Wallenstein. His life is told by Golo Mann
Wallenstein. His life told by Golo Mann is a biography of Wallenstein from 1971. The author is the historian Golo Mann .
The biography has a special position within German historiography in several respects . On the one hand, Golo Mann is the only historian to have received the prestigious German literary prize, the Büchner Prize . On the other treated man with Wallenstein a historical person who is one of the most famous German playwright , Friedrich Schiller , for his ambitious play, the drama trilogy Wallenstein has chosen.
This special position also comes in the unusual title Wallenstein. His life told by Golo Mann to express. Because this emphasizes that it is not so much a presentation of research results, but a storytelling. On the other hand, this biography also has a special position in Golo Mann's work, insofar as Mann, who otherwise emerged more through overviews of epochs and as an editor, presents a monograph here, making extensive use of the sources. The title of the work, not the content, shows that literary aspects still play a major role. Here one is explicitly reminded of Doctor Faustus , the late novel by his famous father Thomas . Thomas Mann's novel, written between 1943 and 1947, is indeed strikingly similar in title: Doctor Faustus. The life of the German composer Adrian Leverkühn, told by a friend .
In his biography of Wallenstein, Golo Mann works out that the conflict that ultimately led to the general's assassination was already in place when he was appointed in 1624, since neither Emperor Ferdinand nor Wallenstein were able to pay the troops themselves and the emperor's most important ally, Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria , who had demanded the formation of troops, immediately after his appointment became Wallenstein's opponent, because he raised such a large army that he had to become the chief commander of the Catholic war party.
In his assessment of Wallenstein's will for peace, Mann differs from the position previously represented in German history. He thinks that Wallenstein was striving for peace for his own sake, simply because of his mood, which urged relaxation due to constant physical illnesses. On the other hand, the accusations of the time that Wallenstein wanted to become viceroy of Bohemia are completely unfounded. At the same time, he kept his distance from the portrayal of Hellmut Diwald , which appeared two years before his own portrayal and saw Wallenstein in a very positive light.
In addition to the book, Golo Mann published an illustrated book on the life of Wallenstein in 1973 together with the photographer Ruedi Bliggenstorfer.
In 1978 a four-part TV series of the same name was created under the direction of Franz Peter Wirth after Leopold Ahlsen had adapted the material for ZDF . Rolf Boysen played the title role. According to his own words, Golo Mann was very satisfied with this film version of his book.
Bibliographical information
Golo Mann: Wallenstein. His life is told by Golo Mann . Fischer, Frankfurt / Main 1971. ISBN 3-10-047903-3 (hardback) and ISBN 3-596-13654-7 (paperback).
literature
Hans-Christof Kraus: Golo Mann's “Wallenstein” in the context of his life's work and his time , in: Joachim Bahlcke / Christoph Kampmann (eds.): Wallensteinbilder im Widerstreit. A historical symbol figure in historiography and literature from the 17th to the 20th century, Cologne - Weimar - Vienna 2011, pp. 349–390.
Web links
Editions of Wallenstein by Golo Mann in LibraryThing
Footnotes
- ↑ “If the conditions he occasionally formulated sounded grim, it was an illusion of the moment or a verbal adaptation to what was being said in Vienna or Prague. It was not in the logic of his thinking, but he may have only gradually become aware of it. "(G. Mann, p. 586)
- ↑ Hellmut Diwald : Wallenstein. A biography . Ullstein TB-Verlag, Berlin 1987 [first 1969], ISBN 3-548-27550-8 .
- ↑ “A historian should know everything essential that has been printed before him. He may and must remain independent of the same. "(G. Mann, p. 1158)