and was then lost.
In 1871, after the end of the war , Hafner wrote a homage to Kaiser Wilhelm I. For this he received 70 guilders (about 700 euros), which were returned to the donor as undeliverable due to an unknown address.
When Hafner returned to Neustadt in 1875, he received half a benefice from the hospital foundation in 1877 , which ensured him a modest living.
Hafner died on August 28, 1882 at the age of 76 in Neustädter Spital . He was carried to the grave by firefighters and buried in the Neustädter Friedhof, where today (2019) there is a memorial plaque. ⊙
Later recognition
In 1982 a street in Neustadt is named after Oswald Hafner. ⊙
In 1984 Heinrich Ascherl re-edited the book by Oswald Hafner Vermischte Gedichte . He added a foreword and a detailed biography of the poet.
Bernhard Knauer, a member of the Kulturfreunde Lobkowitz in the district town of Neustadt , discovered Hafner's book Poetic Attempts by chance during an Internet search in an antiquarian bookshop. It was reissued by the Neustadt ad Waldna Museum Association in 2006.
Works
Hafner's poems and prose pieces deal with the living conditions in his homeland and his time. It was characteristic of him that he put the described relationships in a larger context. He linked his presentation with reflections on people, their development towards perfection, on religion and the volatility of time.
Found and reissued works
- Mixed poems, compilation, foreword and curriculum vitae by Heinrich Ascherl , Stadt Neustadt, Neustadt ad Waldnaab, 1984, publisher: Heinrich Ascherl
- Poetic attempts , new edition 2006 after a print from 1838, Museumsverein Neustadt ad Waldnaab
Lost or inaccessible works
The existence of many of Hafner's poems and writings is only known from their mention in other books, magazines or archives:
- Mentioned in Emanuel Reichenberger : Oswald Hafner , article in the journal Die Oberpfalz , 5th year, 1911, issue 1 and 2, Verlag Laßleben:
- The canal, the garden art, longing for home (revolutionary year 1948), the magic of song, the monster of war, the hurricane (May 31, 1856), the thunderstorm, the art of glassmaking, Corinth's downfall, to the grave.
- Mentioned in the chronicle of Joseph Piehler, 1923:
- On the 50th anniversary of the service of the district judge Frh. Lichtenstern ( Karl Franz Reisner Freiherr von Lichtenstern , born August 12, 1776 in Treswitz Castle, † March 24, 1866 in Amberg), The mountain picture of Neustadt, Max Piccolomini 's death near Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Sleep and Death, Am Bild bei Neustadt.
- Mentioned in Heimatblätter for the upper Naabgau , 1924:
- Puzzles (a series of humorous puzzles in poem form)
- Mentioned in the chronicle of the Weiden tower fire brigade (1865–1890):
- Two poems, dedicated to the Weiden tower fire brigade for their first exercise in Floß on June 28, 1868. Poem to the fireman Gottfried Krauss.
- Mentioned in the Weiden Weekly and Official Gazette No. 1 of May 10, 1856:
- Riddle, Charade , May 31, 1856, cradle and coffin.
- In the holdings of the Neustädter Museum, not accessible:
- a song book, animal pictures.
literature
- Heinrich Ascherl : History of the city and rule Neustadt ad Waldnaab. , 1982
- Bernhard M. Baron : Oswald Hafner - a poet from Neustadt an der Waldnaab. Approaching a poet heavily marked by fate , in: OBERPFÄLZER HEIMAT, vol. 59, Weiden idOPf. 2015, ISBN 978-3-939247-56-2 , pp. 158-166.
Web links
- Literature by and about Oswald Hafner in the catalog of the German National Library
- Oswald Hafner - unrecognized poet of his time with late recognition
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Heinrich Ascherl: History of the city and rule Neustadt ad Waldnaab. , Editor: Stadt Neustadt ad Waldnaab, 1982, pp. 579-585, 593
- ↑ a b c d e f Oswald Hafner's curriculum vitae at Kulturfreunde Lobkowitz Neustadt ad Waldnaab. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Oswald Hafner at literaturportal-bayern. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ↑ Fröschaustraße at Bayernatlas. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ Oswald Hafner Strasse at Bayernatlas. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ↑ Bernhard Knauer discovers a small sensation at Kulturfreunde Lobkowitz Neustadt ad Waldnaab. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ Museum Association is reissuing "Poetic Attempts" by Oswald Hafner at Kulturfreunde Lobkowitz Neustadt ad Waldnaab. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ↑ Oswald Hafner: a rediscovered esthete and poet from Neustadt / WN "Poetic experiments" in the antiquarian bookshop at Onetz . Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ Oswald Hafner - unrecognized poet of his time with later recognition by Kulturfreunde Lobkowitz Neustadt ad Waldnaab. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hafner, Oswald |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hafner, Oswald Adam |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German homeland poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 21, 1806 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Neustadt an der Waldnaab |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 28, 1882 |
| Place of death | Neustadt an der Waldnaab |
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