Otto Gillen

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Otto Gillen (born October 26, 1899 in Greiz ; † February 27, 1986 in Karlsruhe ) was a German art historian, journalist, theater critic, essayist and poet.

Life

Otto Gillen, son of the book printer owner and editor Peter Gillen and Wilhelmine Kraft, came from a Catholic family in Saarland and had three brothers. The family lived in Greiz until 1903, in Molsheim until 1906 , in Herne until 1908 , after which they moved to Bad Godesberg , where he grew up. After primary school he was able to enter the Collegium Marianum in Theux thanks to a church scholarship . In 1917 he was drafted into the war and in 1918 deployed in northern France. In 1919 he received the high school diploma at Carolinum (Osnabrück) . During his first studies in German, history, art history and astronomy in Berlin, Gillen joined the Guard Rifle Battalion in Berlin-Lichterfelde in 1920 . From 1922 to 1925, working as an editor and private tutor, he undertook art study trips, including to England, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean countries. From 1926 to 1929 he continued his studies in Cologne and Kiel , supplemented by theater studies. In 1929 he was in Kiel with a thesis on Hortus deliciarum the Herrad of Landsberg to Dr. phil. PhD . In Bonn he passed the state examination in German, philosophy and art history. From 1943 to 1946 he was a soldier in World War II and then a prisoner of war, including in the barbed wire seminar in Chartres , he reported on this in a war diary and in field post letters to his bride and future wife. From 1946 until his death, Gillen was together with his wife Elisabeth, geb. May, lives in Karlsruhe. The art historian Eckhart Gillen is their son.

Journalistic activity

Otto Gillen lived in Stuttgart as a private scholar from 1929. From 1930 to 1940 he worked as a theater and art critic in Sagan, Goslar , Bielefeld , Plauen , Remscheid , Bad Godesberg and Vienna . From 1941 to 1942 he was a lecturer at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart . Otto Gillen worked full-time in Karlsruhe from 1948 to 1973 as head of the features section of the daily newspaper Badische Latest Nachrichten . He himself worked as a literary and theater critic. He complained about this: “The way he does it is always wrong. If he praises, the opponents of what has been praised are angry or jealous; if he criticizes, then in the eyes of the criticized he is a banana who understands nothing about art ” .

Cultural policy work

Otto Gillen was involved in Karlsruhe as chairman of the Karlsruhe Cultural Forum, in the art committee and the art purchase commission of the city of Karlsruhe, in art exhibitions in the theater die insel , in the jury of the Hermann Hesse Prize and as president of the Karlsruhe Press Club. Gillen was a co-founder and sponsor of the Ettlingen Castle Festival .

Until his death Otto Gillen was a laudator and reviewer of the art exhibitions by Hortense von Gelmini , including at the 85th German Catholic Day in Freiburg im Breisgau .

Art historical work

Otto Gillen worked at the Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte (RDK) and the Lexicon of Christian Iconography . He was editor of the 1979 first German edition of Hortus deliciarum the Herrad of Landsberg .

Awards

Appreciation as a writer

Otto Gillen described his literary work as a “protest of the spirit against the demon, of faith against doubt, abundance of life against boredom, love against indifference”. About his poetry it says: “The lamps of memory, as one of his poems put it, do not glow here as literary sparklers. They have the gentle, emphatic, incorruptible appearance in whose light one lingers for a long time ”. “The theater critic and poet knew about the depths of being human and about its dangers. Anyone who reads Gillen's books will never put them down without advice or consolation ”. "With him, Karlsruhe has lost a personality who encountered the new from unbroken tradition, anchored in a religiously founded spirituality".

Literary publications

  • Christ and the primordial crystal. Dramas. 1923.
  • At God's garden fence. Poems. 1923.
  • Brother Heinrich. Novella about Heinrich Seuse. Badenia, Karlsruhe.
  • Nights. Poems. 1932.
  • The blue hour. Poems. 1933.
  • Goslar and the Harz. A home book. 1934.
  • Song of love. Poems. 1937.
  • Brother Heinrich. Des Seusen arduous and blissful hiking trails between Constance and Cologne. 1946.
  • The circle. Poems. 1952.
  • All who stand at graves. 1956.
  • The singing creation. A psalter of our time. 1957.
  • But mother's love remains. 1957.
  • With the church through the year. Every day until the end. 1957.
  • Mary of women. Marian life. 1957.
  • Light in the sickroom. 1957.
  • On the edge of things. Poems. Heliopolis, Tübingen 1958.
  • The colorful ball. Thirteen stories. 1959.
  • Everything beautiful is a parable. Poems with prose. Aldus Matinus, Zurich 1959. 9 editions.
  • Circles of life. Poems. 1959.
  • The love of God shines through the love of people. A gift. 1959.
  • Enduring wealth. Poems. Aldus Matinus, Zurich 1961.
  • Traces. Poems. Maximilian Dietrich, Memmingen 1961.
  • Between heaven and abyss. The way of man in our time. Thoughts, realizations, truths. Essays. Winfried-Werk, Augsburg 1963.
  • A fulfilled woman's life. A thank you to the mothers, the sisters, to all selfless service. Aldus Matinus, Zurich 1964.
  • The vase. 1964.
  • Image after image rises from the depths. A book of memory. Aldus Matinus, Zurich 1969.
  • Benno Huth . 1973.
  • There is always preaching. 1974.
  • Man in the mirror. Meditations, thoughts, experiences. Swabia, Stuttgart 1974.
  • The open hour. Poems. Martin, Buxheim 1974, ISBN 3-7865-0001-0 .
  • Rest in the peace of his hands. A comfort book for the mourners. Martin, Buxheim 1975, ISBN 3-7865-0006-1 .
  • The lovers are blind. Novella of a marriage. Swabia, Stuttgart 1976.
  • Find God in everything. Meditations and prayers. Swabia, Stuttgart 1976.
  • Enigmatic encounters - characters from another world. Palatinate Publishing House, Landau 1978.
  • Didn't burn our heart - extrasensory perceptions from a Christian perspective. 2nd Edition. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1979, ISBN 3-7171-0743-7 .
  • Everything revolves around a center. Poems from six decades Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1980.
  • I can always sense you. Conversations with God. 2nd Edition. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1980, ISBN 3717107704 .
  • Nothing but praise. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1982.
  • So that one learns from the other. From good togetherness. 1983.
  • The mystic from Lake Constance, Heinrich Seuse's journey from Constance to Cologne. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1984, ISBN 3-7171-0859-X .
  • Himera. Lots of leaves of a love. Novella. Palatinate Publishing House, Landau 1984, ISBN 3-87629-072-4 .
  • Who can still be amazed. With photos by Pieter Jos van Limbergen. Kiefel, Wuppertal / Gütersloh 1990, ISBN 3-7811-5604-4 .
  • Man in God's hand. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1991, ISBN 3-7171-0851-4 .
  • Mary on the spinning wheel - legends from the life of our Lord and Savior and his dear mother. 4th edition. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1991, ISBN 3-7171-0947-2 .
  • Mary woman of women. Poems, supplemented by Wilderich von Droste zu Hülshoff , illustrated by Hortense von Gelmini . Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1991, ISBN 3-7171-0944-8 .
  • I wanna sing the song of love Field post letters to my bride 1943–1946. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1999.
  • From the eternal in time. Aphorisms from the works of Otto Gillen for the 100th birthday of the poet on October 26, 1999. Selected by Hilde Schütt. Fe-Medien, Kißlegg 2000, ISBN 3928929178 .

literature

  • Georg Richter: Otto Gillen. In: World on the Upper Rhine. 1959.
  • Otto Ernst Sutter: Karlsruhe today and tomorrow. In world on the Upper Rhine. 9, 1969.
  • Friedrich Bentmann: Otto Gillen on his 75th birthday. In: Ekkhart. 1975, pp. 61-65.
  • Franz Josef Wehinger: About the reasons and abysses of our being - on the 80th birthday of the poet Otto Gillen. In: Konradsblatt. 63, 1979.
  • Arnold Amann: Otto Gillen - poet, journalist and art historian. In Ekkhart. 1980, p. 95 f.
  • Franz J. Wehinger: On the passing ... (of) Otto Gillen. In: BH. 1986, p. 302 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Bentmann: Otto Gillen. For the 75th birthday of the Karlsruhe poet and writer. Reprint Ekkhart 1975
  2. ↑ Otto Gillen: I want to sing the song of love - field post letters to my bride, war diary. Christiana, 1999
  3. ^ Eckhart Gillen: Texts and documents on the life and work of Otto Gillen. In: Otto Gillen: I want to sing the song of love - field post letters to my bride. War diary 1945. Ed. Eckhart Gillen. Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1999, ISBN 3-7171-1077-2 , p. 193 f.
  4. ↑ Quoted from Friedrich Bentmann: Otto Gillen. For the 75th birthday of the Karlsruhe poet and writer. Reprint Ekkhart 1975
  5. ↑ Quoted from Friedrich Bentmann: Otto Gillen. For the 75th birthday of the Karlsruhe poet and writer. Ekkhardt special print 1975
  6. ^ Karl Krolow, quoted from Gertud Waldecker: Badische Latest Nachrichten. March 4th 1986
  7. ↑ Bernhard Müller: In PUR magazine. Issue 5/1991, Kißlegg.
  8. ^ Gertrud Waldecker: Badische newest news. March 4th 1986
personal data
SURNAME Gillen, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian, journalist, theater critic, essayist and poet
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Greiz
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1986
Place of death Karlsruhe