Ernst Wiechert
Encyclopedia
Ernst Wiechert was a German
teacher, poet and writer.
, East Prussia
.
He was one of the most widely read novel
ists in Germany during the 1930s. He incorporated his humanist
ideals in his novels among which Das einfache Leben (The simple Life, 1939) and Die Jeromin-Kinder (The Jeromin children, 1945/47) are the best known today.
Wiechert was strongly opposed to Nazism
from the start. He appealed in 1933 and 1935 to the undergraduates in Munich
to retain their critical thinking in relation to the national socialist ideology. This was rated as call to internal resistance. The minutes of the speech circulated illegally in Germany and reached Moscow
in 1937 baked in bread. Here it was published in the influential exile magazine Das Wort (The Word). But Wiechert went even further and dared to openly criticize the imprisonment of Martin Niemöller
by the Nazis in 1938. He was arrested shortly after the rigged plebiscite by which Germany absorbed Austria in April 1938.
In consequence of his criticism, he was interned himself in the Buchenwald concentration camp
for four months which became the most horrible time of his life. After that, he wrote down his memories about the time of his imprisonment and buried the manuscript. It was published after the war in 1945, entitled Der Totenwald (Forest of the dead), a shocking account of the conditions in Buchenwald. Joseph Goebbels
had threatened after Wiechert's release from concentration camp that Wiechert would be killed if he publicly voiced protest once more.
After the war, Wiechert was a critic of restorative tendencies in post-war Germany. He died at Stäfa
, Switzerland
.
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...
teacher, poet and writer.
Biography
Wiechert was born in Kleinort near Sensburg (Mrągowo)Mragowo
Mrągowo is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of northeastern Poland, the capital of Mrągowo County and the seat the Gmina Mrągowo...
, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
.
He was one of the most widely read 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....
ists in Germany during the 1930s. He incorporated his humanist
Christian humanism
Christian humanism is the position that universal human dignity and individual freedom are essential and principal components of, or are at least compatible with, Christian doctrine and practice. It is a philosophical union of Christian and humanist principles.- Origins :Christian humanism may have...
ideals in his novels among which Das einfache Leben (The simple Life, 1939) and Die Jeromin-Kinder (The Jeromin children, 1945/47) are the best known today.
Wiechert was strongly opposed to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
from the start. He appealed in 1933 and 1935 to the undergraduates in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
to retain their critical thinking in relation to the national socialist ideology. This was rated as call to internal resistance. The minutes of the speech circulated illegally in Germany and reached Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1937 baked in bread. Here it was published in the influential exile magazine Das Wort (The Word). But Wiechert went even further and dared to openly criticize the imprisonment of Martin Niemöller
Martin Niemöller
Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller was a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known as the author of the poem "First they came…"....
by the Nazis in 1938. He was arrested shortly after the rigged plebiscite by which Germany absorbed Austria in April 1938.
In consequence of his criticism, he was interned himself in the Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
for four months which became the most horrible time of his life. After that, he wrote down his memories about the time of his imprisonment and buried the manuscript. It was published after the war in 1945, entitled Der Totenwald (Forest of the dead), a shocking account of the conditions in Buchenwald. Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
had threatened after Wiechert's release from concentration camp that Wiechert would be killed if he publicly voiced protest once more.
After the war, Wiechert was a critic of restorative tendencies in post-war Germany. He died at Stäfa
Stäfa
Stäfa is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Stäfa has an area of . Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 34% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
, 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....
.
Works
- Die Flucht, novel, (pseudonym: Ernst Barany Bjell), 1916
- Der Wald, novel, 1922
- Der Totenwald, novel, 1924
- Die blauen Schwingen, novel, 1925
- Der Knecht Gottes Andreas Nyland, novel, 1926
- Der solberne Wagen, short stories, 1928
- Die kleine Passion. Geschichte eines Kindes, novel, 1929
- Die Flöte des Pan, short stories, 1930
- Jedermann, novel, 1931
- Die Magd des Jürgen Doskocil, 1932
- Geschichte eines Knaben, novel, 1933
- Das Spiel vom deutschen Bettelmann, radio play, 1933
- Die Majorin, novel, 1934
- Der Todeskandidat, short stories, 1934
- Der verlorene Sohn, play, 1935
- Die goldene Stadt, play, 1935
- Hirtennovelle, short stories, 1935
- Wälder und Menschen, childhood memoirs, 1936
- Das heilige Jahr, short stories, 1936
- Von den treuen Begleitern, interpretations of poems, 1938
- Atli, der Bestmann, short stories, 1938
- Das einfache Leben, novel, 1939, ISBN 3548248268
- Die Jeromin-Kinder, novel, 1945/7, ISBN 3-7844-2384-1, ISBN 3-7844-2030-3
- Die Totenmesse, short story, 1945/7
- Der brennende Dornbusch, short story, 1945
- Demetrius, short story, 1945
- Der Totenwald, Report from the concentration camp Buchenwald, 1946 (written in 1937) ISBN 3548240380
- Märchen 1946/7
- Der weiße Büffel oder Von der großen Gerechtigkeit, 1946 (written in 1937)
- Der armen Kinder Weihnachten, play, 1946
- Okay oder die Unsterblichen, play, 1946
- Die Gebärde, short stories, 1947
- Der Richter, short story, 1948
- Jahre und Zeiten, memoirs, 1949, ISBN 3-548-22119-X
- Die Mutter, short stories, 1948
- Missa sine Nomine, novel 1950
- Der Exote, novel, 1951
- Die letzten Lieder, poems, 1951
- Es geht ein Pflüger übers Land, short stories chosen by Lilje Wiechert, 1951
- Häftling Nr. 7188, diary entries and letters, 1966