Herbert Eulenberg
Encyclopedia
Herbert Eulenberg was a German
poet
and author
born in Cologne
-Mülheim, Germany
.
, which he wrote in 1909, generated heated debates. In 1911 he published Letter of a Father of our Times in the magazine PAN for which he was accused, tried and later acquitted of the charges of circulating obscene writing.
In the 1920s, he was one of the most performed playwrights on German stages. His essays on various subjects and topics on literature, theatre, music, and fine arts were published in numerous newspapers and magazines throughout Germany and Austria
. He was awarded prizes and honours for his literary work such as “Der Preis des Frauenbundes zur Ehrung rheinischer Dichter”, the ”Volks-Schiller-Preis”, the “Preis of the Peter Wilhelm Müller Trust”, or the ”Wiener Volksschillerpreis”.
In 1919 Eulenberg, together with painters Arthur Kaufmann
and Adolf Uzarski
, founded the modern union of artists, “Das Junge Rheinland” in Düsseldorf
. In 1923 he lectured in the United States
, where he was invited as the “first German after Einstein
” to speak at Columbia University
.
Eulenberg's "Ausgewählte Werke" (Selected Works) were published in 1925/26. In 1926, on the occasion of his 50th birthday, he was made honourable member of the “Rheinische Kunstakademie” in Düsseldorf. He was “sympathizer” of “Die Maler des Jungen Rheinlands”, the painters of the young Rhineland, and was in contact with personalities such as Hermann Hesse
, Thomas Mann
, Stefan Zweig
, Hanns Heinz Ewers
, Frank Wedekind
, Gerhart Hauptmann
, Lulu von Strauß und Torney, Felix Hollaender, Else Lasker-Schüler
, Erich Mühsam
, Peter Hille, John Henry Mackay
, Herwarth Walden
, Emil Ludwig
, Franz Werfel
, Wilhelm Schmidtbonn, and others.
, Eulenberg’s dramas were banned, his books were no longer printed or sold. Yet, he stood firm against the threats of party members, who continuously denounced the pacifist and humanist as a “red-haired Jew”. If it had not been for his great fame he would have ended up in a Nazi concentration camp.
During World War II
, he published short articles under his pseudonyms “Siebenkäs”, “Lynkeus” or “Der lächelnde Zuschauer” in “Der Mittag”, a Düsseldorf daily newspaper. At the same time he wrote a multitude of dramas, in which he sharply attacked and disputed the current political situation.
After 1945 he was permanent contributor to the magazines “Aufbau
” and “Die Weltbühne
”. He received further prizes: 1948 the “Heinrich-Heine Prize” of the "Heinrich-Heine-Gesellschaft" at Hamburg
for his biography of Heinrich Heine
. In the cultural alliance for the democratic renewal of Germany he committed himself to the rebuilding of a cultural program for the bombed Düsseldorf. In 1948 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bonn
and in 1949 posthumously the Nationalpreis der DDR. Eulenberg died in Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth
on September 4, 1949 of serious consequences after an accident.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
born in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
-Mülheim, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
1920s
Eulenberg was the publisher of many books, for which he wrote the introductions. His speech on SchillerFriedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, which he wrote in 1909, generated heated debates. In 1911 he published Letter of a Father of our Times in the magazine PAN for which he was accused, tried and later acquitted of the charges of circulating obscene writing.
In the 1920s, he was one of the most performed playwrights on German stages. His essays on various subjects and topics on literature, theatre, music, and fine arts were published in numerous newspapers and magazines throughout Germany and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He was awarded prizes and honours for his literary work such as “Der Preis des Frauenbundes zur Ehrung rheinischer Dichter”, the ”Volks-Schiller-Preis”, the “Preis of the Peter Wilhelm Müller Trust”, or the ”Wiener Volksschillerpreis”.
In 1919 Eulenberg, together with painters Arthur Kaufmann
Arthur Kaufmann (artist)
Arthur Kaufmann was an influential avante-garde German painter, who was a key figure in the Post-Expressionist and New Objectivity art movements....
and Adolf Uzarski
Adolf Uzarski
Adolf Uzarski was a German writer, artist, and illustrator associated with the New Objectivity movement.He was born in Ruhrort bei Duisburg and studied at the Cologne School of Architecture before enrolling in 1906 at the Düsseldorf School of Arts and Crafts...
, founded the modern union of artists, “Das Junge Rheinland” in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. In 1923 he lectured in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he was invited as the “first German after Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
” to speak at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Eulenberg's "Ausgewählte Werke" (Selected Works) were published in 1925/26. In 1926, on the occasion of his 50th birthday, he was made honourable member of the “Rheinische Kunstakademie” in Düsseldorf. He was “sympathizer” of “Die Maler des Jungen Rheinlands”, the painters of the young Rhineland, and was in contact with personalities such as Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
, Hanns Heinz Ewers
Hanns Heinz Ewers
Hanns Heinz Ewers was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilogy of novels about the adventures of Frank Braun, a character modeled on himself...
, Frank Wedekind
Frank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
, Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...
, Lulu von Strauß und Torney, Felix Hollaender, Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler was a Jewish German poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressionist movement. Lasker-Schüler fled Nazi Germany and lived out the rest of her life in Jerusalem.-Biography:Schüler was born in...
, Erich Mühsam
Erich Mühsam
Erich Mühsam was a German-Jewish anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic....
, Peter Hille, John Henry Mackay
John Henry Mackay
John Henry Mackay was an individualist anarchist, thinker and writer. Born in Scotland and raised in Germany, Mackay was the author of Die Anarchisten and Der Freiheitsucher . Mackay was published in the United States in his friend Benjamin Tucker's magazine, Liberty...
, Herwarth Walden
Herwarth Walden
Herwarth Walden was a German Expressionist artist and art expert in many disciplines...
, Emil Ludwig
Emil Ludwig
Emil Ludwig was a German author, known for his biographies.-Biography:Emil Ludwig was born in Breslau, now part of Poland. Ludwig studied law but chose writing as a career. At first he wrote plays and novella, but also worked as a journalist...
, Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
, Wilhelm Schmidtbonn, and others.
1930s and 1940s
During Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, Eulenberg’s dramas were banned, his books were no longer printed or sold. Yet, he stood firm against the threats of party members, who continuously denounced the pacifist and humanist as a “red-haired Jew”. If it had not been for his great fame he would have ended up in a Nazi concentration camp.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he published short articles under his pseudonyms “Siebenkäs”, “Lynkeus” or “Der lächelnde Zuschauer” in “Der Mittag”, a Düsseldorf daily newspaper. At the same time he wrote a multitude of dramas, in which he sharply attacked and disputed the current political situation.
After 1945 he was permanent contributor to the magazines “Aufbau
Aufbau
Aufbau is a journal for German-speaking Jews around the globe. It was founded in 1934 and is a member of Internationale Medienhilfe . Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Stefan Zweig wrote for the publication. Until 2004 it was published in New York...
” and “Die Weltbühne
Die Weltbühne
Die Weltbühne was a German weekly magazine focused on politics, art, and business. The Weltbühne was founded in Berlin on 7 September 1905 by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally created strictly as a theater magazine under the title Die Schaubühne. It was renamed Die Weltbühne on 4 April 1918...
”. He received further prizes: 1948 the “Heinrich-Heine Prize” of the "Heinrich-Heine-Gesellschaft" at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
for his biography of Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
. In the cultural alliance for the democratic renewal of Germany he committed himself to the rebuilding of a cultural program for the bombed Düsseldorf. In 1948 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
and in 1949 posthumously the Nationalpreis der DDR. Eulenberg died in Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth
Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth
Kaiserswerth is one of the oldest parts of the City of Düsseldorf. It is in the north of the city and next to the river Rhine. It houses the Deaconess's Institute of Kaiserswerth where Florence Nightingale studied....
on September 4, 1949 of serious consequences after an accident.
Awards and honours
- 1913 Volks-SchillerpreisVolks-SchillerpreisVolks-Schillerpreis is a literary prize of Germany....
and Preis der Peter Wilhelm Müller-Stiftung - 1919 Wiener Volkstheaterpreis
- 1946 He was given the freedom of the city of Düsseldorf
- 1948 Heinrich-Heine-Preis of the city of Hamburg
- 1949 Nationalpreis der DDR of the GDR
Literary works
- Anna Walewska. Eine Tragödie in 5 Akten Berlin (1899)
- Münchhausen. Ein deutsches Schauspiel Berlin (1900)
- Leidenschaft. Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen Leipzig (1901)
- Ein halber Held. Tragödie in fünf Aufzügen Leipzig (1903)
- Kassandra. Ein Drama Berlin (1903)
- Du darfst ehebrechen! Eine moralische Geschichte. Allen guten Ehemännern gewidmet Berlin (1909)
- Alles um Liebe. Eine Komödie Leipzig (1910)
- Deutsche Sonette Leipzig (1910)
- Schattenbilder. Eine Fibel für Kulturbedürftige in Deutschland Berlin (1910)
- Sonderbare Geschichten Leipzig (1910)
- Brief eines Vaters unserer Zeit In: PAN 1. Jg., Nr. 11, 1. (April 1911) S. 358 - 363
- Die Kunst in unserer Zeit. Eine Trauerrede an die deutsche Nation Leipzig (1911)
- Alles um Geld. Ein Stück Leipzig (1911)
- Katinka die Fliege. Ein zeitgenössischer Roman Leipzig (1911)
- Ikarus und Daedalus. Ein Oratorium Leipzig (1912)
- Neue Bilder (1912)
- Belinde. Ein Liebesstück in fünf Aufzügen Leipzig (1913)
- Der Frauentausch. Ein Spiel in fünf Aufzügen Leipzig (1914)
- Zeitwende. Ein Schauspiel in fünf Akten Leipzig (1914)
- Der Morgen nach Kunersdorf. Ein vaterländisches Stückchen Leipzig (1914)
- Letzte Bilder Berlin (1915)
- Das Ende der Marienburg. Ein Akt aus der Geschichte Stuttgart (1918)
- Der Bankrott Europas. Erzählungen aus unserer Zeit (1919)
- Mein Leben für die Bühne Berlin (1919)
- Anna Boleyn Berlin (1920)
- Der Übergang. Eine Tragödie München (1920)
- Das grüne Haus. Ein Schauspiel (1921)
- Der Mückentanz. Ein Spiel Stuttgart (1922)
- Liebesgeschichten Leipzig (1922)
- Mückentanz. Ein Spiel Stuttgart (1922)
- Wir Zugvögel. Roman Stuttgart (1923)
- Erscheinungen Stuttgart (1923)
- Die Familie Feuerbach. In Bildnissen Stuttgart (1924)
- Bühnenbilder Berlin (1924)
- Ausgewählte Werke in 5 Bänden. Bd. 1: Lyrische und dramatische Dichtungen Stuttgart (1925)
- Ausgewählte Werke in 5 Bänden. Bd. 2: Dramen aus der Jugendzeit ebd.
- Ausgewählte Werke in 5 Bänden. Bd. 3: Dramen aus dem Mannesalter ebd.
- Ausgewählte Werke in 5 Bänden. Bd. 4: Schattenbilder und Lichtbilder ebd
- Ausgewählte Werke in 5 Bänden. Bd. 5: Erzählende Werke ebd
- Mensch und Meteor Dresden (1925)
- Schattenbilder und Lichtbilder Stuttgart (1926)
- Ein rheinisches Dichterleben Bonn & Berlin (1927)
- Um den Rhein Berlin (1927)
- Glückliche Frauen Hellerau (1929)
- Die letzten Wittelsbacher Wien (1929)
- Die Windmühle Hamburg (1929)
- Das Marienbild in: Neue deutsche Erzähler Bd. 1 (Max Brod u.a.) Paul Franke, Berlin o. J. (1930)
- Das Buch vom Rheinland München (1931)
- Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung Berlin (1942)
- Nachsommer. Berlin (1942)
- Die Prä-Raphaeliten Düsseldorf (1946)
- Freundesworte in: Leo Statz: Der Sillbund Drei Eulen, Düsseldorf (1946) S. 11 - 20 (Nachruf auf den von den Nazis ermordeten Statz)
- Heinrich Heine Berlin (1947)
- Meister der Frühe Düsseldorf (1947)
- So war mein Leben Düsseldorf (1948)
- Europa. Ein Hirtenstück aus der griechischen Sagenwelt (zwischen 1940 und 1944) Düsseldorf (1949)
- Schattenbilder. 20 Musikerportraits Düsseldorf & Wien (1965)
Literature
- Johann Gottfried Hagens: Herbert Eulenberg. Berlin: Börngräber (1910). (= Der moderne Dichter; 4)
- Peter Hamecher: Herbert Eulenberg. Ein Orientierungsversuch. Leipzig: Rowohlt (1911).
- Oskar Maurus Fontana: Die Dramatiker des Rheinlandes. Herbert Eulenberg und Wilhelm Schmidtbonn. Augsburg: Filser (1921).
- Rudi vom Endt: Der Dichter Eulenberg, ganz menschlich gesehen. Wuppertal-Elberfeld: Putty (1946).
- Hedda Eulenberg: Im Doppelglück von Kunst und Leben. Düsseldorf: Die Faehre (1952).
- Otto Brües: Herbert Eulenberg. Ansprache zu seinem Gedächtnis an seinem 80. Geburtstag am 25. January 1956 in der Staatlichen Kunstakademie. Düsseldorf: Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der Staatl. Kunstakademie (1956).
- Helgard Bruhns: Herbert Eulenberg. Drama, Dramatik, Wirkung. Frankfurt am Main: Akad. Verl.-Ges. (1974). ISBN 3-7997-0239-3
- Michael Matzigkeit: Herbert Eulenberg - "Siebenkäs", eine Opposition im Verborgenen. In: Musik, Theater, Literatur und Film zur Zeit des Dritten Reiches. Düsseldorf (1987), S. 89-95.
- Michael Matzigkeit: Herbert Eulenberg - Der Prototyp des "rheinischen" Autors. In: Ders., Literatur im Aufbruch. Schriftsteller und Theater in Düsseldorf 1900 - 1933. Düsseldorf: Verl. d. Goethe-Buchh., (1990), S. 57 - 82; 214 - 221. ISBN 3-924331-23-5
- Frank Thissen: "Edle Arznei für den Alltag". Herbert Eulenbergs Düsseldorfer Morgenfeiern und die Romantikrezeption um 1990. Köln u.a.: Böhlau (1992). (= Böhlau forum litterarum; 16) ISBN 3-412-06691-5 (can be demanded as PDF [1] by the author.)
- Bernd Kortländer: Rheinischer Internationalismus am Beispiel Herbert Eulenbergs. In: Literarische Fundstücke, hrsg. v. Ariane Neuhaus-Koch u. Gertrude Cepl-Kaufmann. Heidelberg: Winter (2002). (= Beiträge zur neueren Literaturgeschichte; 188). S. 256-274. ISBN 3-8253-1303-4
- Joseph A. Kruse: Der Schriftsteller Herbert Eulenberg (1876-1949). Ein "Ehrenbürger der Welt" aus Kaiserswerth am Rhein. In: Geschichte im Westen. 18 (2003) S. 116-128.
- Sabine Brenner: "Heinrich Heine hat mich gebeten, in seinem Namen folgendes zu erklären". Der ’rheinische’ Dichter Herbert Eulenberg und sein literarisches Vorbild Heinrich Heine. In: "... und die Welt ist so lieblich verworren", hrsg. v. Bernd Kortländer. Bielefeld: Aisthesis (2004). ISBN 3-89528-465-3