Theodor Kramer
Encyclopedia
Theodor Kramer was an Austria
n poet of Jewish origin. He was persecuted during the Second World War and fled to the United Kingdom. After his death his significant poetic output fell into obscurity, but has been rediscovered in recent decades. Several of his poems have been set to music.
in the Weinviertel
region of Lower Austria
. After completing his secondary education with the matura examination
he served as an officer in the Austrian army until the end of the war. After the war, he began to study Germanic philology and governmental studies, but curtailed his university education to work as a civil servant and later a book retailer. From 1931 he earned his living by writing. His literary output, almost exclusively poetry, brought him significant success and he became well-known in the German-speaking world.
After the Anschluss
with Nazi Germany
, Kramer - a Jew and Social Democrat - was forbidden to work. In 1939 he was able against all the odds to secure emigration to the United Kingdom, first for his wife and then for himself. From 1940 to 1941 he was imprisoned as an enemy alien
. In 1943 he started work as a college librarian in Guildford. In 1946 he took British citizenship, and stayed in the same job until 1957. He was on the governing body of the Austrian PEN club
, an association of persecuted writers. He was in close contact with other members of the club like Elias Canetti
, Erich Fried
and Hilde Spiel. In the 1950s he gradually withdrew from social contact and his health deteriorated. In 1957 he was recalled to Vienna where he received an honorary pension. He died in Vienna on 3 April 1958 and was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery
(30B - 1- 2) in a grave of honour (a grave given to particularly significant citizens).
Kramer's work was soon forgotten. His lyrical yet unromantic poetry draws its power and poetic quality from its depiction of outsiders: members of the proletariat, tramps, craftsmen, servants and whores. Kramer wrote sensitive poetic portraits of people and landscapes. His literary influences were Georg Trakl
and Bertolt Brecht
. Kramer's oeuvre consists of 10,000 works, many of which remain unpublished.
Thomas Mann
called him, "one of the greatest poets of the young generation," and Stefan Zweig
and Carl Zuckmayer
promoted his writing. Yet the eighteen years of his exile in the United Kingdom were sufficient to allow his work to fall into obscurity, at least amongst the general reading public.
From the end of the 1970s, the interpretations of his poetry by the German folk duo Zupfgeigenhansel contributed significantly to the rediscovery of Kramer. In recent years the Berlin singer Hans-Eckardt Wenzel has released two albums of Kramer's poems set to music, which has revived interest in the poet in the German-speaking world.
The Theodor Kramer Prize of the Theodor Kramer Society is awarded to authors writing in a context of resistance or exile.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n poet of Jewish origin. He was persecuted during the Second World War and fled to the United Kingdom. After his death his significant poetic output fell into obscurity, but has been rediscovered in recent decades. Several of his poems have been set to music.
Biography
Theodor Kramer was born on 1 January 1897. His father was the village doctor of NiederhollabrunnNiederhollabrunn
Niederhollabrunn is a town in the district of Korneuburg in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
in the Weinviertel
Weinviertel
The Weinviertel or Viertel unter dem Manhartsberg is located in the northeast of Lower Austria....
region of Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. After completing his secondary education with the matura examination
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
he served as an officer in the Austrian army until the end of the war. After the war, he began to study Germanic philology and governmental studies, but curtailed his university education to work as a civil servant and later a book retailer. From 1931 he earned his living by writing. His literary output, almost exclusively poetry, brought him significant success and he became well-known in the German-speaking world.
After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, Kramer - a Jew and Social Democrat - was forbidden to work. In 1939 he was able against all the odds to secure emigration to the United Kingdom, first for his wife and then for himself. From 1940 to 1941 he was imprisoned as an enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
. In 1943 he started work as a college librarian in Guildford. In 1946 he took British citizenship, and stayed in the same job until 1957. He was on the governing body of the Austrian PEN club
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
, an association of persecuted writers. He was in close contact with other members of the club like Elias Canetti
Elias Canetti
Elias Canetti was a Bulgarian-born modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer. He wrote in German and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power".-Life:...
, Erich Fried
Erich Fried
Erich Fried , an Austrian poet who settled in England, was known for his political-minded poetry. He was also a broadcaster, translator and essayist....
and Hilde Spiel. In the 1950s he gradually withdrew from social contact and his health deteriorated. In 1957 he was recalled to Vienna where he received an honorary pension. He died in Vienna on 3 April 1958 and was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery
Zentralfriedhof
The Zentralfriedhof is one of the largest cemeteries in the world, largest by number of interred in Europe and most famous cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries.-Name and location:...
(30B - 1- 2) in a grave of honour (a grave given to particularly significant citizens).
Kramer's work was soon forgotten. His lyrical yet unromantic poetry draws its power and poetic quality from its depiction of outsiders: members of the proletariat, tramps, craftsmen, servants and whores. Kramer wrote sensitive poetic portraits of people and landscapes. His literary influences were Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl was an Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists.- Life and work :Trakl was born and lived the first 18 years of his life in Salzburg, Austria...
and Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
. Kramer's oeuvre consists of 10,000 works, many of which remain unpublished.
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
called him, "one of the greatest poets of the young generation," and Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
and Carl Zuckmayer
Carl Zuckmayer
Carl Zuckmayer was a German writer and playwright.-Biography:Born in Nackenheim in Rheinhessen, he was four years old when his family moved to Mainz. With the outbreak of World War I, he finished school with a facilitated "emergency"-Abitur and volunteered for military service...
promoted his writing. Yet the eighteen years of his exile in the United Kingdom were sufficient to allow his work to fall into obscurity, at least amongst the general reading public.
From the end of the 1970s, the interpretations of his poetry by the German folk duo Zupfgeigenhansel contributed significantly to the rediscovery of Kramer. In recent years the Berlin singer Hans-Eckardt Wenzel has released two albums of Kramer's poems set to music, which has revived interest in the poet in the German-speaking world.
Awards
- 1958 Literaturpreis der Stadt Wien (a literature prize awarded by the city of Vienna)
The Theodor Kramer Prize of the Theodor Kramer Society is awarded to authors writing in a context of resistance or exile.
Works
This is a list of his works, in German.- Gesammelte Gedichte in drei Bänden. Erwin Chvojka Ed. 3 vols. Paul Zsolnay Verlag, Vienna 2005. ISBN 3-552-04875-8
- Spätes Lied. Gedichte. Erwin Chvojka Ed. Europaverlag, Munich 1996. ISBN 3203792559
- Lass still bei Dir mich liegen ... Love poems. Erwin Chvojka Ed. Paul Zsolnay Verlag, Vienna 2005. ISBN 3-552-05358-1
- Der alte Zitherspieler. Portraits. Erwin Chvojka Ed. Club Niederösterreich, Vienna 1999. ISBN 3-85326-117-5
- So lange der Atem uns trägt. Poems. Theodor Kramer-Gesellschaft, Vienna 2004. ISBN 3-901602-19-4
- Herta MüllerHerta MüllerHerta Müller is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet and essayist noted for her works depicting the effects of violence, cruelty and terror, usually in the setting of Communist Romania under the repressive Nicolae Ceauşescu regime which she experienced herself...
(Ed.): Die Wahrheit ist, man hat mir nichts getan. Poems. Paul Zsolnay, Vienna 1999. ISBN 3-552-04917-7
External links
- Theodor Kramer Gesellschaft includes biography, bibliography and excerpts of his works (in German).
- Ich leb' verstört dahin Article by Hannes Schwenger in Die Welt (in German).
- Kramerprogramm by Kellerman and Rieck with song lyrics and audio clips (in German).
- Kramer-Lesung Biography and poems of Kramer (in German).