Victor Blüthgen

Victor Blüthgen, 1896

Plaque on Paul Matzdorf's house in Bad Freienwalde on the occasion of his 60th birthday

Monument to the poet in his hometown Zörbig

Victor Blüthgen (born January 4, 1844 in Zörbig , † April 2, 1920 in Berlin ) was a German poet and writer .

Life

The son of a postal chief was a student of Francke Foundations in Halle , where he studied from 1869 theology and attended the seminary in Wittenberg . At first he got by as a tutor; from 1876 he worked as a journalist, first at the Krefelder Zeitung , then at the gazebo and from 1880 at the German monthly published by Julius Lohmeyer . His poems and stories for children appeared in the magazine Die deutsche Jugend . He published novels, short stories, opera texts and was best known for his children's poetry. Among other things, he wrote texts for picture books by Oscar Pletsch and Fedor Flinzer . In 1898, Blüthgen married the writer Clara Kilburger . Blüthgen was buried in Bad Freienwalde (Oder) .

Works (selection)

Baths and summer retreat. Life and landscape pictures of the most popular health resorts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . Leipzig: Schloemp 1882
The Prussian . Narrative. Berlin: Goldschmidt 1889
The secret of fat Daniel and others. , Four stories for young people, Stuttgart: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft 1890 (stories are related to his hometown Zörbig )
The way to happiness , stories for the more mature youth, Stuttgart: Gebrüder Kröner
Spring of life , stories for the youth, Stuttgart: Gebrüder Kröner
A bachelor's thought process . Leipzig: Reclam 1897
An "honest broker" / Asra . two novellas. Leipzig: Reclam around 1900
From fermenting times . Novel. Leipzig: Reclam 1901
The spiritualists . Leipzig 1902
Confessions of an Ugly Man and Other Stories . Stuttgart: Engelhorn 1905
Im Kinderparadiese - Children's songs and rhymes , Gotha: Perthes 1905
Little Providence , Roman, Berlin: Perles 1909
Mom is coming!

Despite his varied prosaic work, only a few were printed and distributed after his death.

Poems

Blüthgen's lyrical work has been preserved in many work collections and children's books to this day. Reputable collections of poetry for children and teenagers rarely fail to list their important poems, such as:

The five chickens

I was once in the village,
there was a storm, then
five chickens quarreled
about an earthworm.

And when there was no more worm to be seen, they
all said: Beep!
The five chickens loved
each other again.

or

Oh, who could!

The fields are mowed,
The stubble wind is blowing.
High up in the air
My dragon now stands,
The ribs of wood,
The body of paper,
Two ears, a little tail
are all its ornaments.
And I think: lie on it like that
in the sunny beam,
oh, who could
only do that once!

Then I look at the stork
in the summer nest there:
Good morning, Mrs. Stork,
is the journey going on soon?
I look into the houses
on the chimney:
O father and mother,
how small are you.
Far below me I would see
river, hill and valley,
oh, who could do that,
only once!

And above, lifted up
on a dizzying path,
There I touch the clouds,
The sailing ones;
I let myself be visited
by swallows and crows
And could
see the larks, those singing;
I overheard the angels
in the heavenly hall;
Oh, who could do that,
only once!

literature

Victor Blüthgen. A memorial book for his 70th birthday . Published by his friends. Walther, Leipzig 1914.
Horst Kunze: treasurer of old children's books . The children's book publisher, Berlin 1981.
Hans Joachim Nauschütz : Victor Blüthgen (1844–1920) and Freienwalde . With side glances at other stages in life. Kleist Memorial and Research Center, Frankfurt (Oder) 1999, ISBN 3-9805717-8-5 .
Heimatverein 1923 Zörbig eV: Oh, who could! Stories and poems. 1995.

Web links

Wikisource: Victor Blüthgen - Sources and full texts

Commons : Victor Blüthgen - Collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Blüthgen, Victor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German poet and writer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 4, 1844
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zörbig
DATE OF DEATH	April 2, 1920
Place of death	Berlin