Paul Boldt (1885, Christfelde,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

- 1921,

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

) was one of the poets of German

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. Boldt was born in the town of Christfelde an der Weichsel in the countryside of

, an area which is now a part of Poland. After finishing his secondary education, he studied philology at universities 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 ...

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

, and

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 ...

without taking a degree. Once in Berlin, he started associating with the writers and artists who frequented the city's many cafes and began writing poetry himself. In 1912, his first published poems appeared in ''Die Aktion'', a magazine most frequently associated with the Expressionist movement. Two years later, he published his only book, ''Junge Pferde! Junge Pferde!'' (''Young Horses! Young Horses''). He was drafted into the German Army at the beginning of

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 ...

, but was discharged in 1916 regarded psychologically unfit to serve. It was during his time in the military that he stopped writing poetry, and the last of his poems to appear in print during his lifetime came out in 1918. Boldt died at the age of 35 from an embolism that was a complication of surgery for a hernia. Since his death, he has been largely forgotten, unlike other Expressionist poets writing in German, such as

Gottfried Benn Gottfried Benn (2 May 1886 – 7 July 1956) was a German poet, essayist, and physician. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1951. Biography and work Family and beginnings Go ...

Georg Heym Georg Theodor Franz Artur Heym (30 October 1887 – 16 January 1912) was a German writer. He is particularly known for his poetry, representative of early Expressionism. Biography Heym was born in Hirschberg, Lower Silesia, in 1887 to He ...

, and

Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...

. (There are, in fact, no photographs or likenesses of Boldt known to exist.) However, in the last few decades there has been a movement seeking to revive recognition for what many readers and critics believe to be his considerable poetic gifts. Most recently, there has been a "mini-renaissance" of Boldt's reputation in the German-speaking world, as his complete works have been republished for the first time in over a quarter-century; specifically in two volumes: ''Junge Pferde! Junge Pferde!'' ("Young Horses! Young Horses!") and "Auf der Terrasse des Cafe Josty" ("On the Terrace of Cafe Josty"), published by Edition Razamba in 2008 and 2009, respectively. A compilation book of poetry, titled Herbstpark was published in January 2018 as part of the series "50 zeitlose Gedichte"
Lyrik-Klassiker-Reihe: 50 zeitlose Gedichte
''

Martin Werhand Verlag The Martin Werhand Verlag is a German publishing house with a focus on contemporary literature and poetry. More than 25% of the 150 published authors have an immigrant background with parents who were born outside of Germany and have their roots ...

, 2018 (50 timeless poems) at

. English-language translations of some of Boldt's poems can be found in "The Online-Archive with the oeuvre of Paul Boldt" listed below.

External links

Literatur von und über Paul Boldt im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

The Online-Archive with the oeuvre of Paul Boldt

Chansons with lyrics by Paul Boldt by german composer Marc Pendzich
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boldt, Paul 1885 births 1921 deaths People from Świecie County People from West Prussia Expressionist poets 20th-century German poets Deaths from embolism German male poets German-language poets 20th-century German male writers