Die Hermannsschlacht (Kleist)
Die Hermannsschlacht | |
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Written by | Heinrich von Kleist |
Based on | Battle of the Teutoburg Forest |
Date premiered | 1839 |
Original language | German |
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Die Hermannsschlacht (literally The Battle of Hermann) is a 1808 drama in five acts by German author
Background
Die Hermannsschlacht was written in 1808,
The play has been read as Kleist's call for resistance against the French, but this has come into doubt in recent years.[citation needed]
Plot
Hermann, Prince of Cherusci is beset from two sides. The Prince of the Suebi, Marbod, stands in the southeast of his country and demands tribute from him. The Roman general Varus threatened him with three legions from the West and offers his help against Marbod, but he has secretly offered to act with him against Hermann. The Germanic princes gather with Hermann, and force him to make war against the Romans, which he refuses, because of the military inferiority of the Germans.
Hermann's wife Thusnelda is courted by the Roman legate Ventidius, who secretly cuts off a lock of her blond hair. Ventidius brings about an ultimate offer of help to the Romans, Hermann accepts the offer eventually. At the same time, however, this is in conjunction with Marbod, whom he informed about the duplicity of Varus together against him and offers him to join the battle. The Romans marched into the land of one Cherusci village and destroy it. Hermann uses the behavior of the Romans to stir up hatred among the people against them. He encounters Varus in Teutoburg, who can be fooled by him.
Marbod is reluctant to ally with the Cherusci, but is convinced firstly by the escape of his Roman advisors, and secondly because, as proof of his loyalty, Hermann put the lives of Marbod's two sons into the hands of Suebian Prince. The rape of a girl gives Germanic Hermann an occasion to call the people to revolt against the Romans. He shows Thusnelda a letter from Ventidius, in which he promises the Empress Livia a lock of Thusnelda's blond hair. The Romans wander through the Teutoburg Forest and are abandoned by their Germanic allies. Thusnelda gets revenge on Ventidius by luring him into the enclosure of a bear that then kills him. In the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the Roman legions of Varus are defeated and their commander killed.
Reception
The play Hermannsschlacht premiered finally in 1839, in an edited version of
Only with the productions of the Berlin Schauspielhaus and the Meiningen Court Theatre in 1875, did the piece gain popularity with the audience. The Meininger staging was by recourse to the original Kleist, playing a convincing ensemble, and the crowd scenes stylistically impressive. Altogether there were 103 performances in 16 German-speaking stages, with the last toured in 1890 to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa. Meiningen staged 36 performances.
Last with the Berlin performance in 1912, for the centennial anniversary of the liberation wars, attended the premiere of the imperial family, which was Hermann battle as a patriotic drama. In the First World War, shows were interrupted by the latest news from the Western Front. For the period of National Socialism, the Hermann battle reached a political climax, just for the 1933/34 season are 146 performances demonstrated/performed. Therefore, the piece after 1945 was only rarely performed, only the Harz mountain valley theater in the
In his internationally successful production of 1982,
References
- ^ a b Angress 1977, p. 20.
Sources
- Angress, R. K. (1977). "Kleist's Treatment of Imperialism: "Die Hermannsschlacht" and "Die Verlobung in St. Domingo"". Monatshefte. 69 (1): 17–33 – via JSTOR.
External links
- Kleist's complete works (including "Die Hermannschlacht") at the Internet Archive (in German)
- Die Hermannsschlacht at the Internet Archive (translated into English by Rachel MagShamhráin)
Further reading
- William C. Reeve (1993). "Die Hermannsschlacht". Kleist on stage. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-0941-2.