The Prince of Homburg (play)
Encyclopedia
The Prince of Homburg is a play by Heinrich von Kleist
written in 1809-10, but not performed until 1821, after the author's death. A performance during his lifetime was not possible because Princess Marianne of Prussia (wife of Prince William of Prussia), by birth a member of the Hesse-Homburg
family, to whom Kleist had given sight of the work with a dedication, felt her family honour insulted by it.
The title relates to the real Prince of Homburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin
in 1675, Friedrich von Hessen-Homburg
(1633-1708), but beyond the name and place there is little if any resemblance between the Romantic
character in the play and the eponym
ous Friedrich, a successful professional soldier of many years' standing.
The play has been filmed a number of times, and inspired the opera Der Prinz von Homburg by Hans Werner Henze
(premiere 1960).
, a young officer of the Great Elector (Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg), is exhausted after a long campaign. Walking in his sleep, he puts on a laurel wreath. Several noblemen notice this, and the Great Elector plays a trick on the Prince, which leads him to declare his love for the Elector's niece, Natalie. He is able to take one of her gloves. After waking from his dream the Prince is puzzled by the glove in his hand. When at the next council of war the plans for the next battle are being discussed, and duties are being handed out, the Prince is thrown into confusion by the appearance of Princess Natalie, who reveals herself as the owner of the glove, and he is distracted to the extent that he fails to take on board his orders, which are not to engage the enemy without a direct order to do so. Contrary to his instructions he attacks the enemy at the Battle of Fehrbellin
- and wins.
The Elector however is concerned above all with discipline. Regardless of the victory, he has the Prince arrested for disobeying an order and tried at a court martial, where the Prince is condemned to death. He fails initially to grasp the seriousness of the situation, and starts to be truly concerned only when he hears that the Elector has signed his death warrant. The reality of his situation only hits home when he is shown the grave that has been dug for him. In the famous and controversial "fear of death scene" (Todesfurchtszene) the Prince begs for his life, prepared to give up all that is dear to him in return. When the Elector hears of the Prince's reaction, he too is confused, possibly astonished, but claims to have the greatest respect for the Prince's feeling. Instead of simply pardoning him, however, he sets a condition: if the Prince can genuinely call his condemnation unjust, he will be pardoned. The question raises the Prince to a state of enlightenment: he conquers his fear of death and is prepared to "glorify" the sentence by a "free death". It remains debatable whether he really considers his sentence justified. Nor does it ever come to light to what extent the Elector may have planned all this to teach him a lesson.
Meanwhile Natalie, without a legitimate order, has recalled Kottwitz's regiment to obtain support for Homburg's pardon. In the face of the general pressure now put on him, the Elector now listens to his officers. Kottwitz is of the opinion that what counts on the field of battle is victory, and that there is nothing with which to reproach the Prince. Hohenzollern goes further and attributes the guilt to the Elector, as he caused the Prince's confusion and consequent insubordination by the trick he played on him, and therefore bears the responsibility himself. Finally the Elector asks the officers if they are happy to continue to trust themselves to the Prince's leadership - to which all say yes.
The Prince learns nothing of his pardon, but is led blindfold into the open air, in the belief that he is about to be executed. But there is no bullet: instead, the niece of the Elector crowns him with a laurel wreath. To his question whether this is a dream, Kottwitz replies, "A dream, what else" ("Ein Traum, was sonst"). The Prince faints.
in the Battle of Fehrbellin
engaged in a self-willed and precipitate attack on the enemy - and won the battle. This seems to be an anecdote unfounded in historical fact, but Kleist made use of it as a source anyway and developed the subject matter freely. Particularly, Kleist changed the prince's action "without express orders" into action " against express orders".
At the time when Kleist was writing the play, there were a number of topical instances of insubordination which could have provided the inspiration behind it:
The weakness and passivity of the Prussian
King Friedrich Wilhelm III towards Napoleon's constant expansion of his power, was a great problem for many of his subjects and contemporaries. In the face of the threat presented by the French to the country's very existence a wave of Prussian patriotism arose, to which Kleist himself was not immune.
The young Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia attacked the enemy without authorisation in 1806 in the Battle of Saalfeld
. His attack was unsuccessful, and resulted in a defeat; the prince himself died in the battle. Nevertheless, many people praised his courage and his personal engagement for the fatherland, and he became posthumously a popular national hero.
In 1809 under the command of Major Ferdinand von Schill
many unsanctioned military actions against the French oppressors were carried out by the Prussian Freikorps
. Schill found many followers and supporters among those who felt betrayed by the king's negligible resistance.
, they offended the rules governing the portrayed behaviour of the aristocratic figures of tragedy
. This was a convention that really only disappeared shortly before the First World War, when it did become possible to portray an aristocrat as a figure of comedy, for example Baron Ochs in Hugo von Hofmannsthal
's Der Rosenkavalier
.
Heinrich Heine
praised the work as "as though written by the genius of poetry itself". For de la Motte Fouqué
it was "the most divine poem ever to proceed from the pen of Kleist". Friedrich Hebbel however commented that through the representation of the fear of death, an enlightenment of the protagonist was achieved that in other works could only be produced by death itself. Otto von Bismarck
simply thought that the prince was a "weak reed - with his fear of death".
The play was not published or produced during Kleist's lifetime. In a shortened version under the title Die Schlacht von Fehrbellin it had its premiere in Vienna in 1821, but after only four performances was taken off when Archduke Karl objected to it. In 1828 it was performed for the first time in Berlin, again in a shortened form, but after three performances the King banned it.
It was a very popular piece however during the Third Reich, generally with a number of significant amendments to tailor it to contemporary circumstances. This resulted in its almost total neglect in the period after the war
and it returned only slowly to the German stage.
, was premiered at the Donmar Warehouse
from 22 July to 4 September 2010, with the Elector played by Ian McDiarmid
. This adaptation altered the ending so that the Prince met with the Elector to accept the death sentence and to ask as his last wish that the Elector continue the war with Sweden rather than make peace. The Elector honours this dying wish of the Prince, though once the Prince has gone he tells his generals that he will only continue it three days and then make peace after all - he feels that the Prince almost lost him victory once by his impetuosity and will not lose it again at the Prince's request. Natalia scatters flowers where the Prince is to be shot, which he finds just before he is then shot, alone. The Elector then makes a speech exhorting his people to continue the war, but meets with hostile silence. This change of ending was criticised by drama critics, including Michael Billington
of The Guardian
In 2009, Marie-José Malis toured with a French-language version created with the help of Alain Badiou
, explicitly asking whether there were any other possibility than the death of the Prince, and making discussion on the topic part of the experience of the play. The day before the staging in Arles, on May 14th 2009, she held a public discussion in the theatre, asking the public whether they had any suggestions as to how the play should end, as she herself was still undecided as to how to end the play. This fostering of discussion was itself an important element of the re-staging of the play. In the event, on that first night in Arles at least, the Prince and Natalia and a soldier friendly to their cause shoot their way out of the place in which the Prince is to be executed.
based on it his opera Der Prinz von Homburg, in three acts, first performed in Hamburg in 1960. It has also been filmed a number of times for cinema and television, most recently in an Italian
version of 1997, Il principe di Homburg, directed by Marco Bellocchio.
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
written in 1809-10, but not performed until 1821, after the author's death. A performance during his lifetime was not possible because Princess Marianne of Prussia (wife of Prince William of Prussia), by birth a member of the Hesse-Homburg
Hesse-Homburg
Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668....
family, to whom Kleist had given sight of the work with a dedication, felt her family honour insulted by it.
The title relates to the real Prince of Homburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
in 1675, Friedrich von Hessen-Homburg
Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg , also known as the Prince of Homburg was Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg. He was also a successful and experienced general for the crowns of both Sweden and of Brandenburg, but is best remembered as the eponymous hero of Heinrich von Kleist's play Der Prinz von Homburg.-...
(1633-1708), but beyond the name and place there is little if any resemblance between the Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
character in the play and the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous Friedrich, a successful professional soldier of many years' standing.
The play has been filmed a number of times, and inspired the opera Der Prinz von Homburg by Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
(premiere 1960).
Plot
The Prince of HomburgFrederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg , also known as the Prince of Homburg was Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg. He was also a successful and experienced general for the crowns of both Sweden and of Brandenburg, but is best remembered as the eponymous hero of Heinrich von Kleist's play Der Prinz von Homburg.-...
, a young officer of the Great Elector (Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg), is exhausted after a long campaign. Walking in his sleep, he puts on a laurel wreath. Several noblemen notice this, and the Great Elector plays a trick on the Prince, which leads him to declare his love for the Elector's niece, Natalie. He is able to take one of her gloves. After waking from his dream the Prince is puzzled by the glove in his hand. When at the next council of war the plans for the next battle are being discussed, and duties are being handed out, the Prince is thrown into confusion by the appearance of Princess Natalie, who reveals herself as the owner of the glove, and he is distracted to the extent that he fails to take on board his orders, which are not to engage the enemy without a direct order to do so. Contrary to his instructions he attacks the enemy at the Battle of Fehrbellin
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
- and wins.
The Elector however is concerned above all with discipline. Regardless of the victory, he has the Prince arrested for disobeying an order and tried at a court martial, where the Prince is condemned to death. He fails initially to grasp the seriousness of the situation, and starts to be truly concerned only when he hears that the Elector has signed his death warrant. The reality of his situation only hits home when he is shown the grave that has been dug for him. In the famous and controversial "fear of death scene" (Todesfurchtszene) the Prince begs for his life, prepared to give up all that is dear to him in return. When the Elector hears of the Prince's reaction, he too is confused, possibly astonished, but claims to have the greatest respect for the Prince's feeling. Instead of simply pardoning him, however, he sets a condition: if the Prince can genuinely call his condemnation unjust, he will be pardoned. The question raises the Prince to a state of enlightenment: he conquers his fear of death and is prepared to "glorify" the sentence by a "free death". It remains debatable whether he really considers his sentence justified. Nor does it ever come to light to what extent the Elector may have planned all this to teach him a lesson.
Meanwhile Natalie, without a legitimate order, has recalled Kottwitz's regiment to obtain support for Homburg's pardon. In the face of the general pressure now put on him, the Elector now listens to his officers. Kottwitz is of the opinion that what counts on the field of battle is victory, and that there is nothing with which to reproach the Prince. Hohenzollern goes further and attributes the guilt to the Elector, as he caused the Prince's confusion and consequent insubordination by the trick he played on him, and therefore bears the responsibility himself. Finally the Elector asks the officers if they are happy to continue to trust themselves to the Prince's leadership - to which all say yes.
The Prince learns nothing of his pardon, but is led blindfold into the open air, in the belief that he is about to be executed. But there is no bullet: instead, the niece of the Elector crowns him with a laurel wreath. To his question whether this is a dream, Kottwitz replies, "A dream, what else" ("Ein Traum, was sonst"). The Prince faints.
Characters
- Friedrich Wilhelm, Kurfürst von Brandenburg
- The Kurfürstin
- Prinzessin Natalie von Oranien, his niece
- Feldmarschall Dörfling, commander of a dragoon regiment
- Prinz Friedrich Arthur von Homburg, general of the cavalry
- Obrist Kottwitz, colonel of the regiment of the Prinzessin von Oranien
- Hennings, infantry colonel
- Graf Truchß, infantry colonel
- Graf Hohenzollern, of the Elector's entourage
- Rittmeister von der Golz and others
Historical background
In his Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la maison de Brandenbourg, Frederick the Great describes how Prince Friedrich of Hessen-HomburgFrederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg , also known as the Prince of Homburg was Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg. He was also a successful and experienced general for the crowns of both Sweden and of Brandenburg, but is best remembered as the eponymous hero of Heinrich von Kleist's play Der Prinz von Homburg.-...
in the Battle of Fehrbellin
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
engaged in a self-willed and precipitate attack on the enemy - and won the battle. This seems to be an anecdote unfounded in historical fact, but Kleist made use of it as a source anyway and developed the subject matter freely. Particularly, Kleist changed the prince's action "without express orders" into action " against express orders".
At the time when Kleist was writing the play, there were a number of topical instances of insubordination which could have provided the inspiration behind it:
The weakness and passivity of the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
King Friedrich Wilhelm III towards Napoleon's constant expansion of his power, was a great problem for many of his subjects and contemporaries. In the face of the threat presented by the French to the country's very existence a wave of Prussian patriotism arose, to which Kleist himself was not immune.
The young Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia attacked the enemy without authorisation in 1806 in the Battle of Saalfeld
Battle of Saalfeld
The Battle of Saalfeld saw Marshal Lannes and a division of his V Corps defeat 8,300 Prussians under Prince Louis Ferdinand.-Battle:Prince Louis Ferdinand was one of the principal advocates of resuming war against the French....
. His attack was unsuccessful, and resulted in a defeat; the prince himself died in the battle. Nevertheless, many people praised his courage and his personal engagement for the fatherland, and he became posthumously a popular national hero.
In 1809 under the command of Major Ferdinand von Schill
Ferdinand von Schill
Ferdinand Baptista von Schill was a Prussian officer who revolted unsuccessfully against French domination in May 1809.-Life:...
many unsanctioned military actions against the French oppressors were carried out by the Prussian Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
. Schill found many followers and supporters among those who felt betrayed by the king's negligible resistance.
Reception
This, Kleist's last play, met with resistance, and not only from his contemporaries. The fear of death scene was long held to be unperformable and was always omitted. Equally criticised were the prince's sleep-walking and the trick played by the Elector. This was because although these were things that were acceptable in comedyComedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, they offended the rules governing the portrayed behaviour of the aristocratic figures of tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. This was a convention that really only disappeared shortly before the First World War, when it did become possible to portray an aristocrat as a figure of comedy, for example Baron Ochs in Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
's Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
.
Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
praised the work as "as though written by the genius of poetry itself". For de la Motte Fouqué
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué was a German writer of the romantic style.-Biography:He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in his family name...
it was "the most divine poem ever to proceed from the pen of Kleist". Friedrich Hebbel however commented that through the representation of the fear of death, an enlightenment of the protagonist was achieved that in other works could only be produced by death itself. Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
simply thought that the prince was a "weak reed - with his fear of death".
The play was not published or produced during Kleist's lifetime. In a shortened version under the title Die Schlacht von Fehrbellin it had its premiere in Vienna in 1821, but after only four performances was taken off when Archduke Karl objected to it. In 1828 it was performed for the first time in Berlin, again in a shortened form, but after three performances the King banned it.
It was a very popular piece however during the Third Reich, generally with a number of significant amendments to tailor it to contemporary circumstances. This resulted in its almost total neglect in the period after the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and it returned only slowly to the German stage.
Stage translations
The Prince of Homburg, an English stage adaptation by Dennis KellyDennis Kelly
Dennis Kelly is a London-based writer for both the theatre and television. Oberon plays have published a volume of Dennis Kelly Plays; Debris, After the End, Osama the Hero and Love and Money...
, was premiered at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
from 22 July to 4 September 2010, with the Elector played by Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
. This adaptation altered the ending so that the Prince met with the Elector to accept the death sentence and to ask as his last wish that the Elector continue the war with Sweden rather than make peace. The Elector honours this dying wish of the Prince, though once the Prince has gone he tells his generals that he will only continue it three days and then make peace after all - he feels that the Prince almost lost him victory once by his impetuosity and will not lose it again at the Prince's request. Natalia scatters flowers where the Prince is to be shot, which he finds just before he is then shot, alone. The Elector then makes a speech exhorting his people to continue the war, but meets with hostile silence. This change of ending was criticised by drama critics, including Michael Billington
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
In 2009, Marie-José Malis toured with a French-language version created with the help of Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou is a French philosopher, professor at European Graduate School, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure . Along with Giorgio Agamben and Slavoj Žižek, Badiou is a prominent figure in an anti-postmodern strand of continental philosophy...
, explicitly asking whether there were any other possibility than the death of the Prince, and making discussion on the topic part of the experience of the play. The day before the staging in Arles, on May 14th 2009, she held a public discussion in the theatre, asking the public whether they had any suggestions as to how the play should end, as she herself was still undecided as to how to end the play. This fostering of discussion was itself an important element of the re-staging of the play. In the event, on that first night in Arles at least, the Prince and Natalia and a soldier friendly to their cause shoot their way out of the place in which the Prince is to be executed.
Other media
Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
based on it his opera Der Prinz von Homburg, in three acts, first performed in Hamburg in 1960. It has also been filmed a number of times for cinema and television, most recently in an Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version of 1997, Il principe di Homburg, directed by Marco Bellocchio.