Kleist Heinrich von Kleist Heinrich von

(Kleist) (1777-1811), German romantic writer. In Kleist's work, the irrational (mystical forces, themes of rock, the carriers of which are also the person himself) is fused with the everyday (the poetic dramas Pentesileia, 1808, Ketchen from Heilbronn, 1810, both about the Middle Ages; the short story Michael-Kolhaas , 1810), national problems (patriotic appeal "Catechism of the Germans", 1809) - with the glorification of Junker Prussia (drama "Prince Friedrich of Homburg", 1808, published in 1821). Witty, with elements of social satire, the comedy "The Broken Jug" (1811). Together with his wife, they committed suicide.

KLEIST (Kleist) Heinrich von (1777-1811), German writer. In the work of Kleist, the irrational-romantic is fused with life authenticity (the dramatic story "Michael-Kolhaas", 1810) and elements of social satire (the comedy "The Broken Jug", 1811), national problems (the patriotic appeal "Catechism of the Germans", 1809), the drama " Prince Friedrich of Homburg, 1808, ed. 1821). Committed suicide.
* * *
KLEIST (Kleist) Heinrich von (October 18, 1777, Frankfurt an der Oder - November 21, 1811, Wannsee, near Potsdam), German writer, playwright.
A family. In military service
Born into an old noble family. Almost all of Kleist's male ancestors were military men, and the future writer was trained from childhood to serve in the army. In 1792, after several unsuccessful attempts to enter the military academy, Kleist enlisted as a private in the guard, in 1795 he took part in a campaign against France.
Universities
In 1799, Kleist left military service and entered the Faculty of Philology at the University of Frankfurt, which annoyed his family members. He attends classes in physics, mathematics, cultural history, natural law and Latin, reads the philosophical works of Rousseau (cm. RUSSO Jean Jacques) and Leibniz (cm. LEIBNITZ Gottfried Wilhelm).
For the next several years, Kleist worked for the Prussian technical deputation. His responsibilities include supervising textile factories, and he travels a lot. The circle of his friends is expanding significantly. Kleist meets the writer Christoph Wieland (cm. VILAND Christophe Martin), educator Heinrich Zschokke and famous Swiss teacher Heinrich Pestalozzi (cm. PESTALOZZI Johann Heinrich)... In 1801, Kleist traveled to Switzerland and then to France, where he attended lectures on natural sciences at the Sorbonne.
The beginning of the creative path
During a trip to Switzerland, the gift of creativity awakened in Kleiste. Having never dreamed of a literary career before, Kleist writes the tragedy "The Schroffenstein Family". The plot of this dark play echoes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It tells about the tragic fate of the children of two warring branches of the same clan who fell in love with each other. Already in this drama, the central theme in the writer's work is clearly indicated: the clash of pure feeling and circumstances that distort and distort this feeling. This tragedy was published anonymously at the end of 1802.
In Switzerland, Kleist is also working on the tragedy "Robert Guiscard", dedicated to the legendary commander (cm. ROBERT GVISCAR)... Wieland, who read the play, speaks of it as one of the most outstanding works of German literature. However, upon his arrival in Paris in 1803, the writer burns most of the manuscript in a fit of inexplicable rage.
In October of the same year, Kleist, without a passport and official papers, embarked on a trip to the coast, where an army was formed to land in England and was trying to enroll as a volunteer in the Napoleonic army; he is detained, accused of espionage and expelled from France.
"Kantian" crisis
In 1804, Kleist reads the works of the Konigsberg philosopher Kant, in which, among other things, the impossibility of achieving truth and perfection in ordinary life is affirmed. The predetermined forms of sensory contemplation limit the human mind on the way to knowledge of the nature of the processes taking place in the world, and, only having overcome the boundaries of his mind, a person can overcome the boundaries of the real world. For Kleist, who in his early years developed for himself a certain system of rules to which he subordinated his life in order to achieve perfection and success, acquaintance with Kantian philosophy becomes a shock, he becomes seriously ill. Traces of Kant's originally understood book can now be found in every work of Kleist. Having recovered from his illness, Kleist tries to settle in Kant's homeland, in Konigsberg. Here, on the basis of the Flemish chronicle, he writes the comedy "The Broken Jug".
At the beginning of 1807, Kleist returned to Berlin, which by that time was already occupied by Napoleonic troops. Soon he is arrested and sent to the French fortress Zhu. During his short stay in the fortress, Kleist wrote the novella Betrothal in San Domingo and finished the comedy “based on Moliere” “Amphitryon”, based on an ancient plot. Kleist endows the plot about the Greek king, whose faithful wife Jupiter was able to seduce, endowed by Moliere in his time with a tragic meaning, focusing his interest on the character of Alcmene, the dishonored wife of Amphitryon. The manuscript of the comedy Kleist sends Goethe (cm. Goethe Johann Wolfgang), but he, seeing in the play "a trifling Christian interpretation of the antique storyline," rejected the idea of ​​staging the play on the stage of the Weimar theater.
Goethe also sharply spoke about the next drama of Kleist, based on an antique plot - the tragedy "Penthesilea" (1808). Her heroine, the queen of the Amazons, is torn between love for her enemy Achilles and duty to her people, which leads to tragic consequences. Goethe's expression "confusion of feelings" is widely known, which he said about a scene in a tragedy, which tells how the heroine, exhausted by the struggle with herself, along with the dogs, tears the body of her beloved to pieces.
Last years
Since 1808, Kleist has been publishing the Phobus magazine, in which he publishes the dramatic story Michael Kohlhaas, the short story The Marquis von O., and the drama The Battle of Arminius. Soon, due to financial difficulties, the publication ceases to exist.
In 1809, Kleist, succumbing to anti-French sentiments, tried to join the Austrian army, but he fell under the suspicion of the authorities, he was expelled from Austria.
In 1810, Kleist's "knightly play" Kleist's "Ketchen of Heilbronn, or Trial by Fire" was staged in Vienna, the scenery for which was performed by E. TA Hoffmann (cm. HOFMAN Ernst Theodor Amadeus)... At the same time, Kleist publishes his essay "On the Puppet Theater", which sets out his aesthetic principles. Man, Kleist asserts, is a puppet, a mechanism controlled by an infinitely distant God. Only by fully uniting with God, or breaking off ties with him, a person can return to their original state, it is not known, however, whether this state is a wonderful harmony or a terrible chaos.
At the same time, Kleist creates the drama "Prince Friedrich of Homburg", which is considered the pinnacle of his work. The inability of the protagonist of the play by Friedrich von Homburg to distinguish dream and illusion from reality can lead to disaster, which can only be avoided by a miracle.
In 1811, finally entangled in debt, Kleist applied for re-admission to the Prussian army. After receiving a positive answer, he asks for a loan to buy uniforms, but his request is denied. This leaves Kleist in despair. At the end of the summer, Kleist meets Henrietta Vogel, a terminally ill musician. They accept joint decision commit suicide. November 20, 1811 Kleist and Vogel arrive at Wannsee, a spa town near Potsdam, where they spend the night. The next evening, Kleist shoots Vogel in the head and then commits suicide.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what "Kleist Heinrich von" is in other dictionaries:

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist ... Wikipedia

Kleist Heinrich von (18.10. 1777, Frankfurt an der Oder, ‒21.11.1811, Wannsee, near Potsdam), German writer. In the tragedies "The Shroffenstein Family" (published 1803), "Robert Guiscard" (a fragment has been preserved). "Pentesileia" (1805‒07, published 1808) and in ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Kleist, Heinrich von- KLEIST (Kleist) Heinrich von (1777 1811), German romantic writer. The insolubility of tragic conflicts, in which the bearers of the theme of rock are not only mystical forces, but the person himself with his irrational passions and undermined ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

KLEIST Heinrich von- KLEIST, Kleist Heinrich von (1777-1811), German writer. Tragedies, incl. "The Stroffenstein Family" (1803), "Robert Guiscard" (fragment preserved), "Pentesilia" (1808), dramas, incl. "Ketchen of Heilbronn, or Trial by Fire" ... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

- (Kleist, Heinrich von) HEINRICH VON KLEIST (1801) (1777 1811), German writer. Full name Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist). Born October 18, 1777 in Frankfurt on the Oder. As a fifteen-year-old teenager I entered ... Collier's Encyclopedia

There are articles on Wikipedia about other people with this surname, see Kleist. Ewald von Kleist ... Wikipedia

Heinrich von Kleist Heinrich von Kleist (German Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist; October 18, 1777, Frankfurt on the Oder November 21, 1811, Wannsee, near Potsdam) is a German playwright, poet and prose writer. One of the founders of the story genre (“[[Marquis d'O] 1808 ... ... Wikipedia

- (1777-1811), German romantic writer. In Kleist's work, the irrational (mystical forces, the theme of rock, the bearer of which is man himself) is fused with the everyday (the poetic dramas Penthesileia, 1808, Ketchen from Heilbronn, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- ... Wikipedia

Books

• Heinrich von Kleist. Dramas. Novels, Heinrich von Kleist, The twenty-fifth volume of the second series includes selected dramas and short stories of the 19th century German writer Heinrich von Kleist. The book includes the dramas "Robert Guiscard", "The Broken Jug", "Pentesileia", ... Category: Classical and contemporary prose Series: Library of World Literature Publisher:

Heinrich Kleist

(Heinrich von Kleist, 1777-1811)

Many of the ideas of the Heidelberg romantics were shared by Kleist, one of the greatest German playwrights and novelists of the era of romanticism. He is close to Brentano, Eichendorf with his national-patriotic feeling, his hatred of the French conquerors. However, unlike the "Heidelbergians", Kleist is at the mercy of historical pessimism. From the crisis of the feudal-monarchical system, Kleist made universal generalizations. Kleist's heroes are people of great and strong passions who find themselves in insoluble, tragic situations. The tragedy of the worldview was reflected not only in the tragedies of Kleist, but also in his short stories. It is also often dominated by a gloomy, tragic flavor. The tragic tension of conflicts, the extraordinary strength of emotions give Kleist's work features of a deep, but sometimes painful psychologism.

Kleist was born in Frankfurt an der Oder into an old noble family with a proud military tradition. As a fifteen-year-old teenager, he enters the military service and takes part in campaigns against revolutionary France. However, the romance of the war years did not capture Klenst. In 1799 he entered the university. Kleist reads a lot, is fond of the ideas of Kant, Rousseau. IN early XIX in. Kleist travels. He visited France, Switzerland. He wants to compare different social systems, to draw certain conclusions for himself. Kleist is all in search, in fermentation. For a very short time he is public service, but the development of political events in Europe unsettled him. The defeat of the Prussian army by Napoleon at Jena and the Treaty of Tilsit, humiliating for Prussia in 1807, hurt Kleist's national feelings. He joins in an active struggle against the French conquerors. By 1808, he moved to Berlin, where he closely converges with Brentano, Arnim, begins to publish (together with the romantic-nationalist Adam Mueller) the magazine "Phoebus" and "Berlin Evening Newspaper", pursuing a sharp anti-Bonapartist course. However, Napoleon continued to strengthen his position. In 1809, at Wagram, he inflicted a new defeat on the Austrians, which was perceived by an impressionable writer as a national catastrophe. The collapse of political ideals, failures in his personal life drove Kleist to suicide.

Kleist began his creative way as a playwright. His drama is characterized by acute conflict. The hero in it is, as a rule, placed in tense, tragic situations in which all the main traits of his character are tested. Kleist gravitates towards the tragic genre, it was in this area that his great and original talent was revealed with the greatest brilliance. Kleist's first experience was the tragedy "The Schroffenstein Family" (Die Familie Schroffenstein, ed. 1803), which depicts enmity within one family, the victims of which were two lovers.

At the same time, Kleist is working on the play Robert Guiscard, which he later destroyed. In the surviving passage, the image of a courageous commander endowed with a strong will appears in full growth, grievingly experiencing the troubles that have fallen on his army.

However, in the first period of creativity (1800-1806), Kleist was still able to create cheerful works sparkling with genuine humor. The best in German literature of the 19th century belongs to him. comedy "Broken pitcher" (Der zerbrochene Krug, 1804). It is interesting that the impetus for writing the play was the engraving seen by Kleist in one of the hotels in Switzerland. With the help of his rich imagination, he embodied its simple content into a rich dramatic action. “The Broken Jug” historically specifically portrays the way of life and customs of the German countryside. The comedy is notable for its juicy national flavor, testifies to the author's excellent observation in life, to his good knowledge of modern reality. Kleist directs arrows of criticism against judicial iniquity. The protagonist of the play is the blowing village judge Adam, who decided to drag himself behind the peasant woman Eve. The comic nature of the situation lies in the fact that he has, and even in the presence of the visiting inspector Walter, to sort out the case, the main culprit of which is himself. Adam tries in vain to cover up the traces of his involvement in the story, as a result of which he broke the jug, the pride of the Frau Rull family. In the course of the process, the threads of the incident are gradually unraveled, and Adam, despite all his resourcefulness, becomes increasingly difficult to prove his innocence. In the end, the unsightly role of the village red tape became clear, and Adam flees from the courtroom. Judge Adam is Kleist's best achievement in The Broken Jug. He is characterized by an extraordinary full-bloodedness of life. This is an image snatched from life, verified by living reality to the smallest detail. With great skill, Kleist depicted the figures of the village girl Eve, her fiancé Ruprecht, and his father. They lack that submissiveness, Christian humility, which distinguish the peasant mass in the works of Brentano and other German romantics of the conservative trend. The peasant in Kleist's comedy is a man endowed with a sense of his own dignity, who knows how to stand up for his interests.

In the second period of his activity (1807-1811), in connection with the major setbacks of the Austro-Prussian coalition in the war with Napoleon, in Kleist's mind, the features of a tragic worldview were sharpened. An increasing place in his work begins to take the idea of ​​man's dependence on the power of fatal forces. In the last three years of his life, Kleist wrote his most famous works: the tragedy "Penthesileia", the dramas "Ketchen of Heilbronn", "The Battle of Hermann", "Prince Friedrich of Homburg", the story "Michael Kohlhaas", a number of short stories ("The Earthquake in Chile", "Betrothal in San Domingo "," Marquise d "O ..." and others).

Kleist's tragic view of reality, his interest in the subconscious, not controlled by the mind, aspects of the mental activity of people were embodied with great force in "Penthesilea" (Penthesilea, 1807). Events take place in Ancient Greece, during the Trojan War. Antiquity is interpreted by Kleist in his own way. For him, unlike Hölderlin, this is not an era of harmony, but of acute, tragic contradictions. Kleist perceives classical antiquity through the prism of his worldview, shaken by revolution and wars. A romantically unbridled nature appears in the tragedy, first of all, Penthesilea. The queen of the Amazons is in love with Achilles. He conquered her with his beauty and valor. But the feeling, or rather the fury, of love madly collides in Penthesilia with incomparable pride. She wants to surpass Achilles in military glory, defeat him in a battle of arms and only after that satisfy her passion. Penthesilea loves and hates Achilles at the same time. Accustomed to rule, she wants to receive the love of the hero of the Trojan War as a reward for her victory over him. "Damn me if I become the wife of the one whom I did not defeat with the sword!" She exclaims.

In the combat that took place with Achilles, Penthesileia does not disdain any means to defeat the person who is most dear to her in the world. She sets the dogs on the wounded Achilles, she herself tears his body with her teeth. Her hatred takes the form of the most sophisticated sadistic cruelty. In "Pentesilea" Kleist portrays not the fatal power of external circumstances pressing on a person; his attention was attracted by an inner rock, uncontrollable spontaneous force of passions, leading to tragic consequences. In tragedy, Kleist strove to plunge into the twilight depths of the human psyche. It somehow reflected the unbalanced feelings, the inner struggles of the writer himself, which sometimes took on a painful character. It is no coincidence that he considered "Penthesilea" his favorite work.

Less significant ideologically and aesthetically is Kleist's drama Ketkhei from Heilbronn (Das Kätchen von Heilbronn, 1808). Mystical motives sound unusually strong in it. Not understanding the true reasons for the development of historical events, the ups and downs of individual historical figures, Kleist was inclined to see the influence of divine providence everywhere. He believed in the predetermination of human destiny. This faith guides all the actions of the heroine of the play Ketchen, the adopted daughter of the blacksmith Theobald. An inner, mystical voice tells her that a brilliant future awaits her. She does not want to marry guys in her social circle. The appearance of the knight Vetter von Stral is perceived by Ketchen as a finger of fate. Oma believes that it is her duty to follow him, patiently endure all insults, withstand all tests. Kethen was not mistaken in her mystical insight. The Emperor recognizes her as his daughter, and thus her marriage to von Shtrahl becomes possible,

The drama celebrates the heroism of obedience. Ketkhen persistently seeks the realization of her dream, she is active, but her activity is special, associated with the subordination of her will to the highest duty, understood in the religious and mystical terms. Thus, in Ketchen of Heilbronia, the author's focus is on a person who is seized with the pathos of serving a common, supra-personal principle. It is interesting that Kleist chose a girl from the people as his heroine. He believed that integral, heroic natures are more common in the folk environment. There is no sense of sacrifice in Kethyun's behavior. She easily and joyfully carries her heavy cross, retaining all her innocence and gullibility towards life. Hence the attractiveness of her image.

In the second period of creativity, Kleist creates plays that are clearly tendentious. Referring to the historical past, he poses in them the problems that are of concern to the present. The writer was especially worried about the fate of enslaved Germany, he constantly thought about the possibility of her liberation from foreign oppression. In his political proclamations, for example in the "Catechism of the Germans" (Kathechismus der Deutschen, 1809), and in works of art he calls for the fight against foreign invaders. The drama "The Battle of Hermann" (Die Hermannsschlacht, 1808) is very indicative in this respect. Here Kleist dramatizes one of the brightest episodes of German history - the victory of the leader of the German tribe of the Cherusci Herman over the legions of the Roman general Vara in the Teutoburg forest (1st century AD). The playwright was inspired by the idea of ​​depicting the victorious rebuff of the people, it would seem, invincible conquerors. Glorifying the courage of the ancient Germans, Kleist, of course, wanted to give an inspiring example to his compatriots.

The drama "Prince Friedrich von Homburg" (Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, 1810) was written in the same inviting national-patriotic spirit. The playwright resurrects one of the brightest pages in the history of the Prussian state - the defeat of the Swedes by the Germans near Ferbellin in 1678. Despite its obvious nationalist orientation, the play was adopted at royal court in Berlin it is very reserved. The reason for this was that Kleist, in contrast to the official Prussian historians, crowned with laurels the winner not of the Elector, but the young Prince of Homburg, who, violating the order, boldly attacked the enemy with his cavalry and won a brilliant victory.

The drama is controversial. Having decided in the person of Prince Homburg to punish willfulness and exalt the importance of discipline, which is so necessary in the fight against the enemy, Kleist nevertheless poeticized his protagonist, endowed him with subtlety of feelings and youth. On the contrary, the Elector, contrary to the author's intentions, acts as the embodiment of the barracks principle. True, Kleist does not completely paint the prince attractive. Once in custody, the latter becomes discouraged, admits that he was wrong and fully justifies the cruel sentence that awaits him: "I wish to perpetuate with death that holy law of war that I violated in the face of the soldiers." Thus, the national point of view prevails in the drama. Homburg's willfulness, although proceeding from noble motives, is broken and condemned. The play is critically pointed against those who undermine the foundations of military discipline and thereby violate the principle of state unity, so important, according to Kleist, in the period of struggle against the threat of foreign enslavement. The drama is replete with hints of modernity. Its anti-Bonapartist orientation is quite obvious: “Let the stranger who bears the yoke to us be overthrown! May a free and happy Brandenburger flourish on his own land! "

Novels occupy a significant place in Kleist's artistic heritage. In them, basically the same problems are developed as in drama. And here Kleist confronts his hero with great trials, forcing him to sacrifice his personal, class interests for the sake of preserving the foundations of the state and the family. The family-state principle is interpreted by the writer as the highest, universal principle of the organization of life, to which all other parties must be subordinate. public relations of people.

In the interesting novel Die Verlobung in St. Domingo, Kleist draws on the revolutionary events of our time, depicting the uprising of blacks against their French enslavers. The massacres of the planters by the rebels are seen by him as retribution for the crimes of the whites. The oppressed, according to Kleist, always have the right to fight for freedom and avenge the wrongs inflicted. So the theme of revolution is indirectly used by him to justify the struggle with Napoleon and its possible bloody excesses. However, Kleist, unlike the reactionary romantic nationalists (Adam Mueller and others), was not subject to nationalism. Everything truly human is interpreted by him as a force that stands above national prejudices.

In the midst of the uprising, the daughter of the mulatto Babekan Tony sheltered the Swiss Gustav in her house. He conquered her with his humanity, high understanding of love. Forgetting about ethnic enmity, Tony enters into a free marriage with him and, at the cost of his own death, saves his life. The short story clearly shows the triumph of the human principle. "Betrothal in San Domingo" is evidence of Kleist's broad outlook, his going beyond the limits of blind national narrow-mindedness.

The humanistic stream is also strong in the novella "Earthquake in Chile" (Das Erdbeben in Chile). With great sympathy, Kleist relates to Hironimo and Josefa, who, under the influence of a powerful feeling, enter into an unconsecrated union by the church. However, in the eyes of people blinded by Christian dogma, they are criminals. Heroes die at the hands of a brutal crowd religious fanatics... Kleist condemns the cruel church laws, he defends the natural human right to love. In this novel, one can feel Kleist's fascination with the ideas of Rousseau, his desire to put the natural above the social, generated by an ugly civilization.

The most remarkable work of Kleist the prose writer is the story "Michael Kohlhaas" (Michael Kohlhaas, 1810). She, like everything created by the writer, is very contradictory. The idea of ​​social rebellion is adjacent to the idea of ​​the need to obey the laws. One thing is certain: Kleist in his story sharply exposes feudal arbitrariness, which leads to the fact that an honest person, defending justice, is involuntarily drawn into a chain of grave crimes. In this work, again, echoes of Rousseauist ideas are heard.

The life of the horse merchant Michael Kolhaas is tragic. Feudal lord Wenzel von Tronka takes two black horses from him. Kolhaas lodges a complaint with the Elector and the court. He seeks the truth, but he cannot find it anywhere. And then Kolhaas decides to restore the violated justice with the help of weapons. He burns down the castle of his offender, creates a detachment of people loyal to him, instilling fear and horror on the rulers of the country. So, according to Kleist, one lawlessness gave rise to another. Kolhaas unwittingly turned out to be a state criminal. With its critical edge, the story is directed against the arbitrariness of the feudal lords, it exposes their arrogance - all those vices that cause discontent among the people become a source of unrest and revolution. Kleist sympathizes with Kolhaas. In his image, he is a powerful, truly popular hero who, going to certain death, at the cost of his life, seeks to restore legality in the country, violated by the ruling classes. It should be noted that the idea of ​​power based on firm laws, obligatory for all classes of society, was gleaned by Kleist from the writings of the 18th century Enlighteners. It is characteristic that Kolhaas does not aim at overthrowing the existing system. He considers the path he has chosen to be forced, illegal and willingly renounces armed struggle as soon as the prospect of a peaceful, legal solution to the issue has opened up. Upon learning that Tronka was punished for his illegal actions, Kolhaas happily ascends to the scaffold. It seems to him that justice has been restored and he can die peacefully. In his novel, Kleist defends the foundations of a feudal-monarchical state based on the observance of laws. Only in this case, in his opinion, peace and unity of all estates will reign in Germany, so necessary in a time of difficult trials.

By the type of his worldview, Kleist is an undoubted romantic. He believes that history is ruled by fatal forces beyond human control. They did not understand life as a process developing according to its natural, rationally comprehensible laws. Kleist also found the fateful beginning of the struggle of elemental passions in the human psyche, gravitating towards depicting complex, internally contradictory characters. Hence the intense psychologism and drama of his work. Kleist's positive hero is, as a rule, a morally beautiful personality, opposed to society with its lawlessness, inhuman morals. Kleist dreamed of such a monarchical system in which the harmony of all classes would prevail. This, of course, is an ordinary utopia, but it is essential that from the heights of his utopian ideal the writer sharply criticized the monarchical order of his day, reaching in this criticism the greatest historical concreteness. Suffice it in this connection to recall the images of Wenzel von Tronk in Michael Kohlhaas and the knight von Strahl in Ketchen from Heilbronn.

The recognition of Kleist's great services to German literature was the establishment in 1911 of a prize named after him, which was awarded to many German writers (L. Frank, A. Zweig, B. Brecht, A. Segers and others).

Biography

Heinrich von Kleist (German Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist; October 18, 1777, Frankfurt an der Oder - November 21, 1811, Wannsee, near Potsdam) - German playwright, poet and a prose writer. One of the founders of the genre of the story ("Marquise d" O "1808," Earthquake in Chile "," Betrothal in San Domingo ").

In 1912, in the year of the centenary of the death of the writer, the prestigious German Heinrich Kleist Prize was founded.

The Kleist family came from an old noble family. Father, Joachim Friedrich von Kleist, served as staff captain of the infantry (infantry) in the garrison of Frankfurt an der Oder. Heinrich's mother, Juliana Ulrike, was the second wife of Joachim Friedrich. They had five children: Friderica, Augusta Caroline, Heinrich, Leopold Friedrich and Juliana.

After the death of his father in 1788, Heinrich was sent to study in Berlin. In 1792, Heinrich entered the service in the Guards regiment in Potsdam and in 1796 took part in the war against France. During Henry's service, his mother dies on February 3, 1793. He left the service in 1799 with the rank of lieutenant. Then he studied mathematics, physics and Latin at the University of Viadrina, in 1800 he received the post of an official in the Ministry of Finance in Berlin.

After a trip to France with her sister, Ulrika, Kleist moves to Bern, where he completes his first play "The Schroffenstein Family". In 1802, he quarrels with his fiancée Wilhelmina and falls into an even greater depression. Doctors diagnose black melancholy. Ulrika (Henry's sister) brought him back to Weimar. The drama "The Shroffenstein Family" was published anonymously the following year. In the same year, he embarks on a large-scale travel across Europe, visits Leipzig, Dresden, Bern (in July), Milan, Geneva, Paris (in mid-October). In October, after the recording of the manuscript of Robert Guiscard, his second play, Kleist secretly leaves the French capital and travels to the Boulogne camp, without a passport, to join the ranks of the French army preparing to invade Britain. Then, abandoning his plans, he received a passport at the Prussian embassy and returned to Germany. He fell ill shortly after staying in Mainz, remained in bed for six months, and during this time completed work on "Robert Guiscard."

In 1808, Kleist, in collaboration with Adam Müller, published the first issue of the literary magazine Phoebus. Kleist offered Goethe to cooperate with the magazine, but he refused, sharply criticizing Kleist. Phoebus has been published for only a year. In the same year, the short story "Marquise d'O" and an excerpt from the short story "Michael Kolhaas" appeared in print. At the same time, Kleist presented his play "The Broken Jug" to the public.

In 1810 he became friends with Henrietta Vogel, a cancer patient. They decided to commit suicide - to carry out an obsession with which Kleist had repeatedly addressed his wife Maria, to whom he wrote with great enthusiasm before his death: "I found a friend with a soul soaring like a young eagle, willing to die with me." In 1811, Kleist shot himself, having previously shot his girlfriend.

“The truth is, nothing suits me on this Earth,” is his diary entry just before taking his own life.

Plays

The Schroffenstein Family (published 1803)
"Robert Guiscard" (1803, burned by the author, only the first act has survived)
Penthesilea (1805-07, published 1808)
"Ketchen of Heilbronn, or Trial by Fire" (1807, published 1810)
The Broken Jug (1806 ?, published 1811?)
"Amphitryon" (1807, after the play of the same name by Moliere)
"Battle of Hermann" (1808, published 1821)
"Prince Friedrich of Homburg" (1810, published 1821).

Legacy and recognition

Famous composers such as August Wilhelm Ambrose, Hugo Wolf (the symphonic poem Pentesileia), Hans Pfitzner (the opera Ketchen of Heilbronn), Hans Werner Henze (the opera Friedrich of Homburg) wrote music for the works of Heinrich von Kleist.

1777 (Frankfurt / Oder) -1811 (Potsdam)

Who is Heinrich von Kleist, not every reader will immediately remember.

Nevertheless, the name of this wonderful playwright and novelist,

who lived at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, deserves to be known and read.

In Germany, in 1912, in the year of the centenary of the death of the writer,

the prestigious Heinrich Kleist German literary prize was founded.

Many of these writers are featured on blog pages.

The famous German writer and playwright, one of the founders of the novel genre, Heinrich von Kleist lived a bright, stormy, but very short life. He was born into a family of hereditary military men, and from childhood the boy was prepared for a military career.

His fate is remarkable in that all his life Kleist tried to break out of the vicious circle of Prussian military traditions and he succeeded: he was able to leave military career for the sake of literature.

For a man of his social status and origin, this was an act: he challenged his family, which belonged to the noble Prussian aristocracy, where all men have always served in the army, and it could not be otherwise. Moreover, he decided to devote himself to literature - an occupation in the eyes of a cadre military officer, insignificant and frivolous. And for this, first of all, Kleist took up his education: he studies mathematics, philosophy, natural science, ancient languages, reads a lot of classics of fiction and thus joins the German, European culture, from which the military nobility in Germany was very far away. During these years, Kleist also got acquainted with romanticism - a new modern trend in literature and art in Europe and, in particular, in Germany.

What is left of the literary heritage of Berndt Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist, namely, that was his full name?

Kleist's life was very short. He committed suicide when he was less than thirty-four years old during a period of doubt, painful strife with himself. At the same time, he was actively composing for only ten years. However, he left behind a lot of works. And all of them have long been translated into Russian.

First of all, he was a wonderful, magnificent playwright, one of the best in the 19th century, along with F. Schiller and the Norwegian G. Ibsen. He is the author of the excellent comedy "The Broken Jug", a romantic tale based on, or Trial by Fire ", dramas" Amphitryon "," Prince Friedrich of Homburg ", etc.

Kleist is also a great tragic poet (tragedies "Penthesileia", "The Schroffenstein Family", "Robert Guiscard").

But he is also a wonderful short story writer. His short story "Michael Kolhaas" is a prosaic masterpiece, although it has been translated into Russian twice, it is still waiting for its translator, who could preserve in translation all the originality and charm of the writer's original style.

Novels by G. Kleist "Marquise d'O", "Earthquake in Chile", "Betrothal to San Domingo" are some of the best in the 19th century. Having written them, Kleist can argue with such renowned novelists as the later famous compatriot Paul Heise and the Frenchman Prosper Mérimée. Many of his works by G. Kleist onwrote while in the public service in Königsberg (he served as an official in the Land Chamber).

Kleist was notable for his passionate dissatisfied nature. He was characterized by tremendous inner tension and energy. His feelings both towards himself and towards others were never simple, but always complex and excessive. And in his literary work, Kleist is just as ruthless to himself and brings any impulses to pathology.

So, he burns his already completed work "Robert Guiscard", almost immediately regrets what he had done and begins to restore the lost from memory. (Unfortunately, only the first act was restored, then the author abandoned this idea).

The mental crisis and depression that Kleist had continued for many years ended, as you know, with his suicide. Kleist more than once turned to the idea of ​​leaving this world of his own free will.(So, creating the short story "Michael Kohlhaas", he wrote: "And how it will be for me in Berlin and is it destined to stay alive - time will tell!").
In 1810 he found a man who shared his views on earthly existence and contempt for life. The girl's name was Henrietta Vogel, and as historiographers write, she was terminally ill. Together they decided to commit suicide. In 1811, in the Potsdam suburb of Wannsee, Kleist shot himself, having previously shot his girlfriend.

From the statements of G. Kleist:

“… Strength is good in itself.
Don't ask where this power comes from
and where it leads is not important.
It is important whether you have this power or not! "
(Author's Preface to "Robert Guiscard")

"We are here on earth, nothing,
we know nothing at all about the truth.
What we call truth here,
after death it is called quite differently,
and therefore the desire to create something valuable for yourself,
what could be taken with you to the next world,
completely aimless and fruitless.
This thought shook the holy of holies of my soul. "
(From a letter to my sister)

KLEIST HEINRICH VON - German writer.

From the old Prussian noble family. From 1792 he served in the Prussian Guard; took part in the Rhine campaign (1794). In 1799 he retired, studied mathematics, philosophy, physics and law at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder; was influenced by the philosophy of I. Kant, which led him to the idea of ​​futility human endeavors to know the world. In 1800-1803, while traveling in Europe, he met I. V. Gö-te, F. Schiller, K. M. Wieland, G. Zshokke.

In 1805-1806 he was an official in Königsberg. In 1807 he lived in Dresden, where he published (together with the political philosopher A. Müller) the magazine "Phöbus" (1808); in 1810 he returned to Berlin, from 1810 he published the newspaper "Berliner Abendblätter". Dejected by poverty and failure to gain recognition, he committed suicide.

Plays and prose novels form the basis of Kleist's creative legacy. In the center of attention of Kleist - one of the largest representatives of German romanticism - the tragic in its insolubility contradiction between the irrational nature of man and unjust social institutions. The first play by Kleist is the "tragedy of rock" "The Schroffenstein family" ("Die Familie Schroffenstein", 1803). Simultaneously with her, Kleist wrote a tragedy on the military-political theme "Robert Guiskard" ("Robert Guiskard", 1802-1803, partially preserved), which reflected his complex attitude towards Na-po-le-o-n I Bo-na -part.

The only play staged during Kleist's lifetime (JV Goethe in Weimar, 1808; had no success) was the comedy "The Broken Jug" ("Der zerbrochene Krug", 1803-1806), similar in plot to the folk Pancake week farces ... The Broken Jug (Der zerbrochene Krug, 1803-1806), similar in plot to the folk farces of the Maslenitsa, is in the como-media. In the comedy "Amphitryon" (1807), Kleist created a free arrangement of the comedy of the same name by Moliere.

In 1808, the tragedy "Penthesilea" about the love-hate of the Amazon queen for Achilles was completed, in which antiquity appeared as an era of indomitable passions and demonic characters (the exaltation of the tragedy shocked contemporaries, including Goethe); the romantic knightly drama "Käthchen of Heilbronn, or Trial by Fire" ("Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, oder Die Feuerprobe"), testifying to the noticeable strengthening of Kleist's mystical moods, as well as the tragedy "Battle of Hermann" ("Die Hermannsschlacht") on a current political theme fight against the French occupation.

The psychological drama Prinz Friedrich von Homburg (1810) is based on the conflict between dreams and reality: Kleist tries to find reconciliation between the willfulness of the romantic hero and transpersonal military-state and legal traditions.

Ube-f-d-ness in the weakness of a human-ckogo mind, his inability to penetrate into the secrets of fate-would-be was also in the no-wells of Kleist of 1810-1811, varied in character and plot [tensely dramatic "Marquise d'O." ("Die Marquise von Oh ..."), detective "Earthquake in Chile" ("Das Erdbeben in Chili"), mystical and fatalistic "Locarno beggar" ("Das Bettelweib von Locarno") and "Betrothal in San Domingo" ("Die Verlobung in St. Domingo") and others], but always marked by the laconic style unusual for that time, the swift development of the action.

The best prose work of Kleist is the novel Michael Kohlhaas, stylized as a historical chronicle of the 16th century, which raises questions of justice and legality, guilt and punishment, rebellion and religious humility.

Among the essays on literary and artistic themes stands out "On the theater of puppets" ("Über das Marionettentheater", 1810), in which Kleist formulated the famous paradox of the incompatibility of grace and consciousness.

Kleist's work in the 19th century was little known. The first collection of his works was published in 1826 by L. Tick. Only in the 20th century was it appreciated, influencing many literary trends (including expressionism).

Compositions:

Werke / Hrsg. E. Schmidt. Lpz .; W., 1904. Bd 1-5

Sobr. cit .: In 2 volumes; M., 1923

Pie-sy. M., 1962

Dra-we. But-well-ly. M., 1969

Out-of-the-box. M., 1977

Sämtliche Werke und Briefe / Hrsg. H. Sembdner. 2. Aufl. Münch., 1993. Bd 1-2

Ob-ru-th-tion on San-Do-min-go. SPb., 2000.

Illustration:

G. von Kleist. Ri-su-nok P. Fri-de-la. 1801. BDT Archive.