Fairground (novel)

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Fairground is the title of an unfinished novel by Werner Bräunig . It describes the years of development of the GDR between autumn 1949 and summer 1953. The main scene is the (fictional) Erzgebirge village of Bermsthal, in which a mining company of SAG Wismut is located. Uranium was mined here for the Soviet nuclear industry. The bismuth was regarded as a "state within a state" and as a melting pot of post-war conflicts. In 1950 around 200,000 people worked here. Good earning opportunities attracted disaffected war returnees and soldiers of fortune, socialist idealists and the uprooted. In Bräunig's novel, bismuth becomes a metaphor for the situation in the newly founded republic: for the great will to build and enthusiasm as well as for emerging undesirable developments. The novel ends with the uprising of June 17, 1953.

Zwickau, "Martin Hoop" colliery, miner, work break, 1957

Bräunig, who was one of the protagonists of the “ Bitterfelder Weg ” and a member of the SED , described the events with unadorned realism and in powerful, clear language. His own experiences as a worker at bismuth form the material background of the novel. In the context of the 11th plenary session in 1965 , Rummelplatz came under criticism from the GDR state and party leadership. Publication was therefore ruled out. The book was only published by the Aufbau-Verlag in Berlin in 2007 and was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the same year .

Emergence

In 1959, Bräunig began working on the novel project, which was planned as a two-volume project and initially had the working title The Iron Curtain . He wanted to shape the period from 1949 (the founding year of the GDR) to 1959 in the GDR with a few sideways glimpses of developments in the Federal Republic. Originally he intended to write a "miners novel", but this concept quickly proved to be too narrow. His compositional intention was aimed at "a amalgamation of educational and social novels", at the center of which the then 30-year-olds in East and West should be. 700 manuscript pages had been produced by 1965. The author and his project were in the focus of general interest: Due to his proletarian origins, he seemed particularly suitable to prove the correctness of the slogan he announced at the Bitterfeld conference, "Grab your pen, buddy".

There was a preprint of the 4th chapter of the novel in issue 10 (1965) of the ndl (new German literature) as well as excerpts in Neues Deutschland and in Sonntag . A censored publication of 170 manuscript pages was later printed in the anthology Ein Kranich am Himmel , published in 1981 by Mitteldeutscher Verlag . The reason for the censorship was that the content of the novel and its “reality-saturated prose” ( Christa Wolf in the preface to Rummelplatz ) contradicted the official ideas of the literary structure of the socialist structure and the intended book was therefore not allowed to appear in the GDR, albeit one officially pronounced ban cannot be proven. The dynamic that ultimately led to non-publication can be explained primarily by the tightening of the previously relatively moderate cultural-political course in the course of the 11th plenary session in 1965 .

Even before the plenum, on November 25, 1965, the preprint of the chapter of the novel in the ndl was discussed at a meeting of officials with writers. Christa Wolf and Anna Seghers took part in the meeting. Walter Ulbricht attacked Bräunig's novel directly: "Whom should that benefit? Do we need it to educate today's youth?" As Christa Wolf remembers in retrospect, the background to this attack was anti-socialist moods among the youth, for which the artists were held responsible in order to distract attention from economic and political problems. Christa Wolf defended Bräunig against Ulbricht's criticism, as did Anna Seghers, who described "pushing aside a thing that we do not like in its reflection" as "a defensive stance".

The Ministry of State Security had also become aware of Bräunig's novel through the print. The head of the property management in Wismut wrote to the State Security in Karl-Marx-Stadt, “to work to prevent the responsible authorities from publishing this book”.

On November 30th, at the request of Kurt Hager , Erich Honecker and Paul Fröhlich , the SED Politburo passed a resolution which said, among other things: “In 'New Germany', the public discussion of Biermann's poems ... has to begin . In addition, the discussion about the play by Bräunig (fairground) published in the magazine “Neue Deutsche Literatur” is to be conducted in “New Germany”. It must be organized that workers who have witnessed the build-up of the bismuth write about it. "

The only existing copy of the novel was requested by the Honecker working group at the beginning of December to prepare the plenary session from Mitteldeutscher Verlag. Dr. Hans Baumgart from the Department of Culture at the Central Committee of the SED was supposed to make a statement on this, which, apart from a few critical comments, was overall quite positive.

On December 7, 1965, an “Open Letter from the Bismuth Kumpel” against Bräunig's novel was published in Neues Deutschland (ND). This form of staged public was not unusual in the GDR; As a rule, such expressions of opinion were based on party mandates. Klaus Höpcke, the culture editor of the ND, had discussed the fairground chapter with four members of the Wismut - all SED comrades - and then formulated the “open letter”. This letter was flanked by a letter from a doctor who accused Bräunig of "defaming the working class" and "details bordering on pornographic" and expressed concerns about the publication of the novel. The author defended himself with an open letter: "What I'm trying to do is not a novel about the bismuth, but a development novel that wants to follow the lives of four young people from 1949 to the present (...)." He referred on the fact that he was by no means only processing his subjective memories, but carried out a thorough study of sources and conducted interviews with hundreds of people. The editorial staff of the ND described Bräunig's statement as "not satisfactorily clear in every respect". The campaign against Bräunig was on.

On December 13th, the RIAS responded to the polemics conducted in the ND with a short comment and sent an excerpt from the manuscript.

On December 14th, an article by Alexander Abusch appeared in the ND, in which he accused the literary magazine Neue Deutsche Literatur, in which the pre-print of the fairground article had appeared, of "making concessions to (...) the wrong tendencies." The name Bräunig did not come up, although after the preliminary run it had to be clear to everyone who was meant.

Erich Honecker was Security Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED at that time. He strove to change course in relation to Walter Ulbricht's relatively moderate cultural policy. Honecker was commissioned by the Politburo to "determine in the run-up to the 11th plenary session which trials against youth gangs should be reported in the press." With that, Honecker had the strings in hand to steer the media coverage in his desired direction.

It was also he who was largely responsible for the sharp tone with which the artists were reprimanded at the 11th plenum. The plenary took place from December 16-18. Under the heading "A clean state with immovable standards" began the reckoning, especially "against the influences of capitalist culture and immorality" in art. It was directed against films like The Rabbit I am by Kurt Maetzig , against artists like Wolf Biermann - and again against Werner Bräunig. The "Rummelplatz" chapter was also printed in a reading folder that the delegates received in advance.

At the plenary it was only Christa Wolf who spontaneously spoke up and tried to fend off the blanket defamation of the criticized artists, including Bräunig. "Literature without criticism is inconceivable." Christa Wolf pleaded for "the free relationship to material" as a great asset that has been acquired in recent years. She was attacked by constant heckling and her partisanship ultimately remained ineffective.

Bräunig found the campaign staged in the ND in particular unworthy and unsettled. He was sent from one tribunal-like “conversation with the working people” to the next, but he defended the novel and did not submit to the usual ritual of public self-criticism. Nevertheless, he was ready to discuss revisions with the Mitteldeutscher Verlag. The editors spent a lot of time trying to produce a printable manuscript from the fragments. In February the publishing house management asked for a meeting with representatives of the culture department of the Central Committee of the SED in order to make sure. In the conversation it was unanimously agreed that the novel had to be fundamentally revised - according to the guidelines of the criticism expressed at the plenary. This sealed the fate of the book: it was clear that it would not appear in the foreseeable future. The project has been postponed indefinitely. After 1965, official justifications only stated that the novel lacked artistic quality and that publication was therefore not feasible. In 1966 Bräunig broke off work on the novel, but carefully kept the manuscript. On November 15, 1967, the publishing contract was terminated.

Bräunig never recovered from this conflict with the party and state leadership. After that, he no longer turned to the great literary form of the novel . In 1967 he got a party case because of an affair, in which he was accused of "non-party behavior". Bräunig gave up his employment at the literary institute "Johannes R. Becher" and took refuge more and more in alcohol.

In 1974, on the occasion of his 40th birthday, an interview with Bräunig appeared in the magazine Weimarer Posts . When asked whether he actually had not written to "Rummelplatz" after the 11th plenum, he replied: "You are not mistaken, I actually did not get past it, and I also did not work on it any more." When asked whether this was the result of the campaign against him, Bräunig said: “No, it is definitely not. The discussions were heated, but always friendly. I did not become a victim of the 11th plenum, as press people and literary historians in the FRG freely claim again and again, nor was porcelain smashed in any way. (...) In the last few years when I was not feeling well, I have received help from the district leadership of the party, the writers' association and the publishing house and I would like to justify the trust that has been shown to me by soon submit a new book. "

In 1976 Werner Bräunig died of the consequences of his alcoholism.

Bräunig left two versions of the novel as well as sketchy scenes and notes. As his sons were not of legal age at the time of his death, the estate was stored in the Halle-Neustadt city archive. At the end of 1991 it was given to the sons, but without the original manuscript from Rummelplatz . This was considered lost and only reappeared in 1991 in the exhibition "Censorship in the GDR" at the Literaturhaus Berlin. It turned out to have been found in the archive of the Mitteldeutscher Verlag. Bräunig's heirs left it to the Aufbau-Verlag in 2005 ; there the novel was published in 2007 by Angela Drescher, who also gave the book an essay on the author and work. The edition is accompanied by a foreword by Christa Wolf.

Rummelplatz was nominated for the 2007 Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the fiction category (category: fiction ). In the numerous reviews, the novel is rated as an important work in German post-war literature. Franziska Augstein wrote: "The manuscript peeled out of different versions contains small inconsistencies. It would certainly have looked a little different if Bräunig had finished it himself. That doesn't matter." Rummelplatz "is a great German post-war novel. If Bräunig had continued to work, he would have been Arrived next to Günter Grass, Martin Walser and Heinrich Böll. "

Audio book

Rummelplatz will be published as a new audio book by Der Audio Verlag in 2015 , read by Jörg Gudzuhn .

“No better one,” said reviewer Peter Lückemeier, about the 2007 edition, the publisher was able to find for reading this book. Jörg Gudzuhn makes it an "acoustic event too". But as "grandiose" the reading is, the best thing is always the language of Werner Bräunig himself. "

- (from FAZ of October 10, 2007)

Theater adaptation

price

The novel won the main prize in the Kammweg literary competition in 2009.

Edition dates

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simone Barck, Martina Langermann, Siegfried Lokatis: Every book is an adventure. The censorship system and literary publics in the GDR until the end of the sixties . De Gruyter 1998, ISBN 3-050031182 , p. 320
  2. ^ Werner Bräunig: Notes . In: Findings and Confessions . Halle (Saale) 1964, p. 48
  3. ↑ Clear- cutting. The 11th plenum of the Central Committee of the SED in 1965. Studies and documents . Edited by Günter Agde. Structure of Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH 1991, p. 136
  4. ↑ Clear- cutting. The 11th plenum of the Central Committee of the SED in 1965. Studies and documents . Edited by Günter Agde. Structure of Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH 1991, p. 265
  5. ↑ Clear- cutting. The 11th plenum of the Central Committee of the SED in 1965. Studies and documents . Edited by Günter Agde. Structure of Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH 1991, p. 138
  6. ↑ quoted from: Angela Drescher: "But dreams have names". The Werner Bräunig case . In: Werner Bräunig: Fairground . Novel. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-03210-4 , p. 665
  7. ↑ quoted from: Hans-Peter Bartels: What remains when a worker dies. , accessed September 19, 2016
  8. ↑ Simone Barck, Martina Langermann, Siegfried Lokatis: Every book is an adventure. The censorship system and literary publics in the GDR until the end of the sixties . De Gruyter 1998, ISBN 3-050031182 , p. 322
  9. ↑ Angela Drescher: "But dreams have names". The Werner Bräunig case. In: Werner Bräunig: Fairground . Novel. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-03210-4 , p. 649
  10. ↑ quoted from: Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 365
  11. ^ Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 366
  12. ↑ Simone Barck, Martina Langermann, Siegfried Lokatis: Every book is an adventure. The censorship system and literary publics in the GDR until the end of the sixties . De Gruyter 1998, ISBN 3-050031182 , p. 327
  13. ↑ quoted from: Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 191
  14. ^ Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 277
  15. ^ Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 278
  16. ↑ Angela Drescher: "But dreams have names". The Werner Bräunig case. In: Werner Bräunig: Fairground . Novel. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-03210-4 , p. 663
  17. ↑ Simone Barck, Martina Langermann, Siegfried Lokatis: Every book is an adventure. The censorship system and literary publics in the GDR until the end of the sixties . De Gruyter 1998, ISBN 3-050031182 , p. 331
  18. ↑ Angela Drescher: "But dreams have names". The Werner Bräunig case. In: Werner Bräunig: Fairground . Novel. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-03210-4 , p. 664
  19. ↑ Angela Drescher: "But dreams have names". The Werner Bräunig case. In: Werner Bräunig: Fairground . Novel. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-03210-4 , p. 666
  20. ↑ quoted from: Gunnar Decker: 1965. The short summer of the GDR. Vol. 1598, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2015. ISBN 978-3-8389-0598-3 , p. 370
  21. ↑ Franziska Augstein: The miner digs for treason . Süddeutsche Zeitung from March 20, 2007
  22. ^ Rummelplatz on Der Audio Verlag
  23. ^ Quote from a review in the FAZ on October 10, 2007

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