Tunnel über der Spree
Encyclopedia
Der Tunnel über der Spree was a German literary society based in Berlin, founded on 3 December 1827 by Moritz Gottlieb Saphir
. Most active between 1840 and 1860, it acquired 214 members and influenced literary life in Berlin for more than seventy years.
Saphir had been denied membership of Julius Eduard Hitzig
's new Wednesday Society
. He invited the actors Friedrich Wilhelm Lemm and Ludwig Schneider to his home and founded a "Sunday Society" to compete with it. Its motto was Ungeheure Ironie und unendliche Wehmut and its mascot was Till Eulenspiegel
.
To avoid confusion with fanclubs of the singer Henriette Sontag
, the name was changed to "Tunnel over the Spree," a topical reference to Isambard Kingdom Brunel
's tunnel under the Thames, which would lead to an abortive effort to create a similar tunnel in Berlin. In fact, the first Berlin tunnel did not open until 1899, the year after the demise of the society. Theodor Fontane
, an important source of information on the society, once remarked that Saphir's only real intention was to create a kind of personal bodyguard for himself. Another member, Emanuel Geibel
, described it as a "daycare centre for smalltime authors" (Kleindichterbewahranstalt).
The board consisted of a president, vice-president and secretary, and elections were held on 1 May and 1 November each year. Members met on Sunday afternoons in a cafe near St Hedwig's Cathedral in Unter den Linden
, and presented their most recent unpublished creative efforts—usually poems, but occasionally music or even paintings. Membership was by invitation after three attendances as a guest; the new member had to select a pseudonym, which had to be the name of a famous deceased individual of the same profession. Although the purpose of the pseudonym was to help erase class distinctions, its membership consisted almost entirely of officers, aristocrats, and professional men: no women were permitted at meetings, and its formalities made its atmosphere very different from that of the salons which had preceded it.
The last minuted meeting took place on 30 October 1898. After the death in 1911 of the last president, Oscar Roloff, the society's archives were donated to Humboldt University in Berlin. Theodor Fontane
vividly described the society's activities in his memoir Von Zwanzig bis Dreißig.
Moritz Gottlieb Saphir
Moritz Gottlieb Saphir, born Moses Saphir was an Austrian satirical writer and journalist.-Life:...
. Most active between 1840 and 1860, it acquired 214 members and influenced literary life in Berlin for more than seventy years.
Saphir had been denied membership of Julius Eduard Hitzig
Julius Eduard Hitzig
Julius Eduard Hitzig was a German author and civil servant.Born into the wealthy and influential Jewish Itzig family, he was between 1799 and 1806 a Prussian civil servant, became Criminal Counsel at the Berlin Supreme Court in 1815 and its director in 1825...
's new Wednesday Society
Mittwochsgesellschaft
The German word Mittwochsgesellschaft may refer to the:* Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft , or Gesellschaft der Freunde der Aufklärung...
. He invited the actors Friedrich Wilhelm Lemm and Ludwig Schneider to his home and founded a "Sunday Society" to compete with it. Its motto was Ungeheure Ironie und unendliche Wehmut and its mascot was Till Eulenspiegel
Till Eulenspiegel
Till Eulenspiegel was an impudent trickster figure originating in Middle Low German folklore. His tales were disseminated in popular printed editions narrating a string of lightly connected episodes that outlined his picaresque career, primarily in Germany, the Low Countries and France...
.
To avoid confusion with fanclubs of the singer Henriette Sontag
Henriette Sontag
Henriette Sontag was a German operatic soprano of great international renown. She possessed a sweet-toned, lyrical voice and was a brilliant exponent of florid singing.-Life:...
, the name was changed to "Tunnel over the Spree," a topical reference to Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
's tunnel under the Thames, which would lead to an abortive effort to create a similar tunnel in Berlin. In fact, the first Berlin tunnel did not open until 1899, the year after the demise of the society. Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
, an important source of information on the society, once remarked that Saphir's only real intention was to create a kind of personal bodyguard for himself. Another member, Emanuel Geibel
Emanuel Geibel
Emanuel von Geibel , German poet and playwright, was born at Lübeck, the son of a pastor in the city.He was originally intended for his father's profession and studied at Bonn and Berlin, but his real interests lay not in theology but in classical and romance philology. In 1838 he accepted a...
, described it as a "daycare centre for smalltime authors" (Kleindichterbewahranstalt).
The board consisted of a president, vice-president and secretary, and elections were held on 1 May and 1 November each year. Members met on Sunday afternoons in a cafe near St Hedwig's Cathedral in Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
, and presented their most recent unpublished creative efforts—usually poems, but occasionally music or even paintings. Membership was by invitation after three attendances as a guest; the new member had to select a pseudonym, which had to be the name of a famous deceased individual of the same profession. Although the purpose of the pseudonym was to help erase class distinctions, its membership consisted almost entirely of officers, aristocrats, and professional men: no women were permitted at meetings, and its formalities made its atmosphere very different from that of the salons which had preceded it.
The last minuted meeting took place on 30 October 1898. After the death in 1911 of the last president, Oscar Roloff, the society's archives were donated to Humboldt University in Berlin. Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
vividly described the society's activities in his memoir Von Zwanzig bis Dreißig.