Karl Friedrich Kurz
Encyclopedia
Kurz was born near Freiburg, Bremgarten, Markgräflerland
Markgräflerland
Markgräflerland is a region in the southwest of Germany, in the south of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located between the Breisgau in the north and the Black Forest in the east.-History and geography:...
in 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...
. As a child he moved with his parents to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He wanted to be a painter and entered the academy in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
.
Coincidences made him a writer. He led a vagrant life with an extensive travelling activity in among others East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
before he settled in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
where he wrote novels in German. He was influenced by Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....
and got inspiration from the nature and folk life in the fjords of Sogn
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway . It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjord. Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers ...
and Sunnfjord
Sunnfjord
Sunnfjord is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Sogn og Fjordane county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, Flora, Førde, Gaular, Jølster, Naustdal, and the southernmost parts of Bremanger...
.
His novels enjoyed great popularity in 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...
and were sold in great numbers. In 1934 he was awarded the Großer Schillerpreis by the Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung in Zürich.
He first lived in the area of Solund
Solund
Solund is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. Solund is the westernmost island municipality in Norway, and the only municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county that is made up only of islands...
, then near Vadheim
Vadheim
Vadheim is a village in the municipality of Høyanger in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located on the north shore of the Sognefjord, along the highway . It is about northeast of the village of Lavik, northwest of Kyrkjebø, and northwest of Austreim...
in Lavik
Lavik
Lavik is a village and former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. It is located in the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Høyanger...
before he in 1924 settled in Vårdal in Dalsfjorden
Dalsfjorden (Sunnfjord)
Dalsfjorden is a fjord in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located between the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, and Gaular. The fjord is about long and it is generally about wide....
in Sunnfjord
Sunnfjord
Sunnfjord is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Sogn og Fjordane county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, Flora, Førde, Gaular, Jølster, Naustdal, and the southernmost parts of Bremanger...
. He lived there until he in 1950 left his family and moved to Nessjøen in Fjell
Fjell
Fjell is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The parish of Fjæld was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
municipality at Sotra
Sotra
Sotra is the name of an archipelago in Hordaland, Norway, just west of Bergen. The largest island is Store Sotra, while the second-largest and most populated is Litlesotra. The latter and part of Store Sotra are part of Fjell, while southern Sotra is part of Sund. Roughly 25,000 people live on Sotra...
in Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
where he lived until his death in 1962, at 84 years of age.
The papers he left behind when he died are mostly lost.
Karl Friedrich Kurz is buried at the churchyard at Holmedal in Dalsfjorden
Dalsfjorden (Sunnfjord)
Dalsfjorden is a fjord in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located between the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, and Gaular. The fjord is about long and it is generally about wide....
, Sunnfjord.
Novels
Ten novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and a number of short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. Among others:
- Vom Nil zum Fujijama, (1910, his first book).
- Kohana. Japanisches Liebesidyll. Huber. Frauenfeld and Leipzig (1910).
- Mitternachtsonne und Nordlicht, (1914).
- Herren vom Fjord, Westermann (1947) (Norwegian translation by Heidi Helle and Rolf Losnegård: Herskap ved fjorden, - ISBN 978-82-7959-033-0)
- Im Königreich Mjelvik, Westermann (1930).
- Tyra,die Märcheninsel, (1935).
- Der Sohn des Meeres, (1937).
- Ein gesegneter Lügner, (1938).
- Traum und Ziel , Dt. Buch-Gemeinschaft (1940) which gave him 1934 Grosser Schillerpreis der Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung.
- Herr Erlings Magd, Westermann (1947).
- Die Geisterkutsche, Westermann (1953)
Sources
- Karl Friedrich Kurz: Herskap ved fjorden. Translation from German to Norwegian by Heidi Helle and Rolf Losnegård.
- Norvald Tveitt: Fra gull til grønne skoger - (From gold to green forests (about Erik Grant Lea)).
- Interviews with local people in Vårdal, Sunnfjord and Nessjøen, Sotra v/ Frode Inge Helland.
See also
- Erik Grant LeaErik Grant LeaErik Lawrence Grant Lea, was a Norwegian ship-owner, banker, insurer and mill owner. He became one of the most mythical tycoons of the boom years of World War I in Norway.- The myth :...