Princes, prelates and sans-culottes

Princes, prelates and sans-culottes is a historical novel biography of Clara Viebig from 1931. The novel describes the life of the last Trier Elector Clemens Wenceslaus , whose reign was marked by reform will Repräsentiersucht and court intrigues and by the invasion of the sans-culottes in his residence city of Koblenz her Ended.

action

On the trip to Trier, the newly elected Elector Klemens Wenzeslaus had numerous reformist ideas in mind. As the youngest son of the Saxon Elector Friedrich August II , he is not uninfluenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment . He had a good upbringing at the Dresden court. He plans to implement educational reforms, promote urban development and purge the popular religion of superstitious rites. In addition, he pursues the goal of restricting the dissolute life of the nobility and clergy and consolidating the state finances, which got into trouble under his predecessor Johann Philipp .

His accession to government is under a bad star. On the way from Mainz via the Hunsrück he had an accident and experienced the poverty of the population in a small village. A stay at the pilgrimage site of Klausen is disturbed by news of the Prior von Prüm's attempts at autonomy . In order not to begin his rule with tough measures, he does not intervene, which has earned him a reputation for weakness. He also aroused displeasure in Trier when he canceled the celebrations in honor of his assumption of government due to financial reasons. His efforts to reconcile himself with the cathedral dean Boos von Waldeck, his rival in the electoral elections, fail. This encourages him to take his seat of government in Koblenz, where the citizens give him a friendly welcome. During a night tour through the city, together with his Real Secret Councilor Laroche, the elector is again confronted with poverty and dirt in public and private facilities. This encourages him to make urban improvements.

At the same time, a parallel plot begins about the love and suffering of a citizen's daughter. The widowed father does not allow his daughter to watch the elector move in because he wants to protect her from the eyes of the men. He plans to marry her, against her wishes, to the elderly tailor Franz Klüsserath. Due to the intervention of the elector, who briefly got to know the young woman on his nocturnal tour, she was forced to agree to a marriage with the unloved man, but neither could the birth of their daughter Marie be happy.

Already during the first political negotiations it turns out that the elector stands between all sorts of group interests and ideological fronts. Churchmen do not appreciate his free-spirited demeanor. This criticism also includes Laroche, who is said to have mocked monasticism in letters from a Catholic pastor to his friend . In addition, his wife Sophie von Laroche excelled with the publication of the novel Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim , which was scandalous for a woman at the time.

In addition, the elector is supposed to enforce the revocation of the diatribe “Arrogance of the Roman Curia”, written by the auxiliary bishop of Hontheim whom he admired . The matter becomes precarious when the Pope sends his envoy Bellisoni to Cologne to enforce the revocation. The Jesuit colleges , which the elector particularly values, are also abolished. The people oppose their ban on procession and once again hold the jumping procession in Echternach .

Klemens Wenzeslaus feels lonely. He is happy when his sister Maria Kunigunde , acting abbess of Thorn and Essen , comes to Koblenz. The two have had a close, almost affectionate relationship for siblings since childhood. But Gundel's arrival leads to new problems: you and Laroche compete for the favor of the elector, with differing views about the settlement of Protestant, wealthy merchants and taxpayers in the strictly Catholic electorate, both particularly divided. In the meantime, the elector began to build a palace, because he no longer wanted to expose his sister to the dilapidated Philippsburg . The cost of the construction, carried out by Parisian builders and adorned with paintings by Januarius Zick , is far beyond budget. Laroche's son-in-law, the merchant Brentano , who married his daughter Maximiliane , lends him a large sum. The elector also collects money from monasteries by threatening to abolish them. In order to reconcile the people of Trier, he starts building a new seminary in Trier. Nevertheless, the Trier cathedral capital of Kesselstadt warns of the city's sympathy with the ideas of the French:

Klemens Wenzeslaus noticed his sister's displeasure, whose age made itself felt and who regretted her childlessness. But first of all, traveling, the new palace, the construction of an expensive theater and the performance of Mozart's ' The Abduction from the Seraglio ' drove away the gloomy thoughts.

The edict of tolerance enforced by Laroche in favor of Protestants angered Maria Kunigunde in such a way that she reveals to the elector that the 'mocking letters' actually came from Laroche. With a heavy heart he dismisses his adviser, although he fears that the successor in office, Baron von Duminique, does not have the skills of his predecessor. In Trier, Kesselstadt is replaced by Baron von Kerpen, who advocates the “withdrawal of overly liberal reforms that are not yet sufficiently understood by the people”. The disappointed Trier turn more and more to the ideas of the French Revolution . French emissaries who promote the ideas of the French Revolution settle in Koblenz . Monsieur Roger, a perfumer, established himself opposite the tailor's workshop. He takes the unhappy Lotte Klüsserath by storm and also casts an eye on Marie, whose husband has no idea that his wife is cheating on him with the French.

In France, Count Mirabeau presents himself as a 'man of freedom'. He attacks the privileges of the nobles; the third estate forms the National Assembly . Due to the growing influx of French migrants, mistrust creeps in among the people of Koblenz. Everyone is mistaken for a spy. Price increases and insecurity do the rest, and the elector sets up night patrols . The Trierische Zeitung and the Koblenzer Intellektivenblatt are subject to censorship .

A new situation arises when French aristocrats seek refuge in Koblenz in the turmoil of the revolution. Klemens Wenceslaus felt obliged to take them in, especially since many members of his family were among the refugees, such as Count Charles Artois, his nephew, and the Count of Paris. The elector quarters her in his Schönbornslust Palace and "basks [...] in the feeling of doing good", although Gundel reminds his brother that "not everything that flows over to us is worth your pity". In many cases “scattered soldiers, deserters, rough packs, vagrants and idlers […] and criminals released from custody” are among the refugees. Nevertheless, she herself cannot escape the charm of the migrants, especially the handsome Artois, and she hardly refuses him either.

At first, the people of Koblenz are delighted with the wealthy guests, but the lavish lifestyle, with hunts, theater plays and gala dinners, means that money quickly disappears, and the city is now groaning at the parasitic idlers. Citizens are also concerned when they realize that morals are loosening and that many women are getting involved with French people, even though they have come with an attachment of wives and mistresses.

One day Monsieur Roger disappeared. When it is revealed that Lotte has cheated on her husband with the perfumer, the family ends in disaster, especially since it becomes apparent that Marie became infected while freely interacting with a French beau. Lotte goes into the water, Klüsserath gives the ailing daughter to a hospital and goes to France as a soldier in the hope of avenging the outrage on Monsieur Roger. Ultimately, he dies of exhaustion. -

The generosity of the elector is severely tested by the extravagance of his relatives. Complaint after complaint is also received from the population. Boos von Waldeck warns the elector against excessive hospitality; in addition to hostile behavior on the part of France, he would attract the displeasure of the people if he turned the electorate into a second France. Indeed, the counter-revolutionary guards enlisted by Count Artois are transforming Koblenz into a military camp. Klemens Wenzeslaus prohibits advertising, making Artois an enemy.

The death of the revered von Hontheim afflicts the elector, especially as he realizes that he was much less courageous than the dead man and that too many of his reforms would have failed:

“How wrong he had done everything, nobody was satisfied with what he did or had not done. He had thrown his country in debt through too much building, in unheard of embarrassment, and even in danger, through taking in migrants. Almost ruled for twenty-five years and yet not learned how to govern properly! "

When France declared war on the Austrians, people in Koblenz feared that the unloved Prussian soldiers might be billeted there to protect the imperial borders. When Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and his troops roam Koblenz, conflicts arise because the French are supposed to clear part of their camps. Ultimately, they leave Koblenz to join the Prussian-Austrian troops.

The situation is becoming more and more confusing. Another rise in prices is shaking the country. In this situation Brentano demands back the borrowed money, which the elector fortunately now gets from the resident Protestant citizens.

In Mainz , General Custine proclaimed a republic and made preparations to reach other cities. In France, Louis XVI. , now named Louis Capet , and Marie Antoinette on the scaffold. The Koblenz people want to ask for protection in Mainz and give up their fortress. Klemens Wenzeslaus rejects this in horror and improves the fortifications. When the Prussians and Austrians refuse to protect the city and withdraw, the magistrate asks the elector to leave the city. With a heavy heart Klemens Wenzeslaus and Kunigunde follow this request and turn to Augsburg, where the carriage overturns again on the bad road.

The silence that had entered Koblenz is soon broken when Moreaux moves into Koblenz. The people of Koblenz cannot deny this troop their respect:

“None of them made a mocking expression. Those there had the speed in bare feet, the bravery, the bravery in torn trousers, the self-sacrifice in their bones, the enthusiasm for freedom in their souls. They carried bread and victory, speared on their bayonets. Bread and Victory - Freedom, Equality and Fraternity. That's what they're fighting for. Soon your freedom tree will also be here on the banks of the Rhine! "

Material history

Historical data on Clemens Wenzeslaus and the fall of the Electorate of Trier are available in some historical works during Viebig's time, for example in the Chronicle of the Diocese of Trier, Alexander Dominicus, Wilhelm Oertel and Leonardy. Clara Viebig may have used these sources to write her novel. Her choice of fabrics is probably related to her love for her native Trier and for the spa Bad Bertrich , where she spent more than thirty summer stays.

In literary terms, the material about Clemens Wenzeslaus before Clara Viebig only served as a background story. In her 1895 novella “The Last Countess of Manderscheid”, Antonie Haupt told a love story between Antonius Boos von Waldeck and Erika von Manderscheid; this before the panorama of the Trier court and the events of the French Revolution, which was portrayed as unloved.

Werner Möbius later related an episode from the life of the young Clemens Wenzeslaus in his novella “Die Beichte von Bertrich” (1980). He describes what might have moved him to convert the almost forgotten Bertricher spring into an electoral bath. In 2006, Josefine Wittenbecher described Clemens Wenzeslaus' commitment to the nun Maria Theresia von Sohlern in her novel "Die Frauen von Stuben". With the request of the Elector to the Holy See - and also the intercession of Maria Kunigunde, who knows the monastery life well enough - Maria Theresa is allowed to take off the hated nun's veil and leave the Stuben monastery .

Viebig takes up numerous historical facts, but also takes poetic liberties in order to combine them into "a more vivid representation of his life".

Viebig makes several hints about her literary work on this work. The material in question "strongly attracted them"; also urge them, "who value the lessons of history very highly for the present, to test my powers on historical material." Viebig's other works point out that the writing of this novel was countered by Viebig's long examination of the events in Germany Preceded the end of the 18th century.

Position within Clara Viebig's work

“Princes, prelates and sans-culottes” is one of the writer's late works. She published the novel at the age of 71. In her work, mainly contemporary and social novels or novellas, the design of historical material is more noticeable, especially in her later phase.

The author takes up events at the turn of the French Revolution several times: in “Charlotte von Weiß” (1930), the novel of a poisonous woman, in “ The Much-loved and the Much-Hated ” (1935), in which she describes Wilhelmine von Lichtenau , the much-maligned mistress of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia , wants to rehabilitate. The novel Unter dem Freiheitsbaum (1922), which can be classified somewhat later, should also be mentioned, which depicts the turmoil of French rule in the Rhineland and the fate of Schinderhannes .

An intertwining of princes, prelates and sans-culottes with The Much-Beloved and the Much-Hated can be established by referring to some identical historical personalities. The beloved Friedrich Wilhelm II granted Count Artois financial means so that he could continue to lead a befitting life at the court of his uncle Clemens Wenzeslaus. The life of Count Artois at the court of his uncle is described in princes, prelates and sans-culottes , Friedrich Wilhelm II also visits the Koblenz court for a few days on his journey to the campaign.

A geographical classification of the novel in Viebig's works, which are mainly set in the Rhineland, on the Moselle and in the Eifel, and finally in Berlin and the Posener Land, shows once again that it belongs to the Rhine and Moselle landscapes. The author sets a living monument to the cities of Koblenz and Trier at the end of the 18th century, their architecture and art, their political and cultural history.

On the genre of historical biography

With the literary design of historical events, Clara Viebig picks up on a trend of the time at the beginning of the 1930s. Ina Seidel draws a similar historical panorama, albeit for the area of ​​the Electorate of Mainz and with a different focus, in her novel "Das Wunschkind", also published in 1930. In the same year Ricarda Huch paints a picture of the revolution of 1848 in Germany in her novel “Old and New Gods”. In terms of style, Viebig's work is also reminiscent of the great historiographical biographies of Stefan Zweig . Viebig sees himself in the tradition of earlier authors of historical novels. She endeavors to further develop “the work of my predecessors in this field, Willibald Alexis and Theodor Fontane ”.

Interpretative approaches

The last Elector of Trier is “not only at the end of the Ancien Régime ”, but is also “the forerunner of a new era.” Viebig draws the portrait of this enlightened ruler who wants to carry out some sensible reforms in his electorate. He experiences "hostile resistance from his ecclesiastical subordinates, some of whom would have liked to assume the highest office [...], unheard-of financial mismanagement of his predecessor, unprecedented neglect of the country and the wretched poverty of the people." His reforms could well be beneficial for everyone, however, neither the traditionally Catholic people on the Rhine and Moselle nor the official church are ready to give up traditional rites and rights. The reforms repeatedly come up against their limits; The jealousy and insubordination of the nobility as well as the indulgence of the often doubting ruler do the rest. Clara Viebig sometimes portrays restrictions imposed by the elector in a somewhat striking way as fickleness, whereby these are often the courageous correction of paths taken, but no longer meaningful due to changed political circumstances.

Narrative strategies

Again and again a multi-perspective point of view can be found in the representations. Clara Viebig achieves this by dispensing with authorial comments. Rather, it lets many people and groups have their say and thus illuminates the issue in question from several sides without carrying out an explicit evaluation. Often, reflections of the individual figures are presented in an experienced speech, in particular the reflections of the elector on his actions. Viebig leads "in the most vivid representation into the turmoil of time."

Motives and leitmotifs

Viebig draws the motif of the weak ruler or a modernly conceived type of “the 'broken', multiple 'fallen' regent”, who shows heightened sensitivity even as a child. She takes up this motif at the beginning of the novel with the metaphor of snow: “Snow was dusting around the two towering towers of the Prüm Abbey. No more real soft winter snow [...], it "turns" to dirty gray [...] in the viscous pulp. "The narrator achieves a haunting, anticipatory representation of the coming, swirling, all-devouring events.

The metaphor of snow expands into the leitmotif of “roses in the snow”, which Clemens Wenzeslaus connects with the hairstyle of an early, unsuccessful woman who wore a garland of roses in her powdered white hair. When, towards the end of his term of office, he is confronted again by a prophecy gypsy with the "roses in the snow", a reign of great success lies behind him, but the complete defeat of his office is also in sight.

Several falls run through the plot as a leitmotif, which anticipate the fall of the elector from his throne: the young Clemens Wenzeslaus falls from his horse in the battle of Torgau ; on the way to taking up his post as elector and on the last escape from Koblenz, the carriage overturned on a bad road.

Another motif that troubles both the archbishop's elector and the abbess Kunigunde is celibacy and the resulting loneliness. While Clemens Wenzeslaus is able to sublimate this in the promotion of the fine arts: "His senses were looking for satisfaction and found them in precious hobbies.", Kunigunde suffers from the lost possibility of motherhood, especially when meeting a beautiful young man from Trier: "Too old to love and be loved! Too old, to have children, to have a son who might be like this beautiful boy! Over, all over! "

The loneliness of the Elector from Saxony in the Rhineland is also a key to further problems: It leads to the fact that the Elector binds himself closely to his Chancellor Laroche and his sister Kunigunde and thus their influence is open. The later relational consideration for the French nephews, whom he treated like his children, prompted Clemens Wenzeslaus to act that ultimately grew to the detriment of his electorate.

Compositional means of reflection

The parallel plot about the fate of the Klüsserath tailoring family gives the author the opportunity to expand the main event. On the one hand, this opens up, in this biography of the rulers and the powerful, to depict the hopes and sufferings of the common people in the pre-revolutionary period. It also becomes clear that the intervention of the elector in the world of his subjects - here the marriage command against Lotte - can have unforeseen consequences and does not always end to the benefit of those affected.

Furthermore, the benevolent forbearance of the master tailor towards his wife reflects some of the elector's behavior towards his subjects. As attractive as this seems human, it means, in human or political turmoil, weakness and harm. Last but not least, both “indulgent kindness and the conflict aversion peculiar to the Enlightenment” make them appear to be losers in the end.

The destruction of the Klüsserath family serves as a predictive reference to the fall of the electorate, but also as a poetic relativization of the electoral fate, which is not only overtaken by the fate of the fall.

Publication and reception history

When the novel was published by the Deutsche Verlagsanstalt in Stuttgart in 1931, the press reactions and reviews were almost entirely positive, although the book title, which was not very informative, was offended everywhere. However, initially the interest in this historical biography ebbs away, which may not really fit Clara Viebig's rather naturalistic work.

A second wave of publications follows in the course of the Clara Viebig renaissance, which was initiated in 1984 by the Düsseldorf Erb-Verlag, or a year earlier by the preprint in the Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz. A chain of publications up to our days, as a paperback by Verlag Knaur (1989), again in the Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz (2001), and finally by Rhein-Mosel-Verlag (2001, 2nd edition 2015), as well as the recording as an audio book in 2006 shows a continuous interest in the work to the present day. The reactions to the second wave of publications were divided. On the one hand, the writer is certified as having "an undeniable weakness in psychology", on the other hand her novel is described as "a highly compelling character study". On the other hand, the style of the writer seems to take getting used to for today's reading habits, if from a harmonious, but a bit too flexible style or from a "self-contained, far-reaching, in short: unfamiliar narrative style" Speech is.

Indeed, Clara Viebig's multi-perspective narrative style requires careful reading, but it is precisely this mode of presentation that can contribute significantly to the appeal of her stories.

expenditure

• 1931: Stuttgart: DVA [358 p.].
• 1983: as a novel in sequels, under the title “The Last Elector”, in: Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz, from June 15 to August 17, 1983.
• 1984: Düsseldorf: Erb [287 pages]
• 1986: Reprint of an excerpt, in: Trier - a reading book, ed. v. Diethard H. Klein and Teresa Müller-Rugowski, Husum: Husum Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (107).
• 1989: Munich: Knaur [287 pp.].
• 2001: as a novel in sequels, in: Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz, from November 5, 2001 to January 31, 2002.
• 2001: 1st edition, Alf: RMV [222 pages].
• 2006: recorded as an audio book, Daun: Radioropa, spoken by Gotthard Lange.
• 2015: 2nd edition, Zell: RMV [233 pages]

Individual evidence

1. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 162.
2. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 233.
3. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 301 f
4. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 357 f
5. ↑ Cf. the article 'Clemens Wenzeslaus', written from the perspective of the church, in the Chronik der Diözese Trier, born in 1828, Trier: Rodt 1828 (7–29), Alexander Dominicus: Coblenz under the last elector of Trier Clemens Wenzeslaus: 1768 –1794, Koblenz: Hölscher 1869 (38–240); Wilhelm Oertel's depiction of Clemens Wenzeslaus in Wilhelm Oertel: Silberblicke. Traits from the life of excellent people, 1876 and Johann Leonardy's explanations, particularly on the French period, in Johann Leonardy: Geschichte des Trierisches Landes und Volkes, Trier, n.v. 1877 (reprint 1982), chapter, 6th book, 9. Chapter. In addition, numerous surviving ordinances and edicts of the elector as well as his correspondence with von Hontheim on the book 'Justini Febroni des statu ecclesiaer et legitima romani Pontifis potestate' offer authentic sources from that time.
6. ↑ Clara Viebig received inspiration for a large number of her works during these stays; some she wrote there. In this novel, however, she does not let the elector go to the bathroom.
7. ↑ Cf. Antonie Haupt: the last Countess of Manderscheid (Dasbach's Novellenkranz vol. 18), Trier: Paulinus 1895.
8. ↑ Cf. Werner Möbius: Die Beichte von Bertrich, in: Das Vermächtnis. Earthly and uncanny stories, Vaterstetten: Arndt-Verlag 1980 pp. 71–152. Indeed, during his reign, Clemens Wenzeslaus rediscovered the forgotten bathroom and upgraded it by building a representative bathing palace.
9. ↑ Josefine Wittenbecher: The women of Stuben, Trier: Porta Alba, 2006
10. ↑ Claudia Schmitt: Clemens Wenzeslaus. The last archbishop and elector of the Trier region, in: Yearbook for the Bernkastel-Wittlich district, ed. From the district administration Bernkastel-Wittlich, Wittlich 1992 (119–126), here p. 119
11. ↑ Clara Viebig: From my workshop, in: Sankt Galler Tageblatt of July 15, 1930
12. ↑ Clara Viebig: Lebens-Abriss, in: Berliner Tageblatt of July 12, 1930
13. ↑ During her creative process, the seventy-year-old expressed that she hoped to still have the strength to “master the great subject.” Clara Viebig: Lebens-Abriss, in: Berliner Tageblatt of July 12, 1930.
14. ^ Clara Viebig: Charlotte von Weiss. The novel of a beautiful woman, Berlin: Ullstein 1929 (282 p.), This .: The much-loved and the much-hated, Stuttgart: DVA 1935 (p.), This .: Under the tree of freedom, Stuttgart: DVA 1922 (384 p.)
15. ↑ cf. Viebig, Clara: The much-loved and the much-hated, Stuttgart: DVA 1935, p. 198.
16. ↑ See Clara Viebig: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 236 and p. 315.
17. ^ Ina Seidel: Das Wunschkind (2 vols.), Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1930.
18. ↑ Ricarda Huch: Old and New Gods. The revolution of the 19th century in Germany. German-Swiss Publishing House, Berlin 1930.
19. ↑ Cf. Charlotte Marlo Werner: Writing Life - The Poet Clara Viebig. Medu, Dreieich 2009, p. 143.
20. ↑ Clara Viebig: From my workshop, in: Sankt Galler Tageblatt v. July 15, 1930. She expresses this assessment in connection with her work on Charlotte von Weiß .
21. ^ Franz-Josef Heyen: Clemens Wenzeslaus von Sachsen, in: Werner Helmes (Red.): People and effects: Biographische Essays, ed. vd Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz: Krach 1979, p. 85.
22. ↑ top v .: Clara Viebig's new novel, in: Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt of April 24, 1931.
23. ↑ top v .: Clara Viebig's new novel, in: Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt of April 24, 1931.
24. ^ Hugo Aust: Clara Viebig and the historical novel in the 20th century - A sketch, in: Volker Neuhaus and Michel Durand (eds.): The province of the feminine: On the narrative work of Clara Viebig, Bern: Lang 2004 (91–93 , here: p. 91)
25. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 5
26. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, pp. 19 and 21
27. ↑ See Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 307
28. ↑ Cf. Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 20, p. 23 and p. 354 f. See also Hugo Aust: Clara Viebig and the historical novel in the 20th century - a sketch, in: Volker Neuhaus and Michel Durand (eds.): The province of the feminine: On the narrative work of Clara Viebig, Bern: Lang 2004. (P. 92.)
29. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 161.
30. ^ Viebig, Clara: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, Stuttgart: DVA 1931, p. 181. The topic of motherhood recurs frequently in Clara Viebig's work.
31. ↑ cf. Hugo Aust: Clara Viebig and the historical novel in the 20th century - A sketch, in: Volker Neuhaus and Michel Durand (eds.): The Province of the Feminine: On the narrative work of Clara Viebig, Bern: Lang 2004 (91–93, here: p. 91)
32. ↑ Cf. on this Hugo Aust: Clara Viebig and the historical novel in the 20th century - A sketch, in: Volker Neuhaus and Michel Durand (eds.): Die Provinz des Weiblichen: On the narrative work of Clara Viebig, Bern: Lang 2004 ( 91–93, here: p. 93).
33. ↑ See Paul Bourfeind: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes, in: Die Literatur, May 1931
34. ^ Paul Bourfeind: Prinzen, Prälaten und Sans-culottes, in: Die Literatur, May 1931
35. ↑ Although this mirror act fulfills several narrative functions, it is sometimes criticized that it has not been developed “enough to leave a lasting shock.” Cf. Arthur Eloesser: Clara Viebig: Prinzen, Prälaten, Sansculotten, in: Vossische Zeitung from 3. May 1931. Sascha Wingenroth, on the other hand, would like to see this strand of action and the plight of the people further expanded: Viebig did not adequately portray “the Rhenish people in the vortex of the times”; this step back too much "in the change of powers [...] before the representation of these powers themselves." Cf. Sascha Wingenroth: Clara Viebig and the women's novel of German naturalism, Freiburg im Breisgau 1936, p. 90. It should be noted that Wingenroth Viebig wants to honor especially as the author of naturalistic novels, which does not do justice to the variety of her productions.
36. ↑ Cf. the collection of reviews of works on “Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes” in: Christel Aretz (Ed.): Clara Viebig in the Spiegel der Presse, Bad Bertrich: Mosel Eifel Verlag 2000, pp. 294–305. Only one review speaks in an ambivalent manner of a work in which “the twilight of a cathedral” reigns. Nikolaus Bruckner: Princes, prelates and sans-culottes, in: Saarbrücker Zeitung of May 30, 1931
37. ^ In the Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz the biography of the novel is printed under the title The Last Elector . It arouses great interest among the readership to deal with the historical events of that time.
38. ^ Franz Norbert Mennemeier: Historiography as a novel painting. On 'Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes' by Clara Viebig, in: Neues Rheinland: das Magazin für die Region, Issue 28.7, Pulheim: Rhein-Eifel-Mosel-Verlag 1985, p. 33. There is no further reason for this criticism.
39. ↑ Sabine Brandt: No Hosanna for the Revolution. Clara Viebig's novel, Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes reprinted, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 285 v. December 17, 1985, p. 26.
40. ↑ See Franz Norbert Mennemeier: Historiography as a novel painting. On 'Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes' by Clara Viebig, in: Neues Rheinland: das Magazin für die Region, issue 28.7, Pulheim: Rhein-Eifel-Mosel-Verlag 1985, p. 33.
41. ↑ Sabine Brandt: No Hosanna for the Revolution. Clara Viebig's novel, Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculottes reprinted, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 285 v. December 17, 1985, p. 26.