Wuppertal poets' circle

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An 1859 caricature by Johann Richard Seel [de] that depicts Siebel (top-left), Rittershaus and Carl Michels.

The Wuppertal poets' circle (German: Wuppertaler Dichterkreis or Wupperbund) was a literary circle that existed during the 1850s, remaining active into the 1870s and 1880s. The core of the loosely-knit group consisted of seven poets born in or around Wuppertal, Germany: the merchants Reinhart Neuhaus [de], Emil Rittershaus, Friedrich Roeber, Adolf Schults, Wilhelm Wens, Carl Siebel, Karl Stelter,[1] and the bookseller Hugo Oelbermann. The circle "opposed gloomy Wuppertal Pietism with a free and joyful view of existence."[1]

History[edit]

The founders of the Wuppertal poets largely came from affluent merchant families. The forerunners to the circle included Biedermeier reading clubs, theatres and other societies in the 1830s and 1840s—directly, however, the association had its origins in an earlier reading circle and amateur theatre existing in the late 1840s, composed of Hugo Oelbermann, Emil Ritterhaus, Wilhelm Wens and later Carl Siebel.[2]

This culminated in the founding of the circle in 1850, initially called the Wupperbund (lit. 'Wuppertal federation'), by Oelbermann, Rittershaus, Wens and Siebel. Aiming to give the circle credibility, they recruited figures already known in Wuppertal such as Adolf Schults and Friedrich Roeber, as well as lawyers, conductors and organists.[3]

The members of the circle met at the coffeehouse of "Knevels" in the Old Market [de] (Altenmarkt) in Barmen, Wuppertal.[2]

The circle partially dissolved in 1853, after the departure of Oelbermann from Barmen,[4] and was replaced by a Sunday circle (Sonntagskränzchen) at the house of Roeber, consisting of poetry recitations and drama readings. This successor itself dissolved in the early 1860s.[5][6]

Author Jost Hermand in 1998 summarised the circle as follows:[7]

In their works is manifested the ideological dilemma of young merchants and factory owners' sons, who, despite their relentless desire for competition and their ruthless exploitation of the workers who laboured for them, continued to try to surround themselves with the early bourgeois-liberal appearance of education, even of poetic genius.

The term Wuppertaler Dichterkreis used to describe the group was coined by poet Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter in 1863.[8]

Friedrich Engels knew multiple members of the circle, keeping in contact with them during his residence in Bremen in 1838–1841, as some were fellow pupils of his at the Elberfeld high school. This is also evidenced by his association and correspondence with Siebel and Rittershaus.[9]

Notable members[edit]

The 1970s Wupperbund[edit]

In the early 1970s, a literature workshop was established at the Wuppertal Adult Education Center, which was compared to the Wuppertal circle in the regional press.[11] This new "literature workshop"[12] participated in the founding of the nationwide Literature of the Working World Workgroup [de] in Cologne in 1970 and then hosted a large gathering of its member "workshops" as part of the intercommunal festival URBS '71 in Vohwinkel, Wuppertal [de].[13][14][15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Stelter, Karl". Meyers Konversations-Lexikon [Meyers Lexikon] (in German). Vol. 18. Leipzig, Germany: Bibliographisches Institut. 1909. p. 925. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b Brandt-Schwarze 1998b, p. 497.
  3. ^ Hermand 1998, p. 124.
  4. ^ Brandt-Schwarze 1998b, p. 498.
  5. ^ Hermand 1998, p. 125.
  6. ^ Brandt-Schwarze 1998a, p. 390.
  7. ^ Hermand 1998, p. 126.
  8. ^ Findlay 1972, p. 800.
  9. ^ Marx & Engels 2010, p. 623, footnote 242: "Schults belonged to a group of Wuppertal writers and art-lovers which included many of Engels' fellow pupils from the Elberfeld high school who kept in touch with him during his residence (from July 1838 to March 1841) in Bremen, where he was gaining practical experience with a commercial firm and was also engaged in literary activities."
  10. ^ a b c d Brandt-Schwarze 1998b, p. 497–498.
  11. ^ Lübben, Gerd Hergen (2 January 1971). "Spracharbeit und Arbeitswelt. Vom ‚Wupperbund' zur Wupper-‚Werkstatt'" [Language work and the world of work. From the 'Wupperbund' to the Wupper 'workshop']. Westdeutsche Rundschau (in German). OCLC 12242198.
  12. ^ Böger, Helmut (21 November 1970). "Die Anlässe des Schreibens" [The Occasions of Writing]. Neue Ruhr Zeitung (in German).
  13. ^ Lübben, Gerd Hergen (1970). "Aus der Maloche zur Sprache. Die Wuppertaler Werkstatt für Literatur der Arbeitswelt." [From hardship to language. The Wuppertal Workshop for Literature of the Working World.]. Werkstatt-Heft 1 der Westberliner Werkstatt im Werkkreis Literatur der Arbeitswelt [Workshop Notebook 1 of the West Berlin Workshop in the Literary Work Circle of the Working World] (in German).
  14. ^ Rabasseda, Edith (24 June 1971). "Literatur in Aktion. In der Woche von „URBS 71" trafen sich in Wuppertal fünfzehn Werkstätten des Werkkreises Literatur der Arbeitswelt" [Literature in action. During the week of "URBS 71", fifteen workshops from the Literature of the Working World group met in Wuppertal.]. Deutsche Volkszeitung (1953–1989) [de].
  15. ^ Lübben, Gerd Hergen (1972). "Urbs 71. Notizen zu einer kulturellen Initiative" [Urbs 71. Notes on a cultural initiative.]. Der Städtetag (in German) (9). Cologne.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Clauder, Heidelind (2012). Wuppertaler Schriftsteller des 19. Jahrhunderts zwischen Revolution und Anpassung [Wuppertal writers of the 19th century between revolution and adaptation] (in German). Marburg: Tectum Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8288-2893-3. OCLC 793511310.
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