Jakob van Hoddis
Encyclopedia
Jakob van Hoddis was the pen name of a German
-Jewish expressionist poet
Hans Davidsohn, of which name "Van Hoddis" is an anagram
. His most famous poem Weltende (End of the world) published on 11 January 1911 in Der Demokrat, is generally regarded as the preliminary expressionist poem which inspired many other poets to write in a similarly grotesque
style; he is also seen as perhaps the only German predecessor of surrealism
(which did not exist as a movement in Germany).
Hermann Davidsohn and his wife Doris. Mrs Davidsohn gave birth to twins, but the other baby was stillborn. He had four other siblings, Marie, Anna, Ludwig and Ernst. Due to his temper (although he was extremely intelligent), he was not a successful student. In 1909 he created a Der Neue Club (The New Club) with his friend Kurt Hiller
; and in March of the following year, they introduced their ideas at an evening they called Neopathetisches Cabaret (The Neopathetic Cabaret). They were joined by Georg Heym
, Ernst Blass and Erich Unger
, soon followed by others, for example Alfred Lichtenstein
. Else Lasker-Schüler
participated too (she said about van Hoddis´ performances "His verses are so ardent that one wants to steal them" ). The last, ninth, evening of the Cabaret took place in the spring of 1912; it was a tribute to the tragically deceased Georg Heym. The Cabaret was very popular, often attracting hundreds of spectators. It was during one of these evenings when Weltende was recited, and electrified the audience totally. Many artists later remembered the impact the eight lines had on them that day.
During this part of his life, things started to get worse. Not only was he expelled from university, but he lost his father and his close friends, Heym and Ernst Balcke. He suffered a breakdown
and voluntarily entered a mental hospital. Although he was released, he was soon forced to come back after attacking his mother. His mental health continued to decline, and he lived in private care from 1914 until 1922. After 1927, when his mother lost her money, he came under the care of a state clinic. In 1933, immediately after Hitler's nomination as Prime Minister, Van Hoddis' family escaped to Tel Aviv (where his broken-hearted mother died a few months later). It proved impossible for him to secure an entrance certificate to the British Mandate of Anglo-Palestine, due to his mental illness, so he was forced to remain in Germany, where expressionism had come to be seen as an absolutely unacceptable form of art.
Some expressionist artists managed to flee the country, many more either committed suicide
or were murdered in concentration camps. As Van Hoddis was Jewish, an expressionist, and also mentally ill (which then meant in Germany
that he was subject to "mercy killing"), his death in Nazi Germany was almost guaranteed. On the 30 April 1942, he and all the other patients and staff (five hundred people) of his sanatorium were transported to Sobibór via Krasnystaw. None of them survived. The date of van Hoddis´ death remains unknown.
included van Hoddis into his Anthology of Black Humor
. In the English
-speaking world he remains almost unknown.
Posthumous collections:
[
]
(For a more literal translation please see )
author Gabriel Ferrater
called Fi del món ("End of the world"), which paraphrases some of its images.
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...
-Jewish expressionist poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Hans Davidsohn, of which name "Van Hoddis" is an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
. His most famous poem Weltende (End of the world) published on 11 January 1911 in Der Demokrat, is generally regarded as the preliminary expressionist poem which inspired many other poets to write in a similarly grotesque
Grotesque
The word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...
style; he is also seen as perhaps the only German predecessor of surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
(which did not exist as a movement in Germany).
Life
He was the oldest son of doctorPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
Hermann Davidsohn and his wife Doris. Mrs Davidsohn gave birth to twins, but the other baby was stillborn. He had four other siblings, Marie, Anna, Ludwig and Ernst. Due to his temper (although he was extremely intelligent), he was not a successful student. In 1909 he created a Der Neue Club (The New Club) with his friend Kurt Hiller
Kurt Hiller
Kurt Hiller also known as Keith Lurr and Klirr was a German essayist of high stylistic originality and a political journalist from a Jewish family. A socialist, he was deeply influenced by Immanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer, despising the philosophy of G. W. F...
; and in March of the following year, they introduced their ideas at an evening they called Neopathetisches Cabaret (The Neopathetic Cabaret). They were joined by Georg Heym
Georg Heym
Georg Heym was a German writer. He is particularly known for his poetry, representative of early Expressionism.- Life :...
, Ernst Blass and Erich Unger
Erich Unger
Erich Unger was a Jewish philosopher of standing who published many articles and a number of books, many of them in his native tongue, German...
, soon followed by others, for example Alfred Lichtenstein
Alfred Lichtenstein (writer)
Alfred Lichtenstein was a German expressionist writer.Lichtenstein grew up in Berlin as the son of a manufacturer. He finished a study of law in Erlangen...
. Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler was a Jewish German poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressionist movement. Lasker-Schüler fled Nazi Germany and lived out the rest of her life in Jerusalem.-Biography:Schüler was born in...
participated too (she said about van Hoddis´ performances "His verses are so ardent that one wants to steal them" ). The last, ninth, evening of the Cabaret took place in the spring of 1912; it was a tribute to the tragically deceased Georg Heym. The Cabaret was very popular, often attracting hundreds of spectators. It was during one of these evenings when Weltende was recited, and electrified the audience totally. Many artists later remembered the impact the eight lines had on them that day.
During this part of his life, things started to get worse. Not only was he expelled from university, but he lost his father and his close friends, Heym and Ernst Balcke. He suffered a breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and voluntarily entered a mental hospital. Although he was released, he was soon forced to come back after attacking his mother. His mental health continued to decline, and he lived in private care from 1914 until 1922. After 1927, when his mother lost her money, he came under the care of a state clinic. In 1933, immediately after Hitler's nomination as Prime Minister, Van Hoddis' family escaped to Tel Aviv (where his broken-hearted mother died a few months later). It proved impossible for him to secure an entrance certificate to the British Mandate of Anglo-Palestine, due to his mental illness, so he was forced to remain in Germany, where expressionism had come to be seen as an absolutely unacceptable form of art.
Some expressionist artists managed to flee the country, many more either committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
or were murdered in concentration camps. As Van Hoddis was Jewish, an expressionist, and also mentally ill (which then meant in Germany
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...
that he was subject to "mercy killing"), his death in Nazi Germany was almost guaranteed. On the 30 April 1942, he and all the other patients and staff (five hundred people) of his sanatorium were transported to Sobibór via Krasnystaw. None of them survived. The date of van Hoddis´ death remains unknown.
Works
Only one book, Weltende, was published during his life, in 1918. André BretonAndré Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
included van Hoddis into his Anthology of Black Humor
Anthology of Black Humor
The Anthology of Black Humor is an anthology of 45 writers edited by André Breton. It was first published in 1940 in Paris by Éditions du Sagittaire and its distribution was immediately banned by the Vichy government. It got reprinted in 1947 after Breton's return from exile, with a few additions...
. In the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking world he remains almost unknown.
Posthumous collections:
- Paul Pörtner (ed.): Jakob van Hoddis, Weltende. Gesammelte Dichtungen. Arche, ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, 1958 - Collected poems - Regina Nörtemann (ed.): Jakob van Hoddis. Dichtungen und Briefe. Wallstein, GöttingenGöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, 2007 - Poetry and Letters
Weltende
-
- Dem Bürger fliegt vom spitzen Kopf der Hut,
- In allen Lüften hallt es wie Geschrei.
- Dachdecker stürzen ab und gehn entzwei
- Und an den Küsten – liest man – steigt die Flut.
-
- Der Sturm ist da, die wilden Meere hupfen
- An Land, um dicke Dämme zu zerdrücken.
- Die meisten Menschen haben einen Schnupfen.
- Die Eisenbahnen fallen von den Brücken.
[
-
- From bourgeois’ pointed heads their bowlers flew,
- the whole atmosphere´s like full of cry.
- Tile layers fall from roofs and break in two,
- and on the coast, one reads, the water´s high.
-
- The storm is here, the seven seas do wildly hop
- onto the land to bust thick dams.
- The folk have cold, so many noses need a mop.
- From viaducts fall down the trams.
]
(For a more literal translation please see )
Literary influence
Weltende is referenced in a poem by CatalanCatalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
author Gabriel Ferrater
Gabriel Ferrater
Gabriel Ferrater i Soler was an author, translator and scholar of linguistics who wrote in the Catalan language. His poetical work is one of the most important among the authors of post-war Catalonia and he continues to exert a great deal of influence over authors nowadays...
called Fi del món ("End of the world"), which paraphrases some of its images.