- Theodor Fontane
Infobox Person
name = Theodor Fontane
caption = | birth_date = birth date|1819|12|30|df=y
birth_place =Neuruppin
death_date = death date and age|1898|9|20|1819|12|30|df=y
death_place =Berlin Theodor Fontane (IPA2|ˈtʰeodoɐ̯ fɔnˈtaːnə;
December 30 ,1819 –September 20 ,1898 ) was a Germannovelist andpoet , regarded by many to be the most important 19th-centuryGerman-language realist writer.Youth
Fontane was born in
Neuruppin into aHuguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to anapothecary , his father's profession, subsequently becoming an apothecary himself, and in 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work ("Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe", now lost). His further education was inLeipzig where he came into contact with the progressives of the Vormärz. Fontane's first published work, the novella "Geschwisterliebe" (or "Sibling Love"), appeared in the "Berlin Figaro" in December 1839. His biographer Gordon A. Craig in "Theodor Fontane: Literature and History in the Bismarck Reich" (Oxford University Press, 1999) observes that this work gave few indications of his promise as a gifted writer: "Although the theme of incest, which was to occupy Fontane on later occasions, is touched upon here, the mawkishness of the tale... is equaled by the lameness of its plot and the inertness of the style in which it is told, and [the characters] Clärchen and her brother are both so colorless that no one could have guessed that their creator had a future as a writer."His first job as apothecary was in
Dresden after which he returned to his father's shop, now in the provincial town ofLetschin in theOderbruch region. Fleeing the provincial atmosphere there, Fontane published articles in the Leipzig newspaper "Die Eisenbahn " and translatedShakespeare . In 1843, he joined a literary club calledTunnel über der Spree (i.e. Tunnel over the riverSpree ) in Berlin where he came into contact with many of the most renowned German writers such asTheodor Storm ,Joseph von Eichendorff andGottfried Keller .Newspaper writer and critic
In 1844 Fontane enrolled in the Prussian army and set out on the first of numerous journeys to
England which fostered his interest in Old English ballads, a form he began to imitate then. At that time he became engaged to his future wife, Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, whom he had first met when still at school.He briefly participated in the revolutionary events of 1848. In 1849 he quit his job as an apothecary and became a full-time journalist and writer. In order to support his family he took a job as a writer for the Prussian
intelligence agency "Zentralstelle für Presseangelegenheiten" which was meant to influence the press towards a German national cause. Again he specialised in British affairs, and the agency sent him as correspondent toLondon for a couple of years where he was later joined by his wife and two sons. While still in London he quit his government job and, on his return to Berlin, became editor of the conservative "Kreuzzeitung ".London
His books about Britain include "Ein Sommer in London" (1854); "Aus England, Studien und Briefe" (1860) and "Jenseits des Tweed, Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland" (1860). At the period, and following the fashion of
Walter Scott , traditional British stories were still "en vogue" on the continent. His "Gedichte" (1851) and ballads "Männer und Helden" (1860) tell of Britain's glories in days gone by.Back in Germany, Fontane became particularly interested in the Mark Brandenburg region. He was especially proud of its past achievements and delighted in the growth of its capital city, Berlin. His fascination with the countryside surrounding Berlin may be seen in his delightfully picturesque "Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg" (1862-1882, 5 vols.) in which he successfully transposed his former fascination with British historical matters to his native soil.
Prussian War
In 1870, he quit his job at the "Kreuzzeitung" and became drama critic for the liberal "
Vossische Zeitung ", a job he kept until retirement. He had already written about Prussia's war against Denmark in "Der schleswig-holsteinische Krieg im Jahre 1864" (1866) and theAustro-Prussian War in "Der deutsche Krieg von 1866" (1869). He proceeded to theFranco-Prussian War in 1870, and, being taken prisoner atVaucouleurs , he remained in French captivity for three months. His experiences there are set down in "Kriegsgefangen Erlebtes 1870 (1871)"; subsequently he published his observations on the campaign in "Der Krieg gegen Frankreich 1870-71" (1874-1876).Later years
At the ripe age of 57 Fontane finally took to what he would be remembered for, the novel. His fine historical romance "Vor dem Sturm" (1878) was followed by a series of novels of modern life, notably "L'Adultera" (1882), a book about
adultery which was considered so risqué that it took Fontane two years to find a publisher. In his novels "Frau Jenny Treibel ", "Irrungen, Wirrungen", and "Effi Briest " (1894), he found his very own tone, yielding insights into the lives of thenobility as well as the "common man"; his achievement there was later described aspoetic realism . In "Der Stechlin " (1899), his last finished novel, Fontane adapted the realistic methods and social criticism of contemporary French fiction to the conditions of Prussian life.Works
*"
Geschwisterliebe ", 1839
*"Zwei Post-Stationen ", 1845
*"James Monmouth", 1854
*"Tuch und Locke ", 1854
*"Goldene Hochzeit ", 1854
*"Vor dem Sturm ", 1878
*"Grete Minde ", 1880
*"Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg ", 1880
*"Elternklipp ", 1881
*"L'Adultera ", 1882
*"Schach von Wuthenow ", 1882
*"Graf Petöfy ", 1884
*"Unterm Birnbaum ", 1885
*"Cécile ", 1887
*"Irrungen, Wirrungen ", 1888
*"Stine ", 1890
*"Quitt ", 1891
*"Unwiederbringlich ", 1891
*"Frau Jenny Treibel ", 1892
*"Meine Kinderjahre ", 1894
*"Effi Briest ", 1896
*"Die Poggenpuhls ", 1896
*"Der Stechlin ", 1899
*"Mathilde Möhring ", 1906Poems
*"
Archibald Douglas "
*"Die Brück' am Tay"
*"John Maynard"
*"Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland"
*"Aber es bleibt auf dem alten Fleck"
*"Ausgang"
*"Gorm GrymmeReferences
*Craig, Gordon "Theodor Fontane : Literature and History in the Bismarck Reich", New York : Oxford University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-19-512837-0.See Thomas Mann's 1910 essay, "The Old Fontane," in "Essays of Three Decades" (Knopf, 1947). Very fine.
External links
* [http://www.bartleby.com/315/4/ "Trials and Tribulations", one of Fontane's works] (English)
* (German)
* [http://www.ub.fu-berlin.de/internetquellen/fachinformation/germanistik/autoren/multi_fgh/fontane.html Collection of links]Persondata
NAME= Fontane, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= German novelist and poet
DATE OF BIRTH=30 December 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH=Neuruppin
DATE OF DEATH=20 September 1898
PLACE OF DEATH=Berlin
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