Robert Kraft (writer)

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Knut Larsen (Robert Kraft) - Untersee-Teufel, original edition, 1918, Haupt & Hammon, Radebeul

Emil Robert Kraft (born October 3, 1869 in Leipzig , † May 10, 1916 in Haffkrug ) was a German writer .

Life

Robert Kraft was born in Leipzig as the son of a wine merchant. The parents divorced early and the son often broke away due to the strict atmosphere in the parental home. He was expelled from high school because of his absenteeism. He then completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith on the orders of his father and from 1887 attended the Royal Higher Trade School in Chemnitz .

In 1889 he stole a sum of money from his father and was imprisoned for it a short time later. In Hamburg he was hired on the ship "Shakespeare", which capsized off Greenland . After being rescued from distress at sea, he went on other ships and finally came to Egypt in 1890 , where he eke out his life doing odd jobs and living with a local woman in the desert. To get to Constantinople , he drove as a stowaway on a ship and fell ill with cholera on the way .

The German consulate in Constantinople asked him to do his military service as soon as possible. So he came to Wilhelmshaven and served three years in the Imperial Navy . According to his own account, he spent most of the time in a warehouse for discarded books from ship libraries and found enough time to read. He then moved back to Egypt to become a desert hunter. There it was in the Libyan desert to encounters with Rifai - dervishes , he worked in the course intensively with psychic phenomena. At the same time, he had to admit that he was not made for an adventurous life far from European comfort.

When the reconciliation with his father failed in Germany, he moved to London and married Johanna Rehbein in 1895. The couple had two daughters. Through German acquaintances, contacts arose with the Münchmeyer publishing house in Dresden , on whose behalf he was to produce colportage novels. The publisher's approval led to the return to Germany in 1896. When his father died later, he inherited his considerable fortune. He traveled with his family to Monte Carlo in 1902 , then to London, and within a year brought back all of his fortune. Destitute, he moved back to Germany to write colportage and lived in Kleinzschachwitz near Dresden, Friedrichshagen , Bad Schandau , Dresden and Hamburg.

On May 10, 1916, Robert Kraft died at the age of 46 in Haffkrug from a stomach ailment. His wife and two daughters were left penniless.

After Kraft's death, the Karl May publisher EA Schmid acquired all the rights to Kraft's works in order to posthumously publish them from 1918 onwards in the publishing house Haupt & Hammon, which was also acquired for this purpose .

Artistic creation

Kraft's crime novels , adventure novels and fantastic novels are set in different parts of the world. In contrast to Karl May , with whom he is often compared, he knew most of these locations from personal experience. He was marketed as the "German Jules Verne " by his publisher .

Kraft drew on a variety of sources. As countless allusions and quotations suggest, he should have known not only the works of Jules Verne, but also those of Alexandre Dumas the Elder , Henry Rider Haggard , HG Wells , Friedrich Wilhelm Mader and a large part of world classical literature. It is precisely his encyclopedic reading that makes Kraft the last great exponent of the German colportage - and sensational novel , which for him (on the 4300 pages of his "Vestalinnen", for example) turns into a kind of apotheosis of the adventure world of the 19th century. For this, Kraft used all forms and variants of popular prose that were common at the time. The typical Wild West story à la Karl May is represented in his work (5th volume "Vestalinnen"), as are elements of horror ("Loke Klingsor"), science fiction ("If I were king"), the mysterious exotic novella with a surprising twist ("Die Abgottschlange") of the detective novel ("Detective Nobody") and the travelogue ("Schnelldampfer Mikrokosmos").

Kraft succeeds in developing his own, very creative technique from the actually flat, sensation-loving slave work of writing the colportage, which consciously tries to integrate daydreams spontaneously and directly into the flow of writing through meditative techniques (see his sketch "Nocturnal Ahnen"). One of the great strengths of his novels is based on this: namely, that - unusual in the colportage subject - they are difficult to predict and always offer real surprises. In the happiest moments he achieves pointed shifts from the quality of his British contemporary Saki . The downside of his impulsive technique is obvious: storylines can get lost, leaps in the action sometimes seem quite implausible, especially in the late work. The late colportage novels impress with an almost inexhaustible imagination and grotesque, even psychedelic visions, but are often exhausted in these images; the acting (secondary) persons remain schematic and interchangeable in their type.

Although Kraft was a basically conservative narrator who - like Karl May - identified with the German Empire and its global power aspirations, there are always critical and satirical tones with Kraft; There are racist tendencies especially in the early work (e.g. in “Around the Indian Imperial Crown”). What should be emphasized, however, are his unusually vehement commitment to feminism (for example in “A New Leather Stocking”) and his sympathy for Buddhism (particularly pronounced in “Sonnenkinder”).

Some of his books were published 50 years after his death as part of the book series World of Adventure and from 1996 in Edition Ustad again in slightly edited form.

bibliography

Novel series

  • From all parts of the world. 1898.
  • From the realm of the imagination . 1901.
  • Rapid steamer "microcosm". Realistic on-board novelties. 1904.
  • Around the world in a zeppelin. 1909.

Novels

  • The Vestals. 1895.
  • The girl from abroad. 1896. Also as: To the Indian imperial crown. Experiences of a German in the land of miracles. 1905.
  • Four women and only one man. 1898.
  • The sword of Damocles. 1899.
  • Unequal natures. 1901.
  • The key to paradise. 1901.
  • The Nibelungen. 1902. New edition as: Goldschiff und Vulkan. Bamberg 1963, Karl-May-Verlag.
  • Yokes of the good-for-nothing or sailor's love on water and on land. 1902.
  • A modern leather sock. 1902.
  • Experiences of a thirteen-year-old boy up to adolescence on his sea voyages. 1902.
  • The Templars of the Rings. Novel from American lodge life. 1903.
  • Sun children. 1903.
  • Detective Nobody's Experiences and Travel Adventures. 1904-1906. New edition in 11 volumes: Hildesheim 2012–2014, Benu Verlag, audio book .
  • We sea gypsies. Experiences of the helmsman Richard Jansen from Gdansk. 1907. New edition in 4 volumes: Bamberg 1964–1968, Karl-May-Verlag.
  • The new earth. 1910.
  • Atalanta. The secrets of the slave lake. 1911. New edition in 5 volumes: Lüneburg 2015–2016, Dieter von Reeken
  • The juggler ship. The wanderings of the Argonauts. 1912.
  • The second face or the persecution around the earth. 1913.
  • The new earth. 1910. New edition: Bamberg 1996, Edition Ustad by Karl-May-Verlag.
  • Atalanta. The secrets of the slave lake. 1911.
  • The idol snake. 1916.
  • Submarine devil. 1919.
  • Loke Klingsor. The man with the devil eyes. Edited by Johannes Jühling. 1927. New edition in 4 volumes: Lüneburg 2016, Dieter von Reeken.
  • Pharaoh's treasury. 2000.

stories

  • Good morning, darling. 1895.
  • Five weeks in the Salvation Army. 1895.
  • Japanese sailors. 1895.
  • The merciful sister. 1895/1897.
  • We wind your maiden wreath. 1895/1897.
  • A mysterious riddle. 1896.
  • The medicine man. 1896.
  • An English bet. 1897.
  • A silent victim. 1898.
  • The death ship. 1998.
  • Just a negress. 1899.
  • The cat farm. 1899.
  • The star of salvation. 1899.
  • Swimming lessons with the Imperial Navy. 1899.
  • The trauma pharmacy. 1899.
  • A perfectly healthy person. 1899.
  • A friendship service. 1899.
  • Busa. 1899.
  • In the "White Horse". 1900.
  • An adventure in the German colonies. 1900.
  • The sea serpent. 1901.
  • The luck of Colonrock or The Seal and the Clever Woman. 1901.
  • DD 1901.
  • In the colony. 1902.
  • Deceived twice. 1902.
  • Atalanta. 1902.
  • Three bright windows. 1904.
  • The sea ghost. 1910.
  • Hokapoka duplikata. 1911.
  • The lady with no memory. 1911.
  • Diana with the golden rain. 1912.
  • Miss Seutbeer's ghost. 1912.
  • The captain of Batavia. 1912.
  • The ghost hand of Black Castle. 1912.
  • On the navigating bridge. 1912.
  • Our wedding night. 1913.
  • The Sultan of Berlin. 1913.
  • The roast chicken and onions. 1913.
  • The Swedish sailor. 1914.
  • Japanese sailors (1914). 1914.
  • In Valhalla. 1914.
  • A strange shot. 1914.
  • The war cat. 1914.
  • Santa Claus. 1914.
  • How I drove as a ship's cook. 1912/1915.

Collections and editions of works

  • The roulette. Novellas. 1904.
  • The eyes of the sphinx. Collected short stories and novels. 1908. Selected edition of 3 volumes: Bamberg 1996, Edition Ustad by Karl-May-Verlag.
    • Nocturnal foreboding
    • Around the world in an armored car
    • The Garden Hall Riddles
    • The game shooters from Kilimanjaro
    • The master of the skies
    • The Song of Songs of Love
    • The nihilite expedition
    • Novacasa's adventure
  • Collected short stories and novels. 1909/1910.
    • The Count of Saint-Germain
    • If i were king
    • The happiness of Robin Hood
    • The labors of Hercules
    • Around the world in an airplane.
  • Robert Kraft - collected novels and short stories. Edition Braatz & Mayrhofer, 2001 ff.
    • Volume 0: Special Edition From the Realm of Fantasy
    • Volume 1: The Key to Paradise
    • Volume 2: The Templars of the Rings Volume 1
    • Volume 3: The Templars of the Rings Volume 2
    • Volume 4: The idol snake u. a. Contains:
      • Robert Kraft, the author of our new novel “Die Abgottschlange”, writes to us about his life
      • The idol snake
      • Just a negress
      • The death ship
      • An adventure in the German colonies
      • In the colony
      • A silent victim
      • Moroccan jugglers
    • Volume 5: Unequal natures a. a. Contains:
      • Unequal natures
      • Good Morning
      • Much love
      • Our wedding night
    • Volume 6: Around the world in a zeppelin
    • Volume 7: The Nibelungs Volume 1
    • Volume 8: The Nibelungs Volume 2
    • Volume 9: Sun Children
    • Volume 10: Schiffsnovellen Volume 1. Contains: Schnelldampfer Mikrokosmos
    • Volume 11: Schiffsnovellen Volume 2. Contains:
      • The star of salvation
      • How I drove as a ship's cook
      • Three months among Japanese sailors
      • The Swedish sailor
      • Japanese sailors (1895)
      • Japanese sailors (1914)
      • The death ship
      • On the navigating bridge
      • Swimming lessons with the Imperial Navy
      • Five weeks in the Salvation Army
      • The sea serpent
      • The luck of Colonrock or The Seal and the Clever Woman
      • Yokes of the good-for-nothing or sailor's love on water and on land
      • The sea ghost
      • A strange shot
    • Volume 12: From all parts of the world. With the stories:
      • Around the Earth
      • The fog ship
      • The floating island
      • Yermak the Cossack Captain and Der Waldteufel , librivox
      • The cat farm
      • The Sultan of Berlin
      • Santa Claus
      • The roast chicken and onions
      • Atalanta
      • The red athlete
      • The medicine man
      • The pearl fisherman on the island of Ceylon

radio

literature

Monographs
  • Thomas Braatz: Robert Kraft (1869-1916). Bibliography illustrated in color. Braatz and Mayrhofer, Leipzig a. a. 2006.
  • Walter Henle, Peter Richter: Under the eyes of the Sphinx. Robert Kraft's life and work between fiction and reality . Braatz & Mayrhofer, 2005.
  • Albert Klein: The Crisis of the Entertainment Fiction in the 19th Century. A contribution to the theory and history of aesthetically inferior literature (= treatises on art, music and literary studies 84). Bouvier, Bonn 1969.
items
  • Siegfried Augustin , Axel Mittelstaedt (ed.): From leather stockings to Winnetou. Authors and works of popular literature. Ronacher, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-923191-00-6 .
  • Manfred Backhausen: The former successful author Robert Kraft and today's reader. In: Magazine for adventure, travel and entertainment literature. 15th year, issue 60, fourth quarter 1988.
  • Charlotte Bühler: On the psychology of popular literature. Karl May, Robert Kraft, Friedrich Gerstäcker, Aleander Dumas . In: Karl May Yearbook 1919 . S. Schottlaender, Breslau 1918.
  • Walter Henle: Robert Kraft. An annotated bibliography. In: Das Phantasmaskop Nr.4. Munniksma publishing house, Giessen 1988.
  • Christoph F. Lorenz: The odyssey of Robert Kraft. A writer in the maze of colportage. In: (ders.): Art pieces. Critical hikes through the adventurous and fantastic literature of the 19th and 20th centuries (= German studies in the Blue Owl 17). Die Blaue Eule, Essen 1994, ISBN 3-89206-120-3 , pp. 115-136
  • Bernd Steinbrink: "My name is Kraft" . In: Communications from the Karl May Society No. 50 (1981).
Lexicons

Web links

Commons : Robert Kraft  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Robert Kraft  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Kraft in the Karl May Wiki
  2. ↑ Killys Literaturlexikon, Vol. 7, p. 12 f. Berlin 1993. J. Ganzbiller (ed.) Jochen the good-for-nothing. Inside: a short biography. P. 143 ff. Wilferdorf, undated
personal data
SURNAME Kraft, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kraft, Emil Robert (full name); Hagen, Count Leo von (pseudonym); Drake, Harry (pseudonym); Larsen, Knut (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1916
Place of death Haffkrug