German novelist (1621/2?1676)
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
(1621/22 ? 17 August 1676)
[2]
was a German author. He is best known for his 1669
picaresque novel
Simplicius Simplicissimus
(German:
Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus
) and the accompanying
Simplician Scriptures
series.
Early life
[
edit
]
Grimmelshausen was born at
Gelnhausen
. At the age of ten, he was kidnapped by
Hessian
soldiers, and in their midst experienced military life in the
Thirty Years' War
. In 1639, he became a regular soldier in the
Imperial Army
. At the latest, in the year 1644 he worked as a writer in a regiment's chancellery?from that year on documents by Hans Jakob Christoffel exist. At the close of the war, Grimmelshausen entered the service of
Franz Egon von Furstenberg
, bishop of
Strasbourg
. In 1665, he was made magistrate (German:
Schultheiß
) at
Renchen
in
Baden
. On obtaining this appointment, he devoted himself to literary pursuits.
[3]
Works
[
edit
]
Grimmelshausen's work is greatly influenced by previous
utopian
and
travel literature
, and the
Simplicissimus
series attained a readership larger than any other seventeenth-century novel. Formerly, he was credited with
Der fliegende Wandersmann nach dem Mond
, a translation from
Jean Baudoin
's
L'Homme dans la Lune
, itself a translation of
Francis Godwin
'
s
The Man in the Moone
,
[4]
but recent scholars have disputed this; he did, however, write an appendix to a 1667 edition of that translation, the basis for that association.
Der fliegende Wandersman
was included in his collected works, though without the appendix.
[5]
In 1668, Grimmelshausen published
Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus
,
[6]
which has been called the greatest German novel of the 17th century.
[7]
For this work he took as his model the
picaresque
romances of Spain, already to some extent known in Germany.
Simplicissimus
has been interpreted as its author's autobiography; he begins with the childhood of his hero, and describes the latter's adventures amid the stirring scenes of the
Thirty Years' War
. The rustic detail with which these pictures are presented makes the book a valuable document of its time. For some, however, the later parts of the book overindulge in allegory, and finally become a
Robinson Crusoe
story.
[3]
Among Grimmelshausen's other works, are the so-called
Simplicianische Schriften
(German:
Simplizianische Schriften
):
- Die Ertzbetrugerin and Landstortzerin Courasche
[8]
(1670)
- Der seltsame Springinsfeld
[9]
(1670)
- Das wunderbarliche Vogelnest
(1672)
He also published satires, such as
Der teutsche Michel
[10]
(1673), and gallant novels, like
Dietwald und Amelinde
(1670).
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Grimmelshausen died in Renchen in 1676, where a monument was erected to him in 1879.
[2]
His
Landstortzerin Courasche
became an inspiration for
Bertolt Brecht
's play
Mother Courage and Her Children
.
[11]
[12]
Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus
lent its name to
Simplicissimus
, a satirical German weekly which ran from 1894 to 1944 and 1954 to 1967.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
List of pseudonyms attributed (as
anagrams
) to Grimmelshausen:
Samuel Greiffensohn von Hirschfeld
German Schleifheim von Sulsfort
Melchior Sternfels von Fugshaim
Philarchus Grossus von Trommenheim
Michael Rechulin von Sehmsdorf
Eric Steinfels von Grufenshohn
Simon Lengfrisch von Hartenfels
Israel Fromschmid von Hugenfels
[13]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Krause, Tilman; Baier, Ute (24 June 2005).
"Ratselhafter junger Mann"
[Mysterious young man].
Die Welt
(in German)
. Retrieved
15 November
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoph von"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. 13 August 2018
. Retrieved
17 October
2018
.
- ^
a
b
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoffel von
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 603.
- ^
Hennig, John (1945). "Simplicius Simplicissimus's British Relations".
Modern Language Review
.
40
(1): 37?45.
doi
:
10.2307/3717748
.
JSTOR
3717748
.
- ^
Burger, Thomas; Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig (1993).
Der Fliegende Wandersmann nach dem Mond: Faksimiledruck der deutschen Ubersetzung
(in German). Wolfenbuttel: Herzog August Bibliothek (published 1995).
ISBN
978-3-88373-074-5
.
- ^
Grimmelshausen, H. J. Chr.
(1669).
Der abentheurliche Simplicissimus
[
The adventurous Simplicissimus
] (in German). Nuremberg: J. Fillion.
OCLC
22567416
.
- ^
Moore, Steven (2013).
Novel: An Alternative History, 1600?1800
. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 61.
ISBN
978-1441188694
.
- ^
Grimmelshausen, H. J. Chr.
(1670).
Trutz Simplex: Die Ertzbetrugerin und Landstortzerin Courasche
[
Simple's defense: The arch-fraud and pauper Courage
] (in German). Nuremberg: W. E. Felssecker.
OCLC
248092792
.
- ^
Grimmelshausen, H. J. Chr.
(1670).
Der seltzame Springinsfeld
[
The strange Jump-into-the-field
] (in German). Nuremberg: W. E. Felssecker.
OCLC
79549164
.
- ^
Grimmelshausen, H. J. Chr.
(1673).
Simplicissimi Pralerey und Geprang mit seinem Teutschen Michel
[
Simplicissimus' boast and talk with his German Michel
] (in German). Nuremberg.
- ^
Harold Bloom (2009).
Bertolt Brecht: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide
. Infobase Publishing. p. 28.
ISBN
978-1-4381-1639-6
.
- ^
G. Ronald Murphy (2010).
Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival
. Oxford University Press. p. 203.
ISBN
978-0-19-974759-7
.
- ^
"Anagramme Grimmelshausens"
(in German). Grimmelshausenfreunde Renchen e.V
. Retrieved
17 November
2019
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Arthur F. J. Remy (1913).
"Johann Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen"
. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- "Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Kristoffel von"
.
Encyclopedia Americana
. 1920.
- Antoine, Ferdinand (1882).
Etude sur le Simplicissimus de Grimmelshausen
[
Study about Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus
] (Thesis) (in French). Paris: Klincksieck.
OCLC
15378464
.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (1986) [1669].
An unabridged translation of Simplicius simplicissimus
. Translated by Adair, Monte Frederick. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
ISBN
9780819153487
.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (2011) [1670].
Courage - The vindictive tramp
. Translated by Adair, Monte Frederick. Magdeburg: Copy Team.
ISBN
9783941170674
.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (2012) [1670].
The Elusive Springinsfeld
. Translated by Adair, Monte Frederick. Magdeburg: Copy Team.
ISBN
9783941170667
.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (1882) [1669].
Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus
(in German). Vol. 1. Berlin und Stuttgart: W. Spemann.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (1882) [1669].
Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus
(in German). Vol. 2. Berlin und Stuttgart: W. Spemann.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (1912) [1669].
Simplicius Simplicissimus
. Translated by Goodrick, Arthur Thomas Scrope. London: Wiliam Heinemann.
- Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoffel von (1975) [1669].
Der Abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch
(in German). Munchen:
dtv
.
ISBN
3538050988
.
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