- Zum schwarzen Ferkel
Zum schwarzen Ferkel ("The Black Piglet") was a tavern located at the corner of
Unter den Linden and Neue Wilhelmstraße ["Neue Wilhelmstraße" was at the time the name of the extension ofWilhelmstraße to the north ofUnter den Linden , as seen on the and several Germans.The real name of the "Weinstube", which was owned by a Gustav Türke, was "Gustav Türkes Weinhandlung und Probierstube", but it was also known as "The Cloister". The name "Zum schwarzen Ferkel" was given to it by Strindberg as he thought the Armenian (or Bessarabian) wine-sack hanging over the entrance resembled a black piglet; the name was enthusiastically accepted by the owner.
Strindberg had come to Berlin from Sweden in 1892, after his divorce the previous year from his first wife
Siri von Essen , on the invitation of the Swedish writerOla Hansson and his wife, the criticLaura Marholm , and for the first period in Berlin he stayed with the couple in their home inFriedrichshagen . After a while he started to refer to the place in letters as "Friedrichshölle" ("Friedrichs-Hell") and eventually moved into central Berlin, falling out with this former hosts in the process, and settling at a pension on Neue Wilhelmstrasse, close to Türke's tavern.The story of Strindberg's discovery and naming of the tavern comes from the Finnish writer
Adolf Paul , and the circle at the "Ferkel" originally consisted of Strindberg, Paul, the German writerRichard Dehmel , the physicianCarl Ludwig Schleich , the Polish journalistStanisław Przybyszewski and a few others, all of whom had previously belonged to the group frequenting Ola Hansson's home in Friedrichshagen. Other Scandinavians arriving in Berlin would join the group.Edvard Munch became a regular after he had arrived in Berlin in October 1892 in connection with an exhibition that was scandalously closed after only seven days. The Norwegian writerGunnar Heiberg became a member of the circle in November; other Norwegians included the painter couple Christian andOda Krohg , the writerAxel Maurer and the poetGabriel Finne . A quarrel between Munch and the Danish poetHolger Drachmann caused Strindberg temporarily to leave the group. He started seeing the Austrian journalistFrida Uhl , soon to be his second wife. After the couple had become secretly engaged and Frida Uhl had left Berlin temporarily for Munich, Strindberg returned to the "Ferkel". Meanwhile Munch had introduced another female member of the group, the Norwegian music studentDagny Juel . Several of the men were attracted by Dagny Juel, who entered into a number of brief sexual liaisons within the circle, including a three-week relationship in March 1893 with the newly engaged Strindberg while Frida Uhl was still away. Juel married Przybyszewski on 18 August 1893; [pl icon Aleksandra Sawicka, "Dagny Juel Przybyszewska: Fakty i legendy," wydawnictwo słowo/obraz terytoria, Gdańsk, 2006, See 'Chronology' on page 412] she later wrote some literary pieces and was murdered by a lover inTbilisi in 1901. Munch, who was in love with her, felt betrayed, and he depicted her on several paintings; she is likely to be the model for his "Jealousy".The main written testimonies to come out of the Ferkel circle was Adolf Paul's "Strindberg-Erinnerungen und -Briefe" (1914) and Strindberg's novel "Klostret" ("The Cloister") which was published only posthumously in 1966.
Notes
References
*"Skandinavien och Tyskland 1800-1914: Möten och vänskapsband, ed. B. Henningsen et al., Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, 1997.
*Aarseth, Asbjörn, "Berlin som kulturmetropol og vinstuen 'Schwarzes Ferkel' - nordmenn i Berlin", "Skandinavien och Tyskland, p. 347-349.
*Söderström, Göran, "Zum schwarzen Ferkel", "Skandinavien och Tyskland", p. 353-356.
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