Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc around 1904

Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc , born von Reiswitz and Kaderžin (born June 15, 1849 on Gut Kielbaschin near Rosenberg in Upper Silesia , † May 27, 1926 in Lugano ) was a German writer . She also wrote under the pseudonym Moritz von Reichenbach .

Life

Childhood and youth

She was born as the eldest daughter of Baron Berthold Alexander von Reiswitz and Kaderžin and Countess Bertha von Reichenbach on her father's father's estate, between Lowoschau and Wendrin , in Upper Silesia. "The estates of my father and grandfather were surrounded by the vast pine forests of Upper Silesia," she wrote around 1900. She grew up with her five siblings, learned Polish from her mother and began to write fairy tales at the age of six . She spent part of her childhood with her mother's parents in Würbitz, followed by a short trip to Berlin in 1860 , before the family moved to the neighboring Wendrin family estate after her grandfather's death in 1860.

In 1862 she was sent to a boarding school in Sagan and, after her confirmation in 1863, attended the Nestler Institute in Berlin, a boarding school for girls . After finishing school she returned to Wendrin. In Rosenberg she met Count Eugen Emmo Bethusy-Huc (1842–1926), a cousin of the landowner Eduard Georg von Bethusy-Huc . Both married on April 2, 1869 in Rosenberg and the next day they moved into the Deschowitz estate near Leschnitz , not far from the Annaberg . Son Albrecht was born in 1873, followed three years later by daughter Irma.

The path to becoming a writer

Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc on an engraving from around 1893

Shortly after the birth of her daughter, the fairy tale The Butterfly King appeared in print in 1876 , which Bethusy-Huc had already written as a child. Unbeknownst to her, a friend had sent it to the editorial office of the bazaar , who published it with illustrations. However, the pressure from the family and especially from her mother, who said that “a writer is dangerous for a woman because it distracts from domestic and economic duties”, initially made Bethusy-Huc refrain from writing and publishing. It was not until three years later that, in the absence of her husband, she turned to a fashion newspaper, the one under the pseudonym “M. von Reichenbach ”wrote the novella from her pen. Further stories appeared in magazines such as Über Land und Meer and Daheim in the following months . Her husband, who found out about her activities, made it a condition of his wife that her writing activities be kept secret. Besides him, only Bethusy-Huc's mother knew of her pseudonym.

From “M. von Reichenbach ”became the pseudonym“ Moritz von Reichenbach ” through the operation of the editor-in-chief of the magazine Über Land und Meer Hugo Rosenthal-Bonin (1840–1897), who thought Bethusy-Huc was a man. It was not until the magazine editors asked to be allowed to print a photo of the “author” that their identity was revealed in 1883. Even after that, Bethusy-Huc continued to publish under her pseudonym. It was not until the novel Hans the Pole was published in 1906 under her real name.

Bethusy-Huc's first novel The Eichhofs was published as early as 1881 . There followed numerous entertainment and romance novels as well as novels, which were mostly criticized by the critics as superficial, but the audience liked. Karl Schrattenthal wrote about the novel The Elderly Son , published in 1890 : “A writer with experience, and M. von Reichenbach is without a doubt, can write such stories twelve in a year. There is no talk of deepening. ”Bethusy-Huc was considered to be the author of“ Stencils ”and, looking back in 1906, self-critically stated that the success of her publications in the magazines Daheim and Über Land und Meer had given her courage:“ [E] s followed now a fairly long and colorful series of short stories and novels quickly - perhaps too quickly on top of each other. "

From the mid-1880s onwards she increasingly tried to escape the cliché of the romance novelist and integrated her own experiences and foreign material into her works or sought advice from experts. After meeting with women's rights activist Helene Lange in Berlin, the novel Women was written in 1894 , for which Bethusy-Huc was able to fall back on material made accessible by Lange. The poverty of the workers in Katowice , which she had experienced during a trip through Silesia, led her to the works The Lazinski (1888), with which she “probably created the first social novel in Upper Silesia based on agrarianism and industry “, And The beautiful Erwin (1899). A partially autobiographical novel by Bethusy- Hucs appeared under the title Ehre der Welaskys in the Berliner Tageblatt and was published in 1891 as a novel under the title Um die Ehre . Although she was still an entertaining writer , her works increasingly took up the tendencies of the contemporary novel , although Bethusy-Huc did not consistently transform her writer: more socially critical works could thus immediately follow the simplest romance novels in aristocratic circles.

She herself summarized her literary work around 1905 as follows:

“On the soil from which I came, among the people who surrounded me from my youth, all the novels and short stories that I count among my more mature works take place, and I would be delighted if I had an understanding of the inhabitants of the local area Little piece of 'Ostmark' could open up wider circles. "

- Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc 1904

Years in Wroclaw and Switzerland

Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc around 1905

Bethusy-Huc made numerous trips at the end of the 19th century, including to Italy . In 1890 she processed her experiences on the Italian Riviera in her novel The Devil's Paradise . The dune landscape of Borkum , which she got to know on a trip to the North Sea with her ailing daughter Irma, inspired Bethusy-Huc to write several novellas and the novel Glückskinder , which appeared in 1897. After Irma got married shortly before 1900 and moved to Berlin, Bethusy-Huc also visited Berlin regularly.

Her husband Eugen von Bethusy-Huc became General Landscape Representative for Upper Silesia in the Wroclaw State Parliament in 1901, so that the couple moved to Wroclaw in 1904 . The Deschkowitz estate was sold in 1906 and the family finally took up residence in Breslau.

Bethusy-Huc's apartment in Wroclaw soon became a meeting place for the literary and artistic society of Wroclaw. She held readings of her and other works here. Through contacts made in this way to editors and publishers, further novels such as Hans the Pole (1906) could appear. Eugen von Bethusy-Huc resigned from his political office in 1911. The family gave up the house in Breslau in 1912 and traveled to Lugano and the Riviera, among other places. For health reasons, they were both at the outbreak of World War I in Switzerland and were shortly afterwards in Zurich down. In 1916, Bethusy-Huc's last publication, From the fairy tale book of everyday life, appeared .

After the end of the First World War, the couple moved to Uznach , where Eugen von Bethusy-Huc died in January 1926. In the spring of 1926 Bethusy-Huc made a trip to Italy, on whose return she finally died on May 27, 1926 in the Clinica San Rocco in Lugano. She received a simple funeral; her grave has not been preserved.

At the time of her death, Bethusy-Huc was largely forgotten: "Outside of her Upper Silesian homeland, her death in 1926 was hardly noticed, let alone commemorated the writer for a long time."

Works

Novels

  • The Eichhofs. Novel. By M. von Reichenbach. Janke, Berlin 1881.
  • The castle lady of Dromnitz. Novel by Moritz von Reichenbach. 2 volumes. German publishing company, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1882.
  • The refugee's son. 2 volumes. Breslau (no publisher information) 1882.
  • Reszo. Novel. German publishing house, Stuttgart 1882.
  • By! Novel, 2 volumes. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1884.
  • In a roundabout way. Friedrich, Leipzig 1884.
  • The Lazinskys. Novel, 2 volumes. Janke, Berlin 1888. ( digitized volume 1 ), ( volume 2 )
  • His wife. Schneider, Asch / Leipzig 1889.
  • The devil's paradise. Reissner, Leipzig 1890.
  • The eldest son. German publishing company, Stuttgart 1890.
  • For the honor. 2 volumes. Reissner, Leipzig 1891.
  • The princess. 2 volumes. Reissner, Leipzig 1892.
  • Count W. 62. By Moritz von Reichenbach. Reissner Leipzig 1892.
  • The children of Klingström. 2 volumes. Reissner, Leipzig 1892. ( digitized volume 2 )
  • The king of Polish corners. Reissner, Leipzig 1893.
  • Under the mask. From Moritz von Reichenbach. Eckstein, Berlin 1893.
  • Women. 3 volumes. Reissner, Dresden 1894.
  • Old and young. From Moritz von Reichenbach. Reissner, Dresden 1895.
  • The widow's suitors. Hesse, Leipzig 1895. (Contained in the anthology family library of famous storytellers, volume 3.)
  • A rich girl. Reissner, Dresden / Leipzig 1896.
  • Lucky children. Book Friends Association, Schall & Grund, Berlin 1897. (2nd edition 1902)
  • Josefa. Novel by Moritz von Reichenbach. Hillger, Berlin / Eisenach / Leipzig 1898. ( digitized version )
  • Glückimwald. Böhm, Kattowitz 1899.
  • The beautiful Erwin. Novel by Moritz von Reichenbach. Reissner, Dresden 1899.
  • Maud. Story of a marriage. Schall, Berlin 1900.
  • A farmer boy's novel. Reclam, Leipzig 1902.
  • Wandering people. A Silesian aristocratic novel. Trewendt, Breslau / Berlin 1903.
  • For silent islands. Janke, Berlin 1903.
  • Roditz's ball night. Trewendt, Berlin 1904.
  • Hans the Pole. Schall, Berlin 1907.
  • Lucky children. Hillger, Berlin / Leipzig 1908.
  • The place in the sun. Vita, Berlin-Charlottenburg 1910.
  • From the chronicles of Silesian cities. Bohm. Katowice 1911.

Novellas and short stories

  • Two novels. ( Reszö; Sillery mousseux .) Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1883.
  • Coeur ladies. 2 novellas by Moritz von Reichenbach. German publishing company, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1885.
  • Evil ghosts. Humorous narrative. Pierson, Dresden / Leipzig 1885.
  • Eva in all kinds of shapes. Novellas by Moritz von Reichenbach. Reissner, Leipzig 1890.
  • Orphaned Hearts. Story for young girls. Flemmin, Glogau 1891. (Verlag Jugendhort, Berlin 1909)
  • Cupid in a wig. Rococo stories. Eckstein, Berlin 1894.
  • Monsieur Xaver. An old fashioned love story. Goldschmidt, Berlin 1895.
  • Madam; On the border; Carrot wash. 3 novellas. Hillger, Berlin / Eisenach / Leipzig 1896.
  • Atonement. A land and forest story. Reissner, Dresden / Leipzig 1897.
  • Between the dunes. Novella by Moritz von Reichenbach. Eckstein, Berlin 1897.
  • The slow train and other things. (Novellas) 1897.
  • Mrs. Eva; Luttka. 2 novellas by Moritz von Reichenbach. Eckstein, Berlin 1898.
  • Starry and other short stories. Pierson, Dresden 1898.
  • Upper Silesian village stories. Reclam Leipzig 1901.
  • Upper Silesian stories. Schall, Berlin 1900.
  • They loved each other; Prescribed with blood; Wilma. Novellas. Hillger, Berlin / Eisenach / Leipzig 1901.
  • Beyond everyday life. (Poems, under the pseudonym Max Graf Bethusy-Huc.) Winter, Heidelberg 1904.
  • The Czaroiskys. A story from Poland. Hesse, Leipzig 1909.
  • My Upper Silesia. Sketches and stories. Böhm, Kattowitz 1912.
  • From the fairy tale book of everyday life. Article, Association for the Dissemination of Good Writings, Zurich, No. 103.
  • 1914–1916: Memories (autobiographical sketches, published in the magazine Oberschlesien )

literature

  • Urszula Bonter: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc (1849–1926). In: Arno Herzig (Ed.): Schlesische Lebensbilder, Volume 8: Silesians from the 14th to the 20th century. Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 2004, pp. 202–210.
  • Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005.
  • Bethusy-Huc, Valeska . In: Franz Brümmer: Lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present . Volume 1. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1913, pp. 218-219.
  • Bethusy-Huc, Countess Valeska . In: Elisabeth Friedrichs: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries. A lexicon . Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-476-00456-2 , (Repertories on the history of German literature 9), p.
  • Emil Krzuk: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc . In: Home calendar of the Rosenberg district O.-S. 1933 . Rosenberg 1932, pp. 63-68

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Valeska Countess von Bethusy-Huc: My first literary attempt . In: Anny Wothe (Ed.): Selbsterlebtes. From the workshops of German poetry and art . Vangerow, Bremerhaven and Leipzig 1904, p. 39.
  2. ↑ Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Countess Valeska Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, p. 174.
  3. ↑ a b Emil Krzuk: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc . In: Home calendar of the Rosenberg district O.-S. 1933 . Rosenberg 1932, p. 65.
  4. ↑ Emil Krzuk: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc . In: Home calendar of the Rosenberg district O.-S. 1933 . Rosenberg 1932, p. 66.
  5. ↑ Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Countess Valeska Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, p. 175, FN. 5.
  6. ↑ Karl Schrattenthal in: Blätter für literary entertainment , 1890, p. 518.
  7. ↑ Countess V. von Bethus-Huc: Foreword . In: The Czaroiskys. A story from Poland . Leipzig [1909], no p.
  8. ↑ Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Countess Valeska Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, p. 189.
  9. ↑ Dr. Alois Maria Kosler: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc, née von Reiswitz . In: Schlesischer Heimatkalender 1959 , sheet 27.
  10. ↑ Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Countess Valeska Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, p. 190.
  11. ↑ Fritz Abshoff: Fine spirits . Volume 1. Oestergaard, Berlin 1905, p. 19.
  12. ↑ Emil Krzuk: Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc . In: Home calendar of the Rosenberg district O.-S. 1933 . Rosenberg 1932, p. 67.
  13. ↑ Urszula Bonter: The popular novel in the successor of E. Marlitt, Wilhelmine Heimburg, Countess Valeska Bethusy-Huc, Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, p. 177.
  14. ↑ No copy can be found
personal data
SURNAME Bethusy-Huc, Countess Valeska
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reichenbach, Moritz von (pseudonym); Bethusy-Huc, Valeska von; Reiswitz and Kaderžin, Valeska von (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Kielbashin near Olesno
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1926
Place of death Lugano