Paul Scheerbart
Encyclopedia
Paul Karl Wilhelm Scheerbart (8 January 1863 in Danzig – 15 October 1915 in Berlin) was an author of fantastic
literature
and drawing
s. He was also published under the pseudonym
Kuno Küfer and is best known for the book Glasarchitektur (1914).
Scheerbart was associated with expressionist architecture
and one of its leading proponents, Bruno Taut
. He composed aphoristic poems about glass for the Taut's Glass Pavilion
at the Werkbund Exhibition (1914)
.
and history of art
in 1885. In 1887 he worked as a poet in Berlin and tried to invent Perpetual motion
machines. In 1892 he was one of the joint founders of the Verlag deutscher Phantasten (Publishers of German Fantasists).
At this time he was in financial difficulties. After writing in different publications he produced his first novel
'Die große Revolution' (The Great Revolution), which was published by the Insel-Verlag. The young Ernst Rowohlt
published Scheerbart's bizarre poem collection Katerpoesie and became his friend.
Scheerbart's fantasty essays about glass architecture influenced architects at that time, including the young Bruno Taut
. Among his Berlin friends and drinking circle was Erich Mühsam
, who dedicated a chapter to Scheerbart in his 'Unpolitical Memories'and Richard Dehmel
. Scheerbart was also an important influence on Walter Benjamin
who quoted his ideas on glass in his Arcades Project
.
Very few of Scheerbart's works have been translated into English. Though the following list also gives English translations of the titles, there is usually no English-language edition of the work available.
Fantastic
The Fantastic is a literary term that describes a quality of other literary genres, and, in some cases, is used as a genre in and of itself, although in this case it is often conflated with the Supernatural. The term was originated in the structuralist theory of critic Tzvetan Todorov in his work...
literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s. He was also published under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Kuno Küfer and is best known for the book Glasarchitektur (1914).
Scheerbart was associated with expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
and one of its leading proponents, Bruno Taut
Bruno Taut
Bruno Julius Florian Taut , was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active during the Weimar period....
. He composed aphoristic poems about glass for the Taut's Glass Pavilion
Glass Pavilion
The Glass Pavilion, built in 1914 and designed by Bruno Taut, was a prismatic glass dome structure at the Cologne Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition. The structure was a brightly colored landmark of the exhibition, and was constructed using concrete and glass. The concrete structure had inlaid colored...
at the Werkbund Exhibition (1914)
Werkbund Exhibition (1914)
The first Werkbund Exhibition of 1914 was held at Rheinpark in Cologne, Germany. Bruno Taut's best-known building, the prismatic dome of the Glass Pavilion of which only black and white images survive today, was in reality a brightly colored landmark. Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer designed a model...
.
Life
Paul Scheerbart began studies of philosophyPhilosophy
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...
and history of art
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
in 1885. In 1887 he worked as a poet in Berlin and tried to invent Perpetual motion
Perpetual motion
Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not....
machines. In 1892 he was one of the joint founders of the Verlag deutscher Phantasten (Publishers of German Fantasists).
At this time he was in financial difficulties. After writing in different publications he produced his first novel
Novel
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....
'Die große Revolution' (The Great Revolution), which was published by the Insel-Verlag. The young Ernst Rowohlt
Ernst Rowohlt
Ernst R. Rowohlt was a German publisher who founded the Rowohlt publishing house in 1908 and headed it and its successors until his death...
published Scheerbart's bizarre poem collection Katerpoesie and became his friend.
Scheerbart's fantasty essays about glass architecture influenced architects at that time, including the young Bruno Taut
Bruno Taut
Bruno Julius Florian Taut , was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active during the Weimar period....
. Among his Berlin friends and drinking circle was 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....
, who dedicated a chapter to Scheerbart in his 'Unpolitical Memories'and Richard Dehmel
Richard Dehmel
Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel was a German poet and writer.- Life :...
. Scheerbart was also an important influence on Walter Benjamin
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
who quoted his ideas on glass in his Arcades Project
Arcades Project
The Passagenwerk or Arcades Project was an unfinished lifelong project of philosopher Walter Benjamin, an enormous collection of writings on the city life of Paris in the 19th century, especially concerned with the iron-and-glass covered "arcades"...
.
Work
"Scheerbart published a long succession of fantasy novels, articles, and poems between 1889 and his death in 1915, in which he insisted that the universe is far too rich and complex to be comprehended by reason alone. Only naive wonder — the basis of the sublime — could promote the development of higher forms of understanding."Very few of Scheerbart's works have been translated into English. Though the following list also gives English translations of the titles, there is usually no English-language edition of the work available.
- 1889 Das Paradies. Die Heimat der Kunst (Paradise. Home of the Arts)
- 1893 Ja... was... möchten wir nicht Alles!, (Yes.....What......We wouldn't all like to have!), A Fable
- 1897 Ich liebe Dich!, (I love you!), A Novel with 66 IntermezzoIntermezzoIn music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...
s - 1897 Tarub, Bagdads berühmte Köchin, (Tarub, Baghdad's famous female cook), Arab culture novel
- 1897 Der Tod der Barmekiden, (The death of the Barmakids), Arab Harem novel
- 1898 Na prost!, (Well, Cheers!), Fantasy King novel
- 1900 Die wilde Jagd, (The wild hunt), A development novel in eight stories
- 1901 Rakkóx der Billionär, (Rakkóx the trillionaire), An ostentatious novel
- 1901 Die Seeschlange (The Sea Serpent), A sea novel
- 1902 Die große Revolution, (The Great Revolution), A moon novel
- 1902 Immer mutig!, (Always courageously!), A Fantasy novel
- 1902 Liwûna und Kaidôh, A Soul novel
- 1902 Weltglanz, (World Shine), a sun fairy tale
- 1903 Kometentanz, (Comet dance), Astral Pantomime in two acts
- 1903 Der Aufgang zur Sonne, (The stairway to the sun), house fairy tales
- 1904 Der Kaiser von Utopia, (The emperor of Utopia), a folktale
- 1904 Machtspäße, (Jests about power), Arab novellas
- 1904 Revolutionäre Theater-Bibliothek, (Revolutionary theatre library), collection of plays
- 1906 Münchhausen und Clarissa, Berlin novel
- 1909 Die Entwicklung des Luftmilitarismus und die Auflösung der europäischen Land-Heere, Festungen und Seeflotten, (The development of air militarism and the dissolution of the European Land-army, fortresses and sea-fleets)
- 1909 Kater-Poesie, (translatable as Tomcat poetry or Hangover poetry), poems
- 1910 Das Perpetuum mobile, (The perpetual motion machine), the history of an invention
- 1912 Das große Licht, (The Great Light) A MünchhausenBaron MunchhausenKarl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Münchhausen , usually known as Baron Münchhausen in English, was a German nobleman born in Bodenwerder and a famous recounter of tall tales....
–BreviaryBreviaryA breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office... - 1912 Flora Mohr, A glass flower novella
- 1913 Lesabéndio, an Asteroid novel
- 1914 Das graue Tuch und zehn Prozent WeißThe Gray ClothThe Gray Cloth with Ten Percent White: A Ladies' Novel is an avant-garde novel by the fantasist and visionary writer Paul Scheerbart, first published in 1914...
, (The grey cloth and ten percent of white), a ladies novel. Translated into English as: The Gray Cloth: Paul Scheerbart's Novel on Glass ArchitectureThe Gray ClothThe Gray Cloth with Ten Percent White: A Ladies' Novel is an avant-garde novel by the fantasist and visionary writer Paul Scheerbart, first published in 1914...
. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : MIT Press, 2001. ISBN 0-262-19460-0 - 1914 Glasarchitektur (Glass architecture)
- 1921 Von Zimmer zu Zimmer, (From room to room), letters to his wife