Thurgau Bodman Foundation
The Thurgauische Bodman Foundation operates a literature house in Gottlieben and a memorial for the poet and writer Emanuel von Bodman ( 1874 - 1946 ).
Emanuel of Bodman
The foundation supports a memorial for the writer Emanuel von Bodman. At the beginning of the 20th century he chose the Lake Constance region to pursue his work as a poet and writer. He was recognized by Hermann Hesse , Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan Zweig , with whom he was in correspondence. After completing his studies, he returned to the Lake Constance region and Switzerland became his adopted home. Bodman initially lived across from Gottlieben Castle on Tägerwiler municipality. After marrying his third wife, Clara Herzog, he moved into the house on Gottlieben's village square, where they both lived until their deaths. Today the Thurgauische Bodman Foundation is located there. It is based on the last will of Emanuel von Bodman, whereby the foundation has to orientate itself on the spirit of the donation of February 21, 1961 by Baroness Clara.
Establishment of the Thurgau Bodman Foundation
Baron Emanuel von Bodman comes from what is probably the oldest dynasty of counts in Germany, whose roots lie in Überlingen , where the Bodman Family Foundation manages its family properties. The title of nobility baron comes from his father, who inherited the title from his long-established family. A castle has always been owned by the family. In his will, Emanuel von Bodman decreed that the house on the village square would pass into the family property in Überlingen after the death of his wife, on condition that she dedicate a memorial to him in return. With the good will to comply with Emanuel von Bodman's last wish, the family accepted the gift, but they lacked the means to build a memorial.
The house on Gottlieber Dorfplatz fell into disrepair over time, trees smashed windows and sprawled through ceilings and floors until Robert Holzach took on the problem. Since he grew up in Kreuzlingen, he knew the area and the house and had also met the writer. He met Robert Fürer, with whom he traveled to Überlingen, where they suggested to Wilderich Graf von und zu Bodman that they leave the house to them in order to erect a memorial for Emanuel von Bodman. He left the house to them, which was then worth 50,000 francs. Together with the equally high start-up capital of Robert Holzach, the Thurgauische Bodman Foundation was founded on July 3, 1996. Three years later, the foundation, which had now painstakingly and carefully renovated the house, approached the cultural foundation of the canton of Thurgau with the request to develop a program for the use of the house and to bear its costs for a trial period of three years. Jochen Kelter , the board member responsible for literature at the time , started the experiment, and in April 2000 the Thurgau House of Literature was opened.
The essence of the Thurgau Bodman Foundation
The Literature House consists of five main parts: the authors who hold readings, the scholarship holders who are lodged in the Bodman House, the exhibitions with topics on literature, the bookbinding as a place of craftsmanship (as a contrast to the place of thought and intellectual creation ) and the Bodman selection of works published since 2000.
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 39 '49.63 " N , 9 ° 8' 4.09" E ; CH1903: 727 375 / 280615