The Prince of Homburg (play)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Salzburger_Festspiele_2012_-_Prinz_Friedrich_von_Homburg.jpg/270px-Salzburger_Festspiele_2012_-_Prinz_Friedrich_von_Homburg.jpg)
The Prince of Homburg (German: Der Prinz von Homburg, Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, or in full Prinz Friedrich von Homburg oder die Schlacht bei Fehrbellin) is a play by Heinrich von Kleist written in 1809–10, but not performed until 1821, after the author's death.
The title relates to the real Prince of Homburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675, Friedrich von Hessen-Homburg (1633–1708), but beyond the name and place there is little if any resemblance between the Romantic character in the play and the eponymous Friedrich, a successful professional soldier of many years' standing.
The play has been filmed a number of times, and inspired the opera Der Prinz von Homburg by Hans Werner Henze (premiere 1960).
Plot
Action takes place at
The Elector however is concerned above all with discipline. Regardless of the victory, he has the Prince arrested for disobeying an order and tried at a
Meanwhile, Natalie, without a legitimate order, has recalled Kottwitz's regiment to obtain support for Homburg's pardon. In the face of the general pressure now put on him, the Elector now listens to his officers. Kottwitz is of the opinion that what counts on the field of battle is victory, and that there is nothing with which to reproach the Prince. Hohenzollern goes further and attributes the guilt to the Elector, as he caused the Prince's confusion and consequent insubordination by the trick he played on him, and therefore bears the responsibility himself. Finally the Elector asks the officers if they are happy to continue to trust themselves to the Prince's leadership – to which all say yes.
The Prince learns nothing of his pardon, but is led blindfolded into the open air, in the belief that he is about to be executed. But there is no bullet: instead, the niece of the Elector crowns him with a laurel wreath. To his question whether this is a dream, Kottwitz replies, "A dream, what else" ("Ein Traum, was sonst"). The Prince faints.
Characters
- Friedrich Wilhelm, Kurfürst von Brandenburg
- The Kurfürstin
- Prinzessin Natalie von Oranien, his niece
- Feldmarschall Dörfling, commander of a dragoon regiment
- Prinz Friedrich Arthur von Homburg, general of the cavalry
- Obrist Kottwitz, colonel of the regiment of the Prinzessin von Oranien
- Hennings, infantry colonel
- Graf Truchß, infantry colonel
- Graf Hohenzollern, of the Elector's entourage
- Rittmeister von der Golz and others
Historical background
In his Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la maison de Brandenbourg, Frederick the Great describes how Prince Friedrich of Hessen-Homburg in the Battle of Fehrbellin engaged in a self-willed and precipitate attack on the enemy – and won the battle. This seems to be an anecdote unfounded in historical fact, but Kleist made use of it as a source anyway and developed the subject matter freely. Particularly, Kleist changed the prince's action "without express orders" into action " against express orders".
At the time when Kleist was writing the play, there were a number of topical instances of insubordination which could have provided the inspiration behind it:
The weakness and passivity of the
The young Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia attacked the enemy without authorisation in 1806 in the Battle of Saalfeld. His attack was unsuccessful, and resulted in a defeat; the prince himself died in the battle. Nevertheless, many people praised his courage and his personal engagement for the fatherland, and he became posthumously a popular national hero.
In 1809 under the command of Major Ferdinand von Schill many unsanctioned military actions against the French oppressors were carried out by the Prussian Freikorps. Schill found many followers and supporters among those who felt betrayed by the king's negligible resistance.
Reception
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Heinrich_von_Kleist_Memorial_in_Frankfurt_%28Oder%29_004.jpg/220px-Heinrich_von_Kleist_Memorial_in_Frankfurt_%28Oder%29_004.jpg)
The play was not published or produced during Kleist's lifetime. The author dedicated his work to
This, Kleist's last play, met with resistance not only from his contemporaries. The fear of death scene was long held to be unperformable and was always omitted. Equally criticised were the prince's sleep-walking and the trick played by the Elector. This was because although these were things that were acceptable in
It was a very popular piece however during the
Translations
- Hermann Hagedorn: in The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. IV, edited by Kuno Francke (1914)
- Noel Clark: in Three Plays (Oberon Books, 2000)
- David Constantine: in Kleist: Selected Writings (Hackett Publishing, 2004)
Adaptations
Stage translations
The play's popularity outside Germany may be traced to the famous 1951 Avignon production by Jean Vilar, with Gérard Philipe as the prince and Jeanne Moreau as Natalie. Incidental music for the production was commissioned from Maurice Jarre (his first score). The following year, the play was revived by Philipe and Jean Le Poulain at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. This version does not follow Kleist's original in some particulars. In the final scene, when a blindfold is removed, the prince finds himself in a church about to be married with Natalie.
In 1976 the play was chosen to open the theatre in the Royal Exchange in Manchester. It was translated by Jonathan Griffin and directed by Caspar Wrede with Tom Courtney in the title role.
In 2002, Neil Bartlett adapted and directed a co-production of the play performed in the Swan Theatre of the Royal Shakespeare Company's and at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith. The Elector was played by James Laurenson, the Prince by Dan Fredenburgh and Count Heinrich by Will Keen.[5][6]
In 2009, Marie-José Malis toured, with a French-language version created with the help of Alain Badiou, explicitly asking audience members in a session held prior to the staging whether there were any other possibility than the death of the Prince, and making discussion on the topic part of the experience of the play. The day before the staging in Arles, on May 14, 2009, she held a public discussion in the theatre, asking the public whether they had any suggestions as to how the play should end, as she herself was still undecided as to how to end the play. This fostering of discussion was itself an important element of the re-staging of the play. In the event, on that first night in Arles at least, the Prince and Natalia and a soldier friendly to their cause shoot their way out of the place in which the Prince is to be executed.[7][8][9]
The Prince of Homburg, an English stage adaptation by Dennis Kelly, was premiered at the Donmar Warehouse from 22 July to 4 September 2010, with the Elector played by Ian McDiarmid.[10] This adaptation altered the ending so that the Prince met with the Elector to accept the death sentence and to ask as his last wish that the Elector continue the war with Sweden rather than make peace. The Elector honours this dying wish of the Prince, though once the Prince has gone he tells his generals that he will only continue it three days and then make peace after all – he feels that the Prince almost lost him victory once by his impetuosity and will not lose it again at the Prince's request. Natalia scatters flowers where the Prince is to be shot, which he finds just before he is then shot, alone. The Elector then makes a speech exhorting his people to continue the war, but meets with hostile silence. This change of ending was criticised by drama critics, including Michael Billington of The Guardian[11][12]
In the Soviet Union, Kleist's play was disparaged as a "celebration of the Prussian military". A Russian translation of The Prince of Homburg was completed by Boris Pasternak in 1919 but was not approved for publication until the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.[13]
Other media
Notes
- ^ „gleichsam vom Genius der Poesie selbst geschrieben“ [citation needed]
- ^ „das göttlichste Gedicht, das je aus Kleists Feder hervorgegangen“ [citation needed]
- ^ Hebbel, Friedrich. Sämtliche Werke. Berlin, 1901. Vol. xi. P. 334, 3.
- S2CID 143949059.
- ^ "Production of The Prince of Homburg | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ teletoulouse (9 March 2009). "Le Prince de Hombourg de Kleist au théâtre Garonne". Archived from the original on 2021-12-20 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ http://blogs.rue89.com/balagan/2009/03/17/marie-jose-malis-met-le-prince-de-hombourg-sur-ecoute-93709 [dead link]
- ^ "Donmar Warehouse site".
- ^ Michael Billington (28 July 2010). "The Prince of Homburg – review". The Guardian.
- ^ "Editorial – In praise of... sticking to the script". The Guardian. 30 July 2010.
- ISBN 9780521520737. P. 170.
Sources
- Garland, H and M, 2000: The Oxford Companion to German Literature. OUP
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Just, Renate, 1993: Recht und Gnade in Heinrich von Kleists Schauspiel ‚Prinz Friedrich von Homburg‘. Göttingen: Wallstein
- Wagener, Sybil, 2003: Kleist für Eilige. Berlin: Aufbau Verlag ISBN 3-7466-1997-1