Hermann Lenz
Encyclopedia
Hermann Karl Lenz[p] (26 February 1913 in Stuttgart
– 12 May 1998 in Munich) was a German writer of poetry, fiction stories, and novels. A major part of his work includes 10 volumes in a semi-autobiographical novel cycle about the alter-ego figure "Eugen Rapp"[p]. In the 1970s he published the 7-volume Schwäbische Chronik ("Swabia
n Chronicle").
Lenz had been a German POW
in U.S. custody during World War II. He received over 15 literary awards. Archives of his writings include some letters exchanged with his fellow writers Paul Celan
and Peter Handke
and others (see below: "Correspondence").
and then in Stuttgart
. After graduation and failed theology
studies in Tübingen
, he began, in 1933, to study Art history
, philosophy
, Archaeology
and Germanic studies in Heidelberg
and to study from 1937 in Munich. After early dramatic reading impressions (Mörike, Stifter
, Schnitzler
, Hofmannsthal
and others), Lenz first wrote poems and prose pieces. He first appeared in 1936, mediated by Georg von der Vring, with the poetry collection Gedichte, his first publication, which was followed before the war, with the repeatedly revised narrative Das stille Haus ("The Silent House").
From 1940, Lenz was a soldier in France
and Russia
, and in 1946 prisoner of war
in the United States. Those experiences, that made the student and soldier, influenced his entire literary output. From the beginning of understanding in opposition to Nazism
, Lenz moved to inner worlds - the Biedermeier
or the Vienna
Fin de siècle
- back to the scene of many narrative texts and to reflections which were the object of countless character monologues. After returning from captivity, Lenz was dedicated, except for secretary work in cultural institutions, just to write. In 1946 he married the art historian Hanne Trautwein, whom he had met in 1937. By 1975, both lived in Stuttgart, at Lenz' home, but inheritance disputes forced a move to Munich, home of his wife.
In the midpoint of his work is a - depending on the counting - 10-volume autobiographical novel cycle about the alter-ego figure "Eugen Rapp"[p], which began with Verlassene Zimmer [The Abandoned Room] (1966) and concluded with Freunde [Friends] (1997). Almost without parallel in the German publications of 1945, this novel explores autobiographical events, and both cuts and captures the political history of Germany in the 20th century. Just as notable are the novels Andere Tage [Other Days] (1968) and Neue Zeit [New Age] (1975), of the daily confrontation with the Third Reich. Lenz comes from an autobiographical concept ("Write as you are," is one of the central maxims). It strives to accurately depict life in the details of a metaphysical background to indicate "flow into each other past and present". In books like Lady and Executioner (1973) and Der Wanderer (1986) Lenz succeeded, again and again, with the autobiographical and merge of the transcendental component of his writing. As the most prominent stylistic device he uses here the form of "internal dialogue", which makes the character perspective transparent and transferred to the reflections of the outside world directly into sensations. In addition to his novels, and Rapp occasionally published poetry
submitted by Lenz, a large number of novels and short stories. These delve, like Die Begegnung [The Encounter] (1979) and Memory of Edward (1981), into the 19th century world, or they design, as in the 1980 completed trilogy Der Innere Bezirk [The Inner District], conscious alternative plans for their own biography
. Lenz occasionally followed narrative traditions, especially with The Double Face (1949) or Spiegelhütte ("Mirror Cabins") (1962), building on forms of magic realism
.
Lenz has been for many years little attention until then but stopped recognition and fame. Peter Handke
helped him break through in 1973. Lenz published during 1936-1997 more than 30 books. "Ich bin eben ein schwäbischer Dickschädel" ("I'm just a Swabia
n mule-head"), said Hermann Lenz on his 85th birthday, 26 February 1998, shortly before his death in May of that year.
Hermann Lenz had a reading in October 1951 before the Gruppe 47, at the Laufenmühle, a place near Ulm, from an earlier version of the novel Nachmittag einer Dame ("Afternoon of a Lady"), the first part of Der innere Bezirk ("The Inner District"). His detached attitude to the group coincides with Paul Celan
, who had read a year later in Niendorf. The experience went into the novel Ein Fremdling ("A Stranger").
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
– 12 May 1998 in Munich) was a German writer of poetry, fiction stories, and novels. A major part of his work includes 10 volumes in a semi-autobiographical novel cycle about the alter-ego figure "Eugen Rapp"[p]. In the 1970s he published the 7-volume Schwäbische Chronik ("Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
n Chronicle").
Lenz had been a German POW
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in U.S. custody during World War II. He received over 15 literary awards. Archives of his writings include some letters exchanged with his fellow writers Paul Celan
Paul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
and Peter Handke
Peter Handke
Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
and others (see below: "Correspondence").
Life
Lenz, son of art teacher Hermann Friedrich Lenz and his wife Elise, grew up until his eleventh year in KünzelsauKünzelsau
Künzelsau[p] is a town in Baden-Württemberg, in south central Germany. It is the capital of the Hohenlohe district. It is located on the river Kocher, 19 km north of Schwäbisch Hall, and 37 km northeast of Heilbronn....
and then in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. After graduation and failed theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
studies in Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, he began, in 1933, to study Art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and Germanic studies in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and to study from 1937 in Munich. After early dramatic reading impressions (Mörike, Stifter
Adalbert Stifter
Adalbert Stifter was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was especially notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing, and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while almost entirely unknown to English readers.-Life:Born in Oberplan in Bohemia , he...
, Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler
Dr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
, Hofmannsthal
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
and others), Lenz first wrote poems and prose pieces. He first appeared in 1936, mediated by Georg von der Vring, with the poetry collection Gedichte, his first publication, which was followed before the war, with the repeatedly revised narrative Das stille Haus ("The Silent House").
From 1940, Lenz was a soldier in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and in 1946 prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in the United States. Those experiences, that made the student and soldier, influenced his entire literary output. From the beginning of understanding in opposition to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, Lenz moved to inner worlds - the Biedermeier
Biedermeier
In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...
or the Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
- back to the scene of many narrative texts and to reflections which were the object of countless character monologues. After returning from captivity, Lenz was dedicated, except for secretary work in cultural institutions, just to write. In 1946 he married the art historian Hanne Trautwein, whom he had met in 1937. By 1975, both lived in Stuttgart, at Lenz' home, but inheritance disputes forced a move to Munich, home of his wife.
In the midpoint of his work is a - depending on the counting - 10-volume autobiographical novel cycle about the alter-ego figure "Eugen Rapp"[p], which began with Verlassene Zimmer [The Abandoned Room] (1966) and concluded with Freunde [Friends] (1997). Almost without parallel in the German publications of 1945, this novel explores autobiographical events, and both cuts and captures the political history of Germany in the 20th century. Just as notable are the novels Andere Tage [Other Days] (1968) and Neue Zeit [New Age] (1975), of the daily confrontation with the Third Reich. Lenz comes from an autobiographical concept ("Write as you are," is one of the central maxims). It strives to accurately depict life in the details of a metaphysical background to indicate "flow into each other past and present". In books like Lady and Executioner (1973) and Der Wanderer (1986) Lenz succeeded, again and again, with the autobiographical and merge of the transcendental component of his writing. As the most prominent stylistic device he uses here the form of "internal dialogue", which makes the character perspective transparent and transferred to the reflections of the outside world directly into sensations. In addition to his novels, and Rapp occasionally published poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
submitted by Lenz, a large number of novels and short stories. These delve, like Die Begegnung [The Encounter] (1979) and Memory of Edward (1981), into the 19th century world, or they design, as in the 1980 completed trilogy Der Innere Bezirk [The Inner District], conscious alternative plans for their own biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
. Lenz occasionally followed narrative traditions, especially with The Double Face (1949) or Spiegelhütte ("Mirror Cabins") (1962), building on forms of magic realism
Realism
Realism, Realist or Realistic are terms that describe any manifestation of philosophical realism, the belief that reality exists independently of observers, whether in philosophy itself or in the applied arts and sciences. In this broad sense it is frequently contrasted with Idealism.Realism in the...
.
Lenz has been for many years little attention until then but stopped recognition and fame. Peter Handke
Peter Handke
Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
helped him break through in 1973. Lenz published during 1936-1997 more than 30 books. "Ich bin eben ein schwäbischer Dickschädel" ("I'm just a Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
n mule-head"), said Hermann Lenz on his 85th birthday, 26 February 1998, shortly before his death in May of that year.
Hermann Lenz had a reading in October 1951 before the Gruppe 47, at the Laufenmühle, a place near Ulm, from an earlier version of the novel Nachmittag einer Dame ("Afternoon of a Lady"), the first part of Der innere Bezirk ("The Inner District"). His detached attitude to the group coincides with Paul Celan
Paul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
, who had read a year later in Niendorf. The experience went into the novel Ein Fremdling ("A Stranger").
Influences
- In 1993, Lenz established a foundation to support young writers and literary scholars.
- After his death in 1999, from the traditional Petrarch Prize of the Hermann-Lenz Prize, an annual gathering of friends of literature and poetry, sponsored by Hubert BurdaHubert BurdaHubert Burda is a German art historian and publisher. Hubert Burda is CEO and owner of Hubert Burda Media, publishing more than 250 magazines inside and outside Germany...
. - Protagonist of his novel work is Eugen Rapp, which he himself described as "popular edition of the writer Hermann Lenz" and his nine-part Swabian Chronicle with him at the center. As with Eugen Rapp, the other characters in his novels are no "heroes", but often ordinary people, which are distinguished by their special humanity. So his book is also fascinated by less dramatic actions than by the content and effect of figurative language.
Stories
- Das stille Haus [The Still House] – Erzählung. Stuttgart: Dt. Verlags-Anst. 1947. (Erzähler von morgen; Bd. 1)
- Das doppelte Gesicht [The Double Face] – drei Erzählungen. Stuttgart: Dt. Verl.-Anst., 1949.
- Die Abenteurerin – Erzählung. Stuttgart: Dt. Verl.-Anst., 1952. (Die Stern-Ausgaben)
- Nachmittag einer Dame [Afternoon of a Lady]. Neuwied [u. a.]: Luchterhand, 1961.
- Dame und Scharfrichter [Lady and Executioner] – Erzählung. Köln: Hegner, 1973.
- Der Tintenfisch in der Garage [The Squid in the Garage] – Erzählung. Frankfurt am Main: Insel 1977.
- Erinnerung an Eduard [Memory of Edward] – Erzählung. Frankfurt/M.: Insel-Verl., 1981.
- Der Letzte [The Last] – Erzählung. Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp, 1984. (Bibliothek Suhrkamp; 851).
- Der Käfer und andere Geschichten [The Beetle and Other Stories]. Passau: Refugium Verlag 1989 (Reihe Refugium; 3)
- Jung und alt [Young and Old] – Erzählung. Frankfurt am Main: Insel 1989.
- Hotel Memoria – Erzählungen. Frankfurt am Main, Insel 1990. (Insel-Bücherei; 1115)
- Schwarze Kutschen [Black Coaches] – Erzählung. Frankfurt am Main: Insel 1990.
- Jugendtage [Youth Days] – Erzählung. Passau, Reche, 1993. (Reihe Refugium; 14)
- Zwei Frauen [Two Women] – Erzählung. Frankfurt am Main: Insel 1994.
- Feriengäste [Holiday Guests] – Erzählungen. Mit einem Nachw. von Peter Hamm. Regensburg – Mittelbayerische Dr.- & Verl.-Ges., 1997.
- Die Schlangen haben samstags frei [The snakes have Saturdays off] – Erzählungen. Hrsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Rainer Moritz. Frankfurt am Main: Insel 2002.
Novels
- Der russische Regenbogen [The Russian Rainbow] – novel. Darmstadt [u. a.]: Luchterhand 1959.
- Spiegelhütte [Mirror Cabins]. Köln [u. a.] – Hegner 1962.
- Die Augen eines Dieners [The Eyes of a Servant] – novel. Köln, Olten: Hegner 1964.
- Im inneren Bezirk [In the Inner District] – novel. Köln [u. a.]: Hegner 1970.
- Der Kutscher und der Wappenmaler [The Driver and the Sign Painter] – novel. Köln: Hegner, 1972.
- Die Begegnung [The Encounter] – novel. Frankfurt am Main – Insel 1979.
- Der innere Bezirk [The Inner District] – novel in 3 books [Nachmittag einer Dame – Im inneren Bezirk – Constantinsallee]. Frankfurt am Main, Insel 1980.
The Eugen-Rapp novels
The combined under the collective title "Vergangene Gegenwart" are autobiographical novels:- Verlassene Zimmer [Abandoned Room] – novel. Köln und Olten: Hegner 1966.
- Andere Tage [Other Days] – novel. Köln und Olten, Hegner 1968.
- Neue Zeit [New Age] – novel. Frankfurt a. M., Insel 1975.
- Tagebuch vom Überleben und Leben [Diary of Afterlife and Life] – novel. Frankfurt a. Main, Insel 1978.
- Ein Fremdling [A Stranger] – novel. Frankfurt a. M., Insel 1983.
- Der Wanderer [The Wanderer] – novel. Frankfurt a. Main, Insel 1986.
- Seltsamer Abschied [Farewell] – novel. Frankfurt a. Main, Insel 1988.
- Herbstlicht [Autumn Light] – novel. Frankfurt a. Main und Leipzig, Insel 1992.
- Freunde [Friends] – novel. Frankfurt a. Main und Leipzig, Insel 1997.
Poetry
- Gedichte [Poems]. Hamburg: Blätter für die Dichtung 1936. (Die Jungen; 9)
- Zeitlebens [Lifelong]: Poems 1934–1980. München, Schneekluth 1981. (Münchner Edition)
- Zu Fuss [On Foot]: Poems. Warmbronn: Keicher 1987. (Roter Faden; 9)
- Vielleicht lebst du weiter im Stein [Maybe you live more in stone]. poems. Selected and with an afterword by Michael Krüger. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2003 (Bibliothek Suhrkamp. 1371).
Correspondence
- Paul CelanPaul CelanPaul Celan was a poet and translator...
, Hanne und Hermann Lenz: Briefwechsel. With 3 letters of Gisèle Celan-Lestrange. Hrsg. von Barbara Wiedemann (and others). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2001. - Peter HandkePeter HandkePeter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
, Hermann Lenz: Berichterstatter des Tages [Rapporteur of Days]. correspondence, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag 2006. - Hermann Lenz – Rainer Malkowski: Als gingen wir ein Stück zusammen [As we walked a bit together]. correspondence 1991–1998. Contributed by Renate von Doemming. Warmbronn: Verlag Ulrich Keicher 2007.
Others
- Leben und Schreiben [Living and Writing]. Frankfurter Vorlesungen, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 1986
- Hermann Lenz, Bilder aus meinem Album [Pictures from my album], Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag 1987.
- Im Hohenloher Land. Mit 38 Fotos von Karlheinz Jardner. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem ZDF. Freiburg i. Brsg.: Eulen-Verl., 1989. (Reihe „Ganz persönlich“)
- Stuttgart. Porträt einer Stadt [Portrait of a City]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2003 (zuerst Belser Verlag, Stuttgart und Zürich, 1983).
- Hermann Lenz zum 80. Geburtstag [~ on His 80th Birthday]. Festschrift, herausgegeben von Thomas Reche und Hans Dieter Schäfer. Passau: Verlag Thomas Reche 1993.
Awards
Awards to Hermann Lenz (award titles in German):- 1962 Ostdeutscher Literaturpreis
- 1978 Büchnerpreis
- 1981 Franz-Nabl-Preis
- 1981 Wilhelm-Raabe-Preis
- 1983 Gottfried-Keller-Preis
- Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg|Verdienstmedaille des Landes Baden-Württemberg
- 1984 Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland|Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz
- 1986 Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst
- 1987 Petrarca-PreisPetrarca-PreisPetrarca-Preis is a European literary award named after the Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch. It was founded in 1975 by German art historian and publisher Hubert Burda, and is primarily designed for contemporary European poets, but also epicists appear in the list of...
- 1991 Bayerischer Literaturpreis
- 1993 München leuchtet-Medaille
- 1993 Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst
- 1995 Jean-Paul-Preis
- 1995 Literaturpreis der Stadt München
- 1997 Würth-Preis für Europäische Literatur
External links
- (German) Autorenporträt auf www.suhrkamp.de
- (German)} Kurzbiographie
- (German) baylit.de Autor id=228 – Database of literary Bavaria