Oskar Panizza
Oskar Panizza | |
---|---|
Oskar Panizza | |
Born | |
Died | 28 September 1921 | (aged 67)
Nationality | German |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Psychiatrist |
Leopold Hermann Oskar Panizza (12 November 1853 – 28 September 1921) was a German
His deteriorating mental health forced him to return to Germany, where he spent his last sixteen years in an asylum in Bayreuth. The scandal-ridden Panizza suffered more than any other German author under the repressive censorship imposed during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II.[1]
Biography
Early years
Panizza was born in
Religious friction between Oskar's parents began even before their marriage. When Oskar was two years old, his
Mathilde Panizza was the proprietor of the Hotel Russischer Hof, purchased in 1850, a renowned establishment that catered to Russian nobility and other distinguished guests in the popular
From psychiatrist to poet
After fulfilling his military service as a conscript in the Bavarian army, followed by a grave bout of
A turning point in Panizza's life came in 1883, when the thirty-year-old convinced his mother, who had profitably sold her hotel, to establish a trust that would provide him with an annual allowance of six thousands marks.
The Munich Moderns
Panizza's first collection of fiction, Dämmrungsstücke, appeared in 1890, received a modest amount of critical acclaim in the press and brought him to the attention of Germany's leading literary figures.[10] By the end of 1890, the obscure psychiatrist had gotten to know most of the Munich "Moderns," as the young naturalists called themselves, including Frank Wedekind, Otto Julius Bierbaum and Max Halbe.[11] The most significant of these was Michael Georg Conrad, editor of the influential journal Die Gesellschaft since 1885.[12] The two Franconians became close friends, and from 1890 to 1896 Panizza published over forty articles in Die Gesellschaft on widely varied topics, ranging from theater reviews to theoretical considerations of prostitution.[13]
Panizza became an avid member of the Gesellschaft für modernes Leben (Society for Modern Life), which Conrad founded in 1890 together with
With the publication in 1893 of Die unbefleckte Empfängnis der Päpste (The Immaculate Conception of the Popes), Panizza embarked on a path of militant anti-Catholicism. This work and a subsequent polemic, Der teutsche Michel und der römische Papst (The German Fool and the Roman Pope, 1894), were confiscated by the district attorney and banned from the German Empire.[16]
Another 1893 book by Panizza,
Das Liebeskonzil
The work that was to unalterably change his life was
Most shocking of all was Panizza's naturalistic depiction of the entities worshipped by Catholics: God appears as a senile old fool, Christ is dimwitted and weak, while a sexually promiscuous
Even though the work appeared in Switzerland, the district attorney in Munich charged Panizza with 93 counts of blasphemy in violation of §166 of the Imperial Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code). As a result, Panizza became an instant literary celebrity, with authors ranging from a teenaged Thomas Mann to Theodor Fontane, the 76-year-old dean of German letters, weighing in on one side or the other of the raging debate. In April 1895, Panizza was convicted after a one-day trial, for which had written an extensive literary defense.[22] After several failed appeals, Panizza served his full 12-month sentence at the prison in Amberg, where he was released in August 1896.[23]
Swiss Sojourn
After serving his prison sentence, Panizza moved to Zurich, where he founded the journal Zürcher Diskussionen, which dealt with all aspects of "modern life." Between 1897 and 1902, he published 32 issues of the journal, which contained mostly his own articles, often appearing under such pseudonyms as Hans Kirstemaecker, Louis Andrée, Hans Detmar and Sven Heidenstamm. Some of the more intriguing articles range from "A Psychopathological Discussion of Christ" to "The Pig in its Poetical, Mythological and Cultural-Historical Aspects."[24]
Among the literary works published during his Swiss exile in 1898 were the political satire Psichopatia Criminalis and the historical drama Nero. Throughout his Swiss sojourn, Panizza's mental health gradually began to deteriorate. His
At the end of 1898, Panizza was abruptly expelled from Switzerland after being declared an undesirable alien.
Parisjana
The six years Panizza spent in Paris were not nearly as productive as the preceding ones. By the end of 1899, he had completed 97 poems in tetrameter, which may be the most vitriolic anti-German verse written by a German poet in the nineteenth century. These poems appeared in the collection Parisjana (1899), the last book to be published by Panizza. He characterized this volume as a work "in which the author's personal opponent, Wilhelm II, is portrayed as the public enemy of mankind and culture."[27] As a result of his libelous poetry directed against the Kaiser, Panizza was charged with lèse-majesté and his entire trust fund was impounded. When he could no longer pay the rent, he returned to Munich in April 1901 and turned himself in to the authorities.[28]
After several months of incarceration, including extensive psychiatric examinations at the same institution where twenty years previously he had worked as a young doctor, Panizza was diagnosed with systematic paranoia.[29] All criminal charges were dropped due to insanity, and he was free to return to Paris, where he lived for three more years.
Demise
Panizza's progressive paranoia and auditory hallucinations propelled him back to Munich in 1904. After a suicide attempt, his failure to be admitted to the psychiatric clinic, and the refusal of his 84-year-old mother to even see him, in October 1904 he provoked his own arrest by striding down the bustling Leopoldstraße wearing only a shirt.[30]
In 1905 Panizza was admitted to Herzogshöhe, an asylum for wealthy heart and circulatory patients on the outskirts of Bayreuth.[31] After being declared mentally incompetent, he was placed under the tutelage of a brother and later Deacon Friedrich Lippert, who had befriended him during his imprisonment at Amberg. He spent the last sixteen years of his life in this institution, where he died of a stroke in 1921.[32] He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Bayreuth municipal cemetery.
Selected works
- 1881 Über Myelin, Pigment, Epithelien und Micrococcen im Sputum (Med. Dissertation), Leipzig: J.B. Hirschfeld, 1881.
- Düstre Lieder. Leipzig: Unflad, 1886.
- Londoner Lieder. Leipzig: Unflad, 1887.
- Legendäres und Fabelhaftes. Unflad, 1889.
- Dämmrungsstücke. Leipzig: Wilhelm Friedrich, 1890.
- Aus dem Tagebuch eines Hundes. Leipzig: Wilhelm Friedrich, 1892.
- Die unbefleckte Empfängnis der Päpste. Zürich: Verlagsmagazin J. Schabelitz, 1893.
- Der teutsche Michel und der römische Papst. Leipzig: Wilhelm Friedrich, 1894.
- Das Liebeskonzil. Eine Himmels-Tragödie in fünf Aufzügen. Zürich: Verlags-Magazin J. Schabelitz, 1895 (October 1894).
- Der Illusionismus und die Rettung der Persönlichkeit. Leipzig: Wilhelm Friedrich, 1895.
- Meine Verteidigung in Sachen "Das Liebeskonzil". Zürich: Verlagsmagazin J. Schabelitz, 1895.
- Abschied von München. Ein Handschlag. Zürich: Verlagsmagazin J. Schabelitz, 1896.
- Dialoge im Geiste Hutten's. Zürich: Verlag der Zürcher Diskußjonen, 1897.
- Die Haberfeldtreiben im bairischen Gebirge. Eine sittengeschichtliche Studie. Berlin: S. Fischer, 1897.
- Psichopatia criminalis. Anleitung um die vom Gericht für notwendig erkanten Geisteskrankheiten psichjatrisch zu eruïren und wissenschaftlich festzustellen. Für Ärzte, Laien, Juristen, Vormünder, Verwaltungsbeamte, Minister etc. Zürich: Verlag der Zürcher Diskußjonen, 1898.
- Nero. Tragödie in fünf Aufzügen. Zürich: Verlag Zürcher Diskußionen, 1898.
- Parisjana. Deutsche Verse aus Paris. Zürich: Verlag Zürcher Diskußionen, 1899.
- Das Schwein in poetischer, mitologischer und sittengeschichtlicher Beziehung. Zürich: Verlag Zürcher Diskußionen, 1900.
Posthumous Manuscripts
- Imperjalja. Manuskript Germ. Qu. 1838 der Handschriftenabteilung der Staatlichen Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz zu Berlin. Pressler, Hürtgenwald 1993 (= Schriften zu Psychopathologie, Kunst und Literatur. Band 5), ISBN 3-87646-077-8
- "Selbstbiographie". In: Der Fall Oskar Panizza. Ed. Hentrich, Berlin 1989. S. 8–14.
- Pour Gambetta. Sämtliche in der Prinzhorn-Sammlung der Psychiatrischen Universitätsklinik Heidelberg und im Landeskirchlichen Archiv Nürnberg aufbewahrten Zeichnungen. Edition Belleville, München 1989, ISBN 3-923646-30-5
- Mama Venus. Texte zu Religion, Sexus und Wahn Luchterhand-Literaturverlag, Hamburg/Zürich 1992, Sammlung Luchterhand 1025. ISBN 3-630-71025-5.
English Translations
- The Pig: In Poetic, Mythological, and Moral-Historical Perspective (translation by Erik Butler; Wakefield Press, 2016). ISBN 978-1-939663-15-3
Notes
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 7.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 75f.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 77.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 79.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 80.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 81.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 82.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 82.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 83.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 84.
- ^ Bauer 1984, pp. 107–111.
- ^ Bauer 1984, pp. 112–116.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 85f.
- ^ Bauer 1984, pp. 116–123.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 86.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 91.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 90f.
- JSTOR 487997.
- ^ Brown 2010, pp. 26–65.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 199f.
- ^ Brown 2010, pp. 8, 48, 52.
- ^ Brown 2010, pp. 125–144.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 102f.
- ^ Düsterberg 1988, pp. 40–91.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 88.
- ^ Bauer 1984, p. 200; Brown 2010, p. 107.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 108.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 109f.
- ^ Müller 1999, pp. 116–129.
- ^ Brown 2010, p. 113.
- ^ Müller 1999, pp. 158–178.
- ^ Lippert 1926, pp. 47–50.
References
- Bauer, Michael: Oskar Panizza. Ein literarisches Porträt. München: Hanser 1984. ISBN 3-446-13981-8
- Bauer, Michael and Düsterberg, Rolf: Oskar Panizza. Eine Bibliographie. Frankfurt am Main: Lang 1988. (= Europäische Hochschulschriften; Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur; 1086) ISBN 3-631-40530-8
- Boeser, Knut, ed." Der Fall Oskar Panizza. Ein deutscher Dichter im Gefängnis. Eine Dokumentation. Berlin: Ed. Hentrich 1989. (= Reihe deutsche Vergangenheit; 37) ISBN 3-926175-60-5
- Brown, Peter D.G., ed.: Das Liebeskonzil. Eine Himmels-Tragödie in fünf Aufzügen. Faksimile-Ausgabe der Handschrift, eine Transkription derselben, des Weiteren die Erstausgabe des "Liebeskonzils" als Faksimile, sowie "Meine Verteidigung in Sachen 'Das Liebeskonzil'" und Materialien aus der zweiten und dritten Ausgabe. München: belleville, 2005. ISBN 3-936298-16-5
- Brown, Peter D.G.: Oskar Panizza and The Love Council: A History of the Scandalous Play on Stage and in Court, with the Complete Text in English and a Biography of the Author. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7864-4273-7
- Brown, Peter D.G.: Oskar Panizza. His Life and Works. Bern und New York: Lang 1983 (= American University Studies; Series 1, Germanic Languages and Literatures; vol. 27 ISBN 3-261-03365-7
- Düsterberg, Rolf: "Die gedrukte Freiheit". Oskar Panizza und die Zürcher Diskussjonen. Frankfurt am Main u.a.: Lang 1988. (= Europäische Hochschulschriften; Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur; 1098) ISBN 3-8204-0288-8
- Lippert, Friedrich, ed.: In memoriam Oskar Panizza. München: Horst Stobbe, 1926.
- Müller, Jürgen: Der Pazjent als Psychiater. Oskar Panizzas Weg vom Irrenarzt zum Insassen. Bonn: Ed. Das Narrenschiff 1999. ISBN 3-88414-291-7
- Strzolka, Rainer: Oskar Panizza. Fremder in einer christlichen Gesellschaft. Ein hässliches Pamphlet & eine wilde Kampfschrift. Berlin: Kramer 1993. ISBN 3-87956-115-X
External links
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- Works, References and Theater Productions
- Short Biography and Bibliography (in German)
- Bio and List of Works (in German)
- Works by Oskar Panizza at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Oskar Panizza at Internet Archive
- Works by Oskar Panizza at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Tribute to Panizza's 150th Birthday (in German)
- Liebeskonzil at IMDb(Film by Werner Schroeter)
- Oskar Panizza in the German National Library catalogue
- Works by and about Panizza GBV