Editing Hermann Sudermann

{{short description|German dramatist and novelist (1857–1928)}}
{{More footnotes|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Hermann Sudermann
| image            = Nicola Perscheid - Hermann Sudermann nach 1925.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1857|9|30|df=y}}
| birth_place      = Matzicken, Prussia
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1928|11|21|1857|9|30|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Berlin, Germany]]
| occupation       = [[Dramatist]] and [[Novelist]]
| nationality      = [[Germany|German]]
| ethnicity        = 
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| education        = 
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| period           = 
| genre            = 
| subject          = 
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = [[Heimat (play)|''Heimat'']] (play)<br>''[[Frau Sorge]]'' (novel)
| spouse           = Clara Lauckner (1861-1924)
| partner          = 
| children         = 
| relatives        = 
| influences       = 
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| awards           = 
| signature        = Signature of Hermann Sudermann.jpg
| website          = 
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}}

'''Hermann Sudermann''' (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German [[dramatist]] and novelist.

== Life ==

=== Early career ===
Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the [[Province of Prussia]] (now [[Macikai]], in southwestern [[Lithuania]]), close to the Russian frontier. The Sudermanns were a [[Mennonite]] family from the [[Vistula delta Mennonites|Vistula delta Mennonite]] communities near the former Elbing, East Prussia, (now [[Elbląg]], Poland).

His father owned a small brewery in Heydekrug, and Sudermann received his early education at the ''[[Realschule]]'' in [[Elbing]], where he lived with his relatives and attended the Mennonite church where his uncle was the minister.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hermann Sudermann, Mennonite Playwright|author=Lauren Friesen|publisher=Center for Mennonite Writing Journal|url=https://mennonitewriting.org/journal/3/4/hermann-sudermann-mennonite-playwright-and-novelis/?fbclid=IwAR3Ke5JoqYRLG6Z1_6kHynllW-Pmk0tr8BHZl-xkMUjslVQBLGfKYTJwEHo#page2|accessdate=April 14, 2021}}</ref> His parents having been reduced in circumstances, he was apprenticed to a [[chemist]] at the age of 14. He was, however, able to enter the ''[[Realgymnasium]]'' (high school) in [[Tilsit]], and to study philosophy and history at Königsberg University.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Sudermann, Hermann|volume=26|page=20}}</ref>

In order to complete his studies Sudermann went to Berlin, where he was tutor to several families, including the family of the author Hans Hopfen (1835–1904). Next he became a journalist, and was in 1881 and 1882 the co-editor of the ''Deutsches Reichsblatt''. He then devoted himself to fiction, beginning with a collection of naturalistic short stories called ''Im Zwielicht'' ("At Twilight", 1886), and the novels ''[[Frau Sorge]]'' ("Dame Care", 1887), ''Geschwister'' ("Siblings", 1888) and ''Der Katzensteg'' ("Cats' Bridge", 1890). These works failed to bring the young author as much recognition as his first drama, ''[[Honour (Sudermann play)|Die Ehre]]'' ("Honour", 1889), which inaugurated a new period in the history of the German stage.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name="Robertson1902">{{cite book|author=Robertson, John George|author-link=John George Robertson|title=A History of German Literature|page=616|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fdVbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA616|year=1902|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons}}</ref> This play, originally intended to be a tragedy, but on Blumenthal's advice given a "happy ending," was a pseudo-[[Nietzsche]]an attack on the morality of the lowly.

He married the novelist Clara Lauckner (1861–1924), née Schulz on 20 October 1891 and lived with his family in Berlin-[[Wannsee]]. She was a widow and already had three children from her previous short-lived marriage, and she then had one child with Sudermann: a daughter, Hede. They lived in Königsberg for the next two years, before moving to Dresden and then Berlin in 1895.

=== Fame ===
He had a large following in Japan. During the 20th century, his plays were the basis of more than 30 films.

''[[Heimat (play)|Heimat]]'' (1893), another successful drama, was translated into English as ''Magda'' (1896). In this play, Sudermann emphasizes the right of the artist to a freer moral life than that of the [[petty bourgeoisie]]. It has some of the moralistic and didactic tendency of the later French dramatists, especially the [[Dumas fils|younger Dumas]], and all of their technical finesse. Productions featured some of the best known actresses of the time, including [[Helena Modjeska]], [[Sarah Bernhardt]], [[Eleonora Duse]], and [[Mrs Patrick Campbell]].

In 1894 Sudermann returned to novels with ''[[The Undying Past|Es War]]'' (the title referring to Section 2, §1 of [[Nietzsche]]'s ''[[Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen]]''), a protest against the fruitlessness of brooding repentance. In 1902, he moved to a mansion with extensive grounds at [[Blankensee (Trebbin)|Blankensee]], and used his new-found wealth to collect paintings and sculpture, and to take trips to Italy, Greece, Egypt and India.
[[File:Portrait of Hermann Sudermann.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Sudermann ]]
At the commencement of World War I, Sudermann was enthusiastic, publishing a ''Kaiserlied'' ("Song of the Kaiser"). In autumn 1917, he organised the ''Frohe Abende'' ("Cheery Evenings"), a program promoting artistic endeavors among the common people, for which he received an [[Iron Cross]] Second Class on 5 April 1918. After the end of the war, he helped found the ''Bund schaffender Künstler'' ("Society of Creative Artists"), which posed as a centrist political force and which earned him the reputation of an opportunist.

The most important of his later works are ''[[The Excursion to Tilsit|Litauische Geschichten]]'' ("Lithuanian Stories", 1917, translated as ''The Excursion to Tilsit''), a realistic portrait of his homeland, and a volume of memoirs in 1922. His last major work, written after the death of his wife in 1924, was ''Die Frau des Steffen Tromholt'' ("The Wife of Steffen Tromholt", 1927), a semi-autobiographical novel, which turned into a movie in 1929 titled ''[[Wonder of Women]]''. He had a stroke in 1928, and died of a lung infection shortly afterwards, in Berlin, aged 71. His stepson Rolf Lauckner set up the Hermann Sudermann Foundation to support young dramatists.

=== Posthumous reputation ===
Sudermann's nationalism, and his delight in romanticized ideas of ethnicity and homeland, particularly noticeable in his later works, made him a favorite during World War II. Jürgen Fehling staged ''[[Fires of St. John|Johannisfeuer]]'' in Berlin, with Maria Gorvin, Maria Koppenhöfer and Paul Wegener in the lead roles. The film ''[[Die Reise nach Tilsit]]'' was based on his short story of the same title.<ref name="romani86">Cinzia Romani, ''Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich'' p. 86 {{ISBN|0-9627613-1-1}}</ref>

After 1945, his plays and novels were almost completely forgotten. He mainly is remembered today for his Lithuanian stories, for his autobiography, and for the 1927 silent films ''[[Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans]]'', based on his short story ''Die Reise nach Tilsit'' ("The Excursion to Tilsit"), from the Collection ''Litauische Geschichten'' (''Lithuanian Stories''), ''[[The Song of Songs (1933 film)|The Song of Songs]]'', starring [[Marlene Dietrich]], based on his novel ''[[The Song of Songs (novel)|Das Hohe Lied]]'' and ''[[Flesh and the Devil]]'', starring [[Greta Garbo]], based on his novel ''The Undying Past''.

== Works ==
*''Im Zwielicht: Zwanglose Geschichten'' ("At Twilight", short stories, 1886)
*''[[Frau Sorge]]'' ("Dame Care", novel, 1887; translated by Bertha Overbeck (1857-1928) in 1891)
*''Geschwister: Zwei Novellen'' ("Siblings: Two Stories", novellas, 1888)
**''Die Geschichte der stillen Mühle'' ("The Tale of the Idle Millstone", novella)
**''Der Wunsch'' ("The Wish", novella; translated by Lily Henkel (1860-1933) in 1894)
*''[[Honour (Sudermann play)|Die Ehre]]'' ("Honour", play, 1889/91)
*''[[The Cats' Bridge|Der Katzensteg]]'' ("Cats' Bridge", novel, 1890; translated by Beatrice Marshall (1861-1944) in 1898 as "Regina or the Sins of the Fathers")
*''Sodoms Ende'' ("Sodom's End", play, 1891), a tragedy of artistic life in Berlin
*''Jolanthes Hochzeit'' ("Iolanthe's Wedding", novel, 1892; translated by Adele S. Seltzer (d.1940) in 1918), a humorous novel which breathes the serener realism of common life
*''[[Heimat (play)|Heimat]]'' ("Homeland", play, 1893; translated by C. E. A. Winslow in 1896 as "Magda")
*''[[The Undying Past|Es War]]'' ("It Was", novel, 1894; translated by Beatrice Marshall in 1906 as "The Undying Past")
*''Die Schmetterlingsschlacht'' ("Battle of the Butterflies", comedy play, 1895) ([http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-20764 Digital edition from 1904] by the [[University and State Library Düsseldorf]])
*''Das Glück im Winkel'' ("Happiness in a Quiet Corner", 1896)
*''Morituri'' (three one-act plays, 1896)
**''Teja'', ''Fritzchen'', ''Das Ewig-Männlich'' ("The Eternal Masculine")
*''Johannes'' (tragic play about [[John the Baptist]], 1898)
*''Die drei Reiherfedern'' ("Three Heron-Feathers", play, 1899)
*''Drei Reden'' ("Three Lectures", 1900)
*''[[Fires of St. John|Johannisfeuer]]'' (''Fires of St. John'', 1900)
*''Es lebe das Leben!'' ("Let Life Live!", 1902; translated by [[Edith Wharton]] in 1903 as "The Joy of Living")
*''Verrohung der Theaterkritik'' (1902)
*''Der Sturmgeselle Sokrates'' ("Stormfellow Socrates", comedic play, 1903)
**''Die Sturmgesellen: Ein Wort zur Abwehr'' ("Stormfellows: a Defence", essay, 1903)
*''Stein unter Steinen'' ("Stone Among Stones", 1905)
*''Das Blumenboot'' ("The Flower Boat", 1905)
*''Rosen'' ("Roses", four one-act plays, 1907; translated by [[Grace Frank]] in 1912, the last with the title "The Faraway Princess")
**''Die Lichtbänder'' ("Streaks of Light")
**''Margot''
**''Der letzte Besuch'' ("The Last Visit")
**''Die Feen-Prinzessin'' ("The Fairy Princess")
*''[[The Song of Songs (novel)|Das hohe Lied]]'' ("The Song of Songs", novel, 1908; translated by Thomas Seltzer (1875-1943) in 1910 and by Edward Sheldton in 1914)
*''Strandkinder'' ("Beach Children", 1909)
*''Der Bettler von Syrakus'' ("The Beggar of Syracuse", 1911)
*''Die indische Lilie'' ("The Indian Lily", short story, 1911; translated by L. Lewisohn in 1911)
*''Der gute Ruf'' ("The Good Name", 1912)
*''Die Lobgesänge des Claudian'' ("Hymns to Claudian", 1914)
*''Die entgötterte Welt'' ("The Godless World", 1915)
*''[[The Excursion to Tilsit|Litauische Geschichten]]'' ("Lithuanian Stories", short stories, 1917; reprinted 1984, 1985, 1989), translated by [[Lewis Galantière]] in 1930 as ''The Excursion to Tilsit''
**''Die Reise nach Tilsit''
**''Miks Bumbullis''
**''Jons unds Erdine''
**''Die Magd''
*''Die Raschoffs'' ("The Raschoffs", 1919)
*''Der Hüter der Schwelle'' ("Watcher at the Step", 1921)
*''Das deutsche Schicksal'' ("The German Destiny", 1921)
*''Jons und Erdme: eine litauische Geschichte'' ("Jons and Erdme: a Lithuanian Tale", 1921)
*''Das Bilderbuch meiner Jugend: Autobiographie'' ("The Picture Book of my Youth", autobiography, 1922; reprinted, Ernst Osterkamp, ed., 1980, 1988)
*''Wie die Träumenden'' ("Like Dreamers", 1923)
*''Die Denkmalsweihe'' ("Ceremony at the Monument", 1923)
*''Der tolle Professor: Roman aus der Bismarckzeit'' ("The Mad Professor: a Novel of the Bismarck Years", 1926; translated by Isabel Leighton in 1929)
*''Der Hasenfellhändler'' ("The Trader of Hareskins", 1927)
*''Die Frau des Steffen Tromholt'' ("The Wife of Steffen Tromholt", novel, 1927)
*''Purzelchen'' (1928)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
*W. Kawerau, ''Hermann Sudermann'', 1897
*H. Landsberg, ''Hermann Sudermann'', 1902
*H. Jung, ''Hermann Sudermann'', 1902
*H. Schoen, ''Hermann Sudermann, poète dramatique et romancier'', 1905
*I. Axelrod, ''Hermann Sudermann'', 1907
*Dorothea Kuhn, ''Hermann Sudermann: Porträt und Selbstporträt'', 1978
*Walter T. Rix (ed.), ''Hermann Sudermann: Werk und Wirkung'', Königshausen und Neumann, 1980
*Cordelia E. Stroinigg, ''Sudermann's "Frau Sorge": Jugendstil, archetype, fairy tale'', New York: P. Lang, 1995
*Karl Leydecker, ''Marriage and divorce in the plays of Hermann Sudermann'', Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1996
*Jutta Noak, "[http://annaberger-annalen.de/jahrbuch/2003/AnnabergNr.11_Kap6.pdf Hermann Sudermann – ein Schriftsteller zwischen Litauen und Deutschland]", in ''[[Annaberger Annalen]]'', No. 11, 2003, pp.&nbsp;159–185
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Sudermann, Hermann|year=1905}}
*{{Cite Americana |last=Hartmann |first=Jacob Wittmer |wstitle=Sudermann, Hermann|year=1920}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Hermann Sudermann}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=2769| name=Hermann Sudermann}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hermann Sudermann}}
* {{Librivox author |id=1716}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0837183|name=Hermann Sudermann}}

{{Hermann Sudermann}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudermann, Hermann}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Šilutė District Municipality]]
[[Category:Writers from the Province of Prussia]]
[[Category:German male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Mennonite writers]]
[[Category:19th-century German dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century German dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:German male novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century German novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century German novelists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class]]