Otto Müller (writer)

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Otto Müller, 1873.

Otto Müller (born June 1, 1816 in Schotten , † August 6, 1894 in Stuttgart ) was a German writer. After 7 years as a librarian in Darmstadt , Müller worked as a publisher and editor in Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim from 1843 , and as a freelance writer in Stuttgart from 1856.

Life

Early years

Otto Müller was born on June 1, 1816 in Schotten, a town in the Vogelsberg in Upper Hesse, the son of an official secretary. He received his first education at the Wolfgang Ernst Gymnasium in Büdingen and a gymnasium in Darmstadt. At the request of his father, he wanted to devote himself to theology, but after his death chose the cameralist career. He soon gave up this too and in 1836 took the position of librarian at the Darmstadt court library, with which later that of the private librarian of Prince Karl of Hesse and the Rhine was connected. In 1837 Müller published his first narrative work, the collection of novels “Spring Park”, and in 1839 the drama “Rienzi”.

Frankfurt and Mannheim

Frankfurter Museum, first edition from October 6, 1855.

In 1843 Müller took over the editing of the "Frankfurter Conversationsblatt". The fiction supplement of the Frankfurter Oberpostamts-Zeitung enjoyed a significant upswing under his leadership. Müller, who worked as a novelist in 1845 with the novel “Bürger. A German Poet's Life ”made its debut, tried above all to get the cooperation of young writers and also made his own literary contributions. During his stay in Frankfurt am Main, Müller lived in the Großer Hirschgraben near the Goethe House and frequented the Frankfurt world of writers and artists.

From 1848 to 1852, Müller was editor of the “Mannheimer Unterhaltungsblatt. Belletristic supplement to the Mannheimer Journal ”,“ which remained the only independent constitutional organ during the period of anarchy under Müller's level-headed direction that, despite its decidedly liberal tendency, nevertheless represented the interests of the government abroad ”.

His first novel won him the affection of Gustava Fritze from Bremen, whom he married in late 1847. After the early death of his wife in 1852, Müller moved to Bremen, where he stayed for almost two years in the prestigious house of Fritze's parents-in-law and recovered from the hard blow of fate.

In the spring of 1854 Müller returned to Frankfurt. For a short time he was editor of the “Deutsche Bibliothek. Collection of selected original novels “from the Meidinger'schen Verlagbuchhandlung in Frankfurt. The series published 12 titles, including Müller's “Charlotte Ackermann. A Hamburg theater novel from the previous century ”. In 1857 the publishing house went bankrupt.

In October 1855 Müller founded the cultural magazine " Frankfurter Museum ". In 1856 he edited the magazine together with Theodor Creizenach and then resigned as editor. In 1855 and 1856 Müller's novel "Kaiser und Stadtschultheiß" (23 sequels) and his story "Andrea del Castagno" (11 sequels) were printed in the Frankfurt Museum.

Stuttgart

Tomb of the Otto Müller family, 2011.

In 1856 Müller married Alwine Fritze, an older sister of his late first wife Gustava, as a second marriage. Müller moved to Stuttgart, where he has lived “since then in continuously diligent writing”. The couple lived in different rental apartments, until 1870 in the west of Stuttgart, then in the city center. From 1863 onwards, Müller was listed in the address books as “Dr. Otto Müller ”.

The Müller couple took an active part in the social and cultural life in Stuttgart. Otto Müller was a close friend of Wilhelm Raabe , who lived in Stuttgart from 1862 to 1870. Müller's and Raabe's apartments were within walking distance of each other, near the Feuersee and not far from the social and cultural center of the Silberburg . The friends were members of the leading literary and cultural associations “Das radiant Bergwerk”, “Kaffee Reinsburg” and “Sonntagskranzchen”.

family

Otto Müller married Gustava Fritze from Bremen at the end of 1847. The marriage resulted in the son Gustav, who became a partner in a New York global company. After the early death of his wife in 1852, Müller married Alwine Fritze (1821–1899), an older sister of his late first wife Gustava, in the late autumn of 1856. The daughter Adla Schapitz, nee. Müller (1861-1916).

Retirement

Otto Müller died in Stuttgart on August 6, 1894 at the age of 78. His wife Alwine survived him by 5 years and died in Stuttgart in 1899 at the age of 78. The grave of the Müller family is on the Pragfriedhof in Stuttgart in department 25. The grave monument was created in 1901 by Otto Müller's friend, the Stuttgart sculptor Theodor Bausch . It consists of a sandstone stele with Müller's portrait relief and a reclining female figure, both made of bronze.

plant

Otto Müller, Selected Writings, Volume 1.

Otto Müller's predominantly narrative work includes around 35 titles, “biographical, historical and cultural-historical novels and short stories, which at the time were read with pleasure because of their entertaining, cozy to touching depictions of human fates in a somewhat antiquated contemporary color, as well as some stories in which he spoke of life in Vogelberg, in his Upper Hessian homeland, writes “.

In 1873 he published “Selected Writings in 12 Volumes” at Alfred Kröner's publishing house in Stuttgart, which included the following works (year of first publication in brackets):

  • Citizen. A German Poet's Life, 2 volumes (1845)
  • Marlo or The Mediatized, 2 volumes (1848)
  • Charlotte Ackermann. A Hamburg theater novel from the previous century, 2 volumes (1854)
  • The city school of Frankfurt. A family novel from the previous century (1856)
  • Roderich. A court and robber story from 1812, 2 volumes (1861)
  • Eckhof and Iffland (1863)
  • Two sinners in one heart (1863)
  • The Forester's Bride of Neunkirchen (1869)

Honors

  • Otto-Müller-Strasse is named after him in Otto Müller's hometown of Schotten.

literature

life and work

Others

  • Alfred Estermann: The German literature magazines 1850-1880. Bibliographies, programs. Volume 3. I-M, 1172-1820. Munich: Saur, 1989, number 1729, pages 511-513 (Mannheimer Journal).
  • Karl Fricker: Wilhelm Raabe's years in Stuttgart as reflected in his poetry. Stuttgart 1939.
  • Kurt Hoffmeister: Wilhelm Raabe under vines: Stuttgart 1862–1870; ... and I feel indescribably at home here ... Norderstedt 2005.
  • Otto Müller papers, Inventory, 2010. Inventory of Otto Müller's written estate in the Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island, online .
  • Wulf Wülfing; Karin Bruns; Rolf Parr: Handbook of literary-cultural associations, groups and leagues 1825–1933. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1998, pages 29–42 (Das radiant mine), 221–223 (Kaffee Reinsburg), 419–423 (Sunday wreaths).

Web links

Commons : Otto Müller (writer)  - collection of pictures

Footnotes

  1. ↑ # Brümmer 1913 .
  2. ↑ #Frost 2015 .
  3. ↑ #Estermann 1989.3 .
  4. ↑ # Brümmer 1906 .
  5. ↑ # Brümmer 1913 .
  6. ↑ Otto Müller lived from 1862 to 1870 at Silberburgstrasse 41 and 141, at Feuerseeplatz 5b and at Reinsburgstrasse 45 (Stuttgart address books 1862–1870). During his stay in Stuttgart, Wilhelm Raabe lived at Gymnasiumstrasse 13 from 1862 and at Hermannstrasse 11 from 1864 ( #Hoffmeister 2005 , pages 12, 30).
  7. ↑ #Frost 2015 , # Brümmer 1906 , # Brümmer 1913 .
personal data
SURNAME Müller, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH Bulkheads
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1894
Place of death Stuttgart