Semmy Steinberg

Semmy Steinberg (born July 13, 1845 in Mackensen , † October 26, 1933 in Hamburg ) was a German writer .

Live and act

Semmy Steinberg was the son of a soap maker. The Jewish family had lived in this area for a long time and had extensive ancestors. Steinberg attended a commercial school in Hanover . In 1856/66 he wrote novellas for the first time. In 1870 he reported to the Infantry Regiment "Hamburg" (2nd Hanseatic) No. 76 and fought during the Franco-German War . He was wounded in fighting on December 10, 1870.

After leaving the infantry regiment, Steinberg moved to Hamburg. In 1872 he opened a button factory and shop. From 1880 onwards he wrote numerous novels, short stories, plays and popular factual reports within a short period of time. He almost exclusively addressed his time as a soldier and events during the Franco-German War. Since he often emphasized military virtues and revered the empire, his activity as a writer could have been favored by the emerging national euphoria for the German Reich. He achieved particular fame with the book From the Great Times , which appeared in 1881. It was a patriotic tale about his former infantry regiment that was printed in three editions.

In July 1883 Steinberg took part in the organization of the First General German Warrior Festival , which took place in Hamburg and was intended to commemorate the period of 1870/71. As a founding member of the “Comradeship Association of the 76ers”, in 1891 he led its regimental celebration. Kaiser Wilhelm II personally thanked Steinberg for his commitment to the war veterans and his numerous works. The writer received several orders, medals and was repeatedly made an honorary member of various organizations. Allegedly he himself suggested the award of the Hanseatic Cross by the senates of several Hanseatic cities in 1915 . Presumably he also took part in the planning for the war memorial on Dammtorplatz .

In 1919 Steinberg took over the editing of the journal of the patriotic union of Jewish front soldiers, local group Hamburg . It was the first time that he publicly stood up for Jewish believers. The magazine was launched to counter the growing anti-Semitism. Steinberg explicitly opposed these tendencies in individual articles, including on the occasion of his 80th and 85th birthday.

Until 1933, Steinberg was repeatedly written enthusiastically. The articles portrayed him as a prominent war veteran and successful writer of national thought. Since the books were strongly related to contemporary topics and were written in a less sophisticated way, Steinberg is hardly known as a writer today and his works can only rarely be found in libraries.

literature

• Ortwin Pelc : Steinberg, Semmy . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 5 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8353-0640-0 , p. 358 .