Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck (aka Charles R. Hulbeck) (23 April 189220 April 1974) was a German writer, poet, and

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

born in

Frankenau Frankenau () is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Frankenau lies in the Kellerwald range southwest of the Talgang (566 m-high mountain). It is found on the southern edge of the Kellerwald-Eder ...

Hessen-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the ...

who was associated with the formation of the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

movement.

Life and work

Huelsenbeck was a medical student on the eve 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 ...

. He was invalided out of the army and emigrated to

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in February 1916, where he fell in with the Cabaret Voltaire. In January 1917, he moved to

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 ...

, taking with him the ideas and techniques which helped him found the Berlin

group. 'To make literature with a gun in my hand had for a time been my dream,' he wrote in 1920. Huelsenbeck was the editor of the ''Dada Almanach'', and wrote ''Dada siegt'', ''En Avant Dada'' and other

ist works.
Richard Hülsenbeck at

Ubuweb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Philosop ...

Huelsenbeck's autobiography ''Memoirs of a Dada Drummer'' gives detailed accounts of his interactions with many key figures of the movement. Huelsenbeck's ideas fitted in with left-wing politics current at the time in Berlin. However idealistic Huelsenbeck and his companions were, their challenge Dada is German Bolshevism had unfortunate repercussions later, when the

National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

denounced all aspects of modern art as '' Kunstbolschewismus''. Beginning in 1933, Huelsenbeck was repeatedly investigated by the Nazi authorities. He was forbidden to write and rather than remaining in '

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

', he managed to get an immigration visa to the United States in 1936. He changed his name to Charles R. Hulbeck and practiced medicine and psychoanalysis at the Karen Horney Clinic in Long Island, New York. In 1970 he returned to the

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 . ...

region of

. Of his music,

Hugo Ball Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. ...

wrote, "Huelsenbeck has arrived. He pleads for an intensification of

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

(

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

rhythm). He would best love to drum literature & to

perdition Perdition may refer to: * Hell in Christianity Music * '' Perdition City'', an album by Norwegian band Ulver * '' The Perdition EP'', an album by Norwegian band Enslavement of Beauty * "Perdition", a song from the album ''In Consequence'' by Gree ...

." Until the end of his life, Huelsenbeck insisted, "Dada is still existing," although the movement's other founders might not have agreed.

Footnotes

External links

Finding Aid for Richard Huelsenbeck papers, the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Accession No. 910082. The collection includes manuscripts, correspondence, some photographs, clippings and catalogues. {{DEFAULTSORT:Huelsenbeck, Richard 1892 births 1974 deaths People from Waldeck-Frankenberg Dada People from Hesse-Nassau German male poets 20th-century German poets German-language poets German medical writers 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers