Ludwig Thoma (; 21 January 1867 in
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...
– 26 August 1921 in
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an e ...
) was a German author, publisher and editor, who gained popularity through his partially exaggerated description of everyday
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 ...
n life.
After graduation from the Imperial
Latin School
The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...
in
Landstuhl
Landstuhl () is a town in the Kaiserslautern district of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is the seat of ''Verbandsgemeinde Landstuhl'', a kind of "collective municipality." Landstuhl is situated on the north-west edge of the Palatinate F ...
(today:
Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen (2 March 14817 May 1523) was an Imperial Knight who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the so-called "Knights' Revolt," and was one of the most notable figures of the early period of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation. Sickin ...
- Gymnasium Landstuhl), he first studied
Forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
in
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
, then
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
until 1893 in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
. Subsequently, he settled down as a lawyer, at first in
Dachau
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
, later in Munich.
After 1899, he worked for the magazine ''
Simplicissimus
:''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.''
''Simplicissimus'' () was a satire, satirical German language, German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich ...
'' and published
humor
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
ous
narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...
s,
comedies
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
,
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
s and stories. Thoma satirized Bavarian rural and small-town life. His serious peasant novels ''Andreas Vöst'' (1905), ''Der Wittiber'' (1911), and ''Der Ruepp'' (1922), as well as his humorous collections ''Assessor Karlchen'' (1900), ''Lausbubengeschichten'' (''Tales of a Rascal'', 1904), and ''Tante Frieda'' (''Aunt Frieda'', 1906), are characterized by authenticity of
regional language
*
A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area.
Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...
and life. Thoma's dramas, including ''Die Medaille'' (''The Medal'', 1901), ''Das Säuglingsheim'' (''The Orphanage'', 1913), and especially ''Moral'' (1908), reflect elements of folk theatre.
In 1907 he married 25-year-old Marietta di Rigardo, who was born in the Philippines. The marriage, however, did not last; Marietta was soon bored and by 1911 Thoma and Marietta were divorced. In the later years of his life, he wrote
nationalistic
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
propaganda agitating against left-wing politicians (e.g. for the newspaper ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'').
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he served as a
medical orderly
In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ro ...
. In July 1917 he joined the
German Fatherland Party
The German Fatherland Party (german: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, abbreviated as DVLP) was a short-lived far-right political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. It rejected the ''Burgfriedenspolitik'' or "party ...
.
His best-known works are ''Der Münchner im Himmel'' (''The Munich Man in Heaven''), which was adapted into an animated short film released in 1962, the ''Lausbubengeschichten'' (''Tales of a Rascal'') and ''Jozef Filsers Briefwexel'' (''Jozef Filser's Letters''). ''Lausbubengeschichten'' was made into a movie in 1964, also released in English under the title '.
Birth and schooling
![Ludwig Thoma Gedenktafel Prien](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Ludwig_Thoma_Gedenktafel_Prien.jpg)
Ludwig Thoma was born as the fifth child of
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
Max Thoma and his wife Katharina Thoma, née Pfeiffer, in
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...
. His paternal ancestors were active in the forest service; his great-grandfather
Joseph von Thoma
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
(1767–1849) had headed the Bavarian Forestry Commission and had been elevated to the nobility as a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
for his services. His mother's family initially ran an inn in
Oberau
Oberau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Location
Oberau is located at the Loisach in the so-called "Zugspitzland". The distance between the village center and Garmisch-Partenkirchen ...
, later in Oberammergau. He spent the first years of his life in the forester's lodge of
Vorderriß on the
River Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...
near the Tyrolean border, a very remote and lonely area at the time. His upbringing was essentially in the hands of his nanny Viktoria Pröbstl, with whom Ludwig Thoma had a very close relationship.
According to Katharina Thomas Willen, Ludwig was to have pursued a career as a priest. As a result, she attached great importance to a good education for her son; private tutors taught him to read and write even before he started school, and he received private Latin lessons early on.
Shortly after the family moved to
Forstenried near Munich in 1874, when Ludwig was only seven years old, his father died and the family were surprised to find themselves destitute: Viktoria Pröbstl had to sell furniture from the forester's lodge to pay for the burial. Thoma's mother had to raise seven children alone. The children initially had one of their father's colleagues, Karl Decrignis, as a guardian.
[Rösch (2012), p. 144] Ludwig and his sister Luise were taken in by their uncle Albert Paulus in
Landstuhl
Landstuhl () is a town in the Kaiserslautern district of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is the seat of ''Verbandsgemeinde Landstuhl'', a kind of "collective municipality." Landstuhl is situated on the north-west edge of the Palatinate F ...
. There Ludwig attended one year of primary school, and then went into the second year of the Latin school.
The death of his father and separation from his family affected his school work; as a result he was a difficult student who received few favourable reports:
In 1876, his mother rented the pub ''Zur Kampenwand'' in
Prien am Chiemsee
Prien am Chiemsee (official: , High German [], Bavarian (local) dialect []) is a municipality in the Upper Bavarian Rosenheim (district), district of Rosenheim in Germany. The town is a certified Luftkurort, air and Sebastian Kneipp, Kneipp spa o ...
, which she managed together with Viktoria Pröbstl and her daughters. Ludwig began a period of alternating between boarding school and holidaying in his family's "idyllic home", as he calls it in ''Lausbubengeschichten'' ("Tales of a Rascal"). Misdemeanours and conflicts with teachers there are probably based on real experiences: "There is sufficient evidence that Thoma condensed these altercations for his stories, but by no means invented them." In 1877, he moved to the boarding school of the study seminar in
Neuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.
Divisions
The municipality has 16 divisions:
* Altmannstetten
* Bergen, Neu ...
. He had to repeat a year at the
study centre in
Burghausen.
Here Georg Pauliebl was one of his friends; his life story was described by Thoma in the story ''Der heilige Hies'' ("Saint Hies").
In 1879, Thoma moved from Burghausen to the
Wilhelmsgymnasium. During his school days he lived as a lodger, and he described this time in his ''Erinnerungen'' ("Memoires"). He also had to repeat a year in Munich and stayed until 1885.
The family moved to
Traunstein
Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...
in 1883, where his mother leased the inn ''Zur Post''. The trigger for the change of location seems to have been a "shameful act" on the part of Ludwig, which also made it impossible for his sister Marie to accept a suitor. In 1884, after the death of Karl Decrignis, the forest officer Ludwig von Raesfeldt took on the guardianship of the Thoma siblings.
In 1885, Raesfeldt succeeded in getting Ludwig admitted to the final year of the grammar school in
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...
, after he was threatened with expulsion from his school in Munich.
Martin A. Klaus quotes the "special remarks" from Thomas Landshut's high school diploma:
In Landshut, Thoma passed his ''Maturität'' examinations in 1886. At the suggestion of his classmates, he went up to give the graduation speech: "But the young man failed. Thoma stood silently in front of the auditorium, unable to choke out a word, until the headmaster rushed to the podium, improvised a speech and saved the situation."
Legal studies and career
Like his father, Thoma wanted to be a forester and began studying
forest science
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
in
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
in the winter term of 1886/87, but dropped out after the first year. During his time in Aschaffenburg he joined the oldest forestry corps (''Forstcorps''), the Corps Hubertia of Munich. Because he did not attend a
Mensur
Academic fencing (german: link=no, akademisches Fechten) or is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations () in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, and, to a minor extent, in Belgium, Lithuania, and Pol ...
, he was dishonourably dismissed ("without a ribbon").
In the winter term of 1887/1888 he moved to the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
and enrolled for a degree in
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
. Like his father before him, he became a member of the
Corps Suevia Munich. In Munich he did compete in two compulsory duels, but stayed on the defensive each time. So he received the (at his time) desirable ''
schmiss
Dueling scars (german: link=no, Schmisse) have been seen as a "badge of honour" since as early as 1825. Known variously as " scars", "the bragging scar", "smite", "" or "", dueling scars were popular amongst upper-class Austrians and Germans invo ...
'' ("duelling scar"), but was also released from the Corps Suevia without a ribbon.
[Rösch (2012), p. 22] On the advice of a fellow student, he switched to the
University of Erlangen
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
for the summer term; he studied here without getting involved in any clubs, and on 1 August 1890 he received the certificate for entry into legal clerkship.
For Martin Klaus, failure and the subsequent change of educational establishment is symptomatic of Thoma's character:
In his ''Erinnerungen'', Thoma describes his times as a schoolboy in Munich and Prien verbosely, but he treats his degree studies very briefly:
From 1890, he worked as a legal intern at
Traunstein
Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...
. At the same time he wrote a
dissertation on the topic ''The Theory of Self-Defence'' with criminal law professor Karl Lueder. On 6 December 1890, he passed the oral exam with the (lowest possible) grade of ''Rite'' ("satisfactory"). A handwritten copy of his doctoral thesis with its final correction edits was found in Thoma's estate; However, Thoma never had them printed and therefore did not receive a doctorate certificate. Strictly speaking, he was therefore wrong to claim a doctorate.
Early successes as a writer
![Thoma Eröffnungshymne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Thoma_Er%C3%B6ffnungshymne.jpg)
In April 1895, Ritter published Thoma's short story "Der Truderer" in the literary supplement ''Sammler'', in which cheerful events of rural life were recorded for the first time in prose form. Ludwig Thoma also commented on political issues, writing an article about the party conference of the Bavarian
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
and their agricultural policy for the ''Augsburger Abendzeitung'' in October. In it, he opposed the reform efforts of the Social Democrats and described
Clara Zetkin
Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights.
Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the ...
as a "Russian virago".
His early successes and better financial circumstances made him consider marriage. As early as 1892 he had met Johanna Sachs from Nuremberg, daughter of a grain dealer, whom he cautiously began to woo. But when her father gave him no further hopes, he gave up the plan.
In late 1896, Thoma made another attempt to find a wife. On the basis of a marriage advertisement, he began to exchange letters with several candidates, which, however, did not result in anything. He mocked women a little later in his first comedy ''Witwen'' ("Widows"). In spring 1897, Thoma moved to Munich, where he shared a bachelor's apartment with his school friend, Richard Rothmaier, while Viktoria Pröbstl ran the household. With a student friend he started a legal practice, to which he devoted less and less time in the years that followed.
Adolf Hölzel
Adolf Richard Hölzel (13 May 1853 – 17 October 1934) was a German painter. He began as a Realist, but later became an early promoter of various Modern styles, including Abstractionism.
Biography
Hölzel was born in Olmütz. His father was ...
, who worked in the
Dachau Artists' Colony, and
Bruno Paul
Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer.
Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...
, who celebrated his first successes in the ''Jugend'', illustrated his collection of stories ''Agricola: Bauerngeschichten'' ("Stories of the Peasantry") in 1897. This, Thoma's first book, appeared in the Waldbauer bookstore in
Passau
Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.
Passau's popu ...
. Paul switched in 1897 to the satirical weekly ''
Simplicissimus
:''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.''
''Simplicissimus'' () was a satire, satirical German language, German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich ...
'' founded the year before by
Albert Langen
Albert Langen (8 July 1869 – 30 April 1909) was a German publisher and founder of the satirical publication ''Simplicissimus''.
Early years
Langen was, after Martha and Martin, the third of four children born to Antwerp industrialist Friedrich ...
, whose employees Thoma also met in Café Heck on ''Odeonsplatz''.
In 1898, he sent the first manuscripts to ''Simplicissimus'', which were well received by publisher and public. When the edition of 31 October 1899 was confiscated for
lèse-majesté
Lèse-majesté () or lese-majesty () is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, w ...
, author
Frank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...
, draftsman
Thomas Theodor Heine
Thomas Theodor Heine (28 February 1867 – 26 January 1948) was a German painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Born in Leipzig, Heine established himself as a gifted caricaturist at an early age, which led to him studying art at the Kunstakademie D ...
and publisher Langen fled abroad to avoid prosecution.
[Rösch (2012), p. 145] ''Simplicissimus'' needed a responsible person on site at the editorial office in Munich. Langen considered hiring Thoma as editor-in-chief, his confidant
Korfiz Holm
Korfiz Holm (also Corfitz Holm (21 August 1872 - 5 August 1942 was a German publisher, translator and author.
Life
Diedrich Heinrich Corfitz/Korfiz Holm was born into a German speaking family in Riga, where his father Diedrich Eduard Holm (18 ...
had previously spoken out against Thoma:
But Langen chose Thoma, whose comedy ''Die Witwen'' had failed him as well as Munich director Jocza Savits. In September 1899, Thoma sold his law firm and became a permanent editor of ''Simplicissimus''.
Editor-in-Chief at ''Simplicissimus''
In the years that followed, Thoma was one of the most important authors for ''Simplicissimus''. He appeared as a satirist under several
pseudonyms
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
- he usually wrote his poems as "Peter Schlemihl". At the beginning of 1901 he wrote the one-act play ''Die Medaille'', set in Dachau which was premiered at Munich's
Residence Theatre. The play was also staged in Berlin; Thoma accompanied the production at ''Überbrettl'' there in November 1901.
In 1898, Thoma met a woman whom he never mentioned by name in his diary entries and private letters, but instead described her as "G." or ''
Hohenzollernstraße''. (The two met for their assignations in Hohenzollernstraße in
Schwabing
Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 100 ...
.) Martin Klaus suspects that his lover, who was married, older than Thoma and (according to his roommate Rothmair) came from the Hungarian upper class, was Kathinka Ganghofer, the wife of
Ludwig Ganghofer
Ludwig Ganghofer (7 July 1855 – 24 July 1920) was a German writer who became famous for his homeland novels.
Biography
He was born in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, the son of forestry official August Ganghofer (1827–1900). His younger sister Ida (186 ...
. Thoma and Ganghofer did not know each other personally at that time; Thoma ended the affair at the end of 1901; he and Ganghofer only met in 1903.
In 1901, Thoma wrote his comedy ''Die Lokalbahn'', which opened on 19 October 1902 (again in the Residence Theatre). Viktoria Pröbstl died in November 1902.
Material achievements and travel
In 1903, Thoma met graphic artist
Ignatius Taschner
Ignatius Taschner (9 April 1871 – 25 November 1913), also known as Ignaz Taschner, was a German sculptor, medalist, graphic designer and illustrator.
Life
Ignatius Taschner was born in 1871, he was the son of Bartholomew Taschner, a sto ...
, with whom he soon became close friends. Certainly by the time of his success with the novel ''Lokalbahn'', Thoma had become an important source of income for the publisher. Thoma was rid of his financial worries and indulged in an upper-class lifestyle: together with Albert Langen, he leased a hunting ground in
Unterweikertshofen near Dachau, which he had visited repeatedly since 1895. Although Langen paid half the lease, the hunt was primarily used by Thoma. In March and April 1903, he travelled for the first time by bicycle with colleagues from ''Simplicissimus'' through Italy to
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 ...
. He wrote the mocking story ''Der heilige Hies'' and began to write his first novel ''Andreas Vöst''.
In 1906, Thoma and
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...
became editors of the magazine ''März''.
Mockery and condemnation
Also in 1906 he was imprisoned because of the satirical poem "On the morality of Preachers in Köln am Rheine" being sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for "insulting members of a social morality organisation", a sentence which he had to serve in
Stadelheim Gaol near Munich.
Marriage to Marion
In 1907, he married dancer Marietta di Rigardo, known as Marion (1880–1966), who was born in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and was an emancipated young woman for her time. The marriage didn't last long, the temperaments of the two were too different. Marion became bored and became unfaithful. The marriage ended in divorce in 1911, but the two remained friends.
At Tegernsee
![Tuften](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Tuften.JPG)
In 1908, he moved into his house "Auf der Tuften" in
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an e ...
. His comedy ''Moral'' premiered that year, and the work became one of his greatest successes. In the play he had a representative of a morality association (''Sittlichkeitsverein''), who had committed a grave offence against the principles of such an association, say: "Being moral, I can manage that alone in my room, but that has no educational value. The main thing is that you publicly profess moral principles. That has a favourable effect on the family, on the state." In the same piece, the chairman of this moral society makes the statement: "Mr. Assessor, when a couple in a marriage stop lying, then they separate."
First World War
Until then, Thomas' attitude had been
left-liberal
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
. So he had not held back from often biting criticism of society, church and state. This changed with the beginning of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. ''Simplicissimus'' became increasingly less strident, and Thoma could not and did not want to withdraw from the general enthusiasm for the war, especially among intellectuals. He volunteered as a
medic
A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder.
Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...
and moved in 1915 with a
Bavarian Division to the
Eastern Front in
Galicia. There he became seriously ill with
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
and became unfit for military service. Many works appeared in the particularly productive year of 1916. In 1917, Thoma advertised in the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'' for subscription to war bonds. "Our fatherland must carry on the war to the victorious end", it said in October 1917 under the headline "Why does the farmer have to subscribe to the war bond?"
In July 1917 he enrolled as a member of the
German Fatherland Party
The German Fatherland Party (german: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, abbreviated as DVLP) was a short-lived far-right political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. It rejected the ''Burgfriedenspolitik'' or "party ...
, which advocated an uncompromising
victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...
. He spoke several times for the Fatherland Party,
as in the summer of 1917 in Munich's
Löwenbräukeller
Löwenbräukeller is a beer hall and event center located in Maxvorstadt, Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It has hosted concerts by artists such as Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss.
It was used as a substitute site for the anniversaries of the 192 ...
.
He could not cope with the looming
war defeat in November 1918. He no longer understood the world and bitterly withdrew to his house.
In summer of 1918 he met Maidi Liebermann von Wahlendorf (1883–1971), who came from the Jewish sparkling wine dynasty Feist-Belmont and was now married. Thoma fell passionately in love with her and bemoaned his fate for not having taken her as his wife at the time. Until his death he was to court her vigorously. Although she remained close to him, she could not bring herself to move in with him completely, since her husband refused to divorce.
Articles for the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger''
In the last 14 months of his life Thoma wrote for the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'' - often through an editorial on the first page
[Luis Markowsky a]
''ns-dokuzentrum-muenchen.de''
/ref> - 175 mostly (except for five cases) anonymous and mostly anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
articles, especially against the government in Berlin and social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
. But he also wrote about the Jewish bourgeoisie, for example: "Teiteles Cohn and Isidor Veigelduft, they are still allowed to put their ornate knuckles in their leather cases in summer, with Rebekka on her arm in a dirndl dress, smelling of violets and garlic." He described the Reich capital of Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
as a "duck dump" and a "combination of a Galician Jewish nest and New York criminal district", described in the language of the Völkisch movement
The ''Völkisch'' movement (german: Völkische Bewegung; alternative en, Folkist Movement) was a German ethno-nationalist movement active from the late 19th century through to the Nazi era, with remnants in the Federal Republic of Germany af ...
of an "idiosyncracy deeply rooted in race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
..." and insulted the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
as "characterless idiocy".[''Aus dem Vollen: Wirbel um den bayrischen Säulenheiligen Ludwig Thoma.''](_blank)
In: ''Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
.'' 21 August 1989 He called its representative "this sad herd of pigs from Tarnopol
Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...
and Jaroslau" and emphasized that "besides the Hymie from ''Promenadenstrasse'', we also have shot down several from the tribe of Levi
According to the Bible, the Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob. The descendants of Aaron, who was the first ''kohen gadol'' (high priest) of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, ...
shot down …" (the Bavarian Prime Minister Kurt Eisner
Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...
was shot dead in ''Promenadenstrasse''). He called Eisner himself a "Jewish pig", whose murder he described as an "execution".
And Thoma insulted Jewish publisher Rudolf Mosse with the words "Rascal with your curly hair and your progressive motion scissors"; Kurt Tucholsky
Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel.
Tucholsky was on ...
he denigrated as a "little Galician cripple". (c.f. also the reaction Thomas wrote anonymously in the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'' on 2 February 1921 to a contribution by Tucholsky (alias Ignaz Wrobel) in Die Weltbühne
''Die Weltbühne'' (‘The World Stage’) was a German weekly magazine for politics, art and the economy. It was founded in Berlin in 1905 as (‘The Theater’) by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally a theater magazine only. In 1913 it beg ...
). In an article on 16 March 1921, Thoma wrote in the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'' under the title "Broadcast to all Berlin government and Jewish Pigs" with reference to the law passed in the '' Reichstag'' for the dissolution of self-defence organizations that had formed after the First World War: "It only needs a Galician Jew to want to disarm us - we'll beat him so that he doesn't fit in a coffin anymore."
According to Luis Markowsky from the , Thoma "made the crude socially acceptable through a skilful writing style that connected to Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
".
Death and estate
On 6 August, Thoma underwent a stomach operation in Munich. He died of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...
on 26 August 1921 at his home in Tegernsee. He bequeathed most of his considerable fortune as well as his fees and royalties to Maidi von Liebermann. His divorced wife Marion, his sisters Katharina Hübner and Bertha Zurwesten and his brother Peter Thoma each received a sum of 200,000 marks, the latter also a lifelong pension of 2,000 marks a year.
Ludwig Thoma was buried in the parish cemetery of the Church of St. Lawrence, Egern, in Rottach-Egern
Rottach-Egern () is a municipality (''Gemeinde Rottach-Egern am Tegernsee'') and town located at Lake Tegernsee in the district of Miesbach in Upper Bavaria, Germany, about 55 km (35 miles) south of central Munich. Late Austrian actor Walter Slez ...
by Lake Tegernsee. Today his grave lies between that of his longtime friend, the writer Ludwig Ganghofer
Ludwig Ganghofer (7 July 1855 – 24 July 1920) was a German writer who became famous for his homeland novels.
Biography
He was born in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, the son of forestry official August Ganghofer (1827–1900). His younger sister Ida (186 ...
, and that of his lover, Maidi von Liebermann.
Assessment
In his works, Ludwig Thoma tried to expose the prevailing pseudo-morality. He also uncompromisingly denounced the weakness and stupidity of the bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
milieu and chauvinistic
Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...
Prussianism
Prussianism comprises the practices and doctrines of the Prussians, specifically the militarism and the severe discipline traditionally associated with the Prussian ruling class.
History
Prussianism had its origins with the rise to the thron ...
with its 'Pickelhaube
The ( pl. ; from german: Pickel, lit=point' or 'pickaxe, and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military officers, firefighters and police. Although ...
' militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
. He also resented the provincialism
Parochialism is the state of mind, whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of "provincialism". It may, pa ...
and the clerical politics of his time in the Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
, which is reflected in ''Jozef Filser's Briefwexel''. His stories spiced with humour and satire or his one-act
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...
plays of the rural and small-town environment in Upper Bavaria are regarded as brilliant. His unsentimental descriptions of agrarian life in his novels are therefore particularly true to life, because Thoma was able to gain a wealth of practical insights into living conditions in the country from his work as a lawyer. The Bavarian dialect is rendered as concisely as that in Georg Queri's works.
Based on his articles in the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger'' (1920-1921), an 1989 article in ''Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' accused Ludwig Thoma of becoming an angry anti-Semite
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and to have developed into a pioneer of Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
.
Lawyer Otto Gritschneder highlights his six-week imprisonment in Munich-Stadelheim (1906) and "the extremely anti-Semitic and vulgar anti-democratic essays by Thoma's from the last years of his life in the ''Miesbacher Anzeiger''" as dark episodes in Ludwig Thoma's life. He also points out that Thoma never submitted his doctoral thesis, but still called himself "Doctor Ludwig Thoma" and let himself be called a doctor, which has to be mentioned for an author who is so critical of his fellow human beings.
Honours
Thoma still enjoys great popularity in Upper Bavaria today. For example, products such as the ''Ludwig-Thoma-Bier'' from the Hofbrauhaus Berchtesgaden bear his name.
The municipal Ludwig Thoma Middle School (''Realschule'') in Munich has borne his name since it was built in 1973. In Dachau there is a Ludwig Thoma School (primary school). In Prien am Chiemsee there is the Ludwig Thoma Grammar School (''Gymnasium'') in Prien in the restaurant where Thoma and his mother lived from 1876. There is also a Ludwig Thoma Primary School in Traunstein. The Dachau–Altomünster railway
The Dachau–Altomünster railway, also called the Bummerl, Bockerl or Ludwig Thoma Railway, is a railway in the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the Munich S-Bahn network and is integrated within the Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund (Mu ...
is also known as the ''Ludwig-Thoma-Bahn''.
His bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
*Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazine ...
is in the Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
in Munich.
The city of Munich awarded a Ludwig Thoma Medal in his honour from 1967 onwards, but the award was discontinued in 1990 after his national conservative attitude, anti-Semitic slogans and anti-socialist polemics
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
became known.[Daniel Drašček, Dietz-Rüdiger Moser: ''Schon Korfiz Holm fand Ludwig Thoma "krachledern".'' In: ''Literatur in Bayern.'' 21, 1990, pp. 2–14]
online
pdf; 5 MB).
Works
* ''Die Lokalbahn'' (1901)
* ''Lausbubengeschichten'' (1905)
* ''Andreas Vöst'' (1906)
* ''Tante Frieda'' (1907)
* ''Moral'' (1909)
* ''Ein Münchner im Himmel'' (1911)
* ''Jozef Filsers Briefwexel'' (1912)
* ''Altaich'' (1918)
* ''Münchnerinnen'' (1919)
* ''Der Jagerloisl'' (1921)
References
External links
*
*
*
* https://web.archive.org/web/20050831020847/http://www.uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_IV/Germanistik/gajek/thoma.htm
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoma, Ludwig
1867 births
1921 deaths
People from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district)
People from the Kingdom of Bavaria
19th-century German novelists
20th-century German novelists
German male short story writers
Writers from Bavaria
German Fatherland Party politicians
German Army personnel of World War I
German male novelists
19th-century German short story writers
19th-century German male writers
20th-century German short story writers
20th-century German male writers