Ludwig Benjamin Derleth (3 November 1870 – 13 January 1948) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
writer and poet, known for his highly-stylized and
anti-humanistic writings on spirituality and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
.
Life
Derleth was born in 1870 in
Gerolzhofen
Gerolzhofen () is a town in the district of Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. The town is the former center of the district of Gerolzhofen and has about 7,000 inhabitants. The mayor of Gerolzhofen is Thorsten Wozniak (CSU).
GerolzhofenStadtpfarrkirc ...
,
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia.
History
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, at what is today Ludwig-Derleth-Strasse 4. He had a younger sister named Anna-Maria (1874-1955).
After studying
philosophy and
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, Derleth worked as a college-level teacher of ancient languages.
In 1898 while visiting
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, he met the symbolist poet
Stefan George
Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential literary ...
. While living in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, he became closer to George's entourage, as well as the
Munich Cosmic Circle
The Munich Cosmic Circle was a group of writers and intellectuals in Munich, Germany at the turn of the 20th century, founded by esotericist Alfred Schuler (1865–1923), philosopher Ludwig Klages (1872–1956), and poet Karl Wolfskehl (1869–194 ...
based around
Alfred Schuler
Alfred Schuler (22 November 1865 – 8 April 1923) was a German classicist, esotericist, ceremonial magician, mystagogue, writer, poet, and independent scholar. He was a co-founder and central esoteric figure of the Munich Cosmic Circle, a prom ...
and
Ludwig Klages, which broke up in 1904. Derleth was the subject of verses in two cyclical poems by George: his 1907 ''Der Siebenten Ring'' ("The Seventh Ring"), and his 1914 ''Der Stern des Bundes'' ("The Star of the Covenant").
Derleth came into contact with the sculptor
Georg Kolbe
Georg Kolbe (15 April 1877 – 20 November 1947) was a German sculptor. He was the leading German figure sculptor of his generation, in a vigorous, modern, simplified classical style similar to Aristide Maillol of France.
Early life and educa ...
in Paris, and the latter began a short-lived romantic relationship with Derleth's sister Anna-Maria. Kolbe sculpted a portrait bust of Derleth in 1904.
In later years, Derleth made his living as a freelance writer in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, and
Perchtolfsdorf (near
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
). In 1924, he married Christine Ulrich (born 1894 in
Darmstadt). In 1935, he settled in
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
,
Switzerland, where he died in 1948.
Surviving her husband, Derleth's widow Christine undertook the collection, organization, and (re)publication of most of his work.
Derleth's archives are now held at the
Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach. A school in his birthplace of Gerolzhofen, the Ludwig-Derleth-Realschule, is named in his honour.
Work
Derleth published his first poems in Stefan George's ''Blättern für die Kunst'' and in the
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
-based arts magazine ''
Pan''. In 1904 he published his ''Proklamationen'' ("''Proclamations''") which called for a reformed and reorganized
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
based on a revolutionary,
Nietzschean
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Represe ...
hierarchy and "purity". Much of Derleth's work was anti-humanistic in tone, and advocated an almost-totalitarian vision of Christianity that was both idealistic and militant in character.
Derleth spent 40 years completing his major work, ''Der fränkische Koran'' ("''The Franconian Qur'an''"), a multi-volume documentation of Derleth's own spiritual and religious journey.
It is believed that fellow author
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
's interactions with Derleth inspired his 1904 short story "Beim Propheten" ("At the Prophet's"), as well as characters in his novella ''Gladius Dei'' (1902) and ''
Doktor Faustus'' (1947)''.''
Derleth's other works include ''Die Lebensalter'' (1937), ''Seraphinische Hochzeit'' (1939), and ''Der Tod des Thanatos'' (1945).
References
External links
*
*
Integralismus by
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar (12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered an important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. He was announced as his choice to become a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, b ...
, 1963 essay containing excerpts from the ''Proklamationen''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derleth, Ludwig
19th-century German poets
German occult writers
1870 births
1948 deaths
German male poets
19th-century German male writers
19th-century German writers
German male non-fiction writers
People from Gerolzhofen