Walter Georg Alfred Hasenclever (8 July 1890 – 22 June 1940) 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 ...

Expressionist 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 radi ...

poet and playwright. His works were banned when the Nazis came to power and he went into exile in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. There he was imprisoned as a "foreign enemy". He died in Les Milles (

Camp des Milles The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).Guénaël LemoueeCamp des Milles : la mémoire de la ...

) near

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille ...

Early life

Born in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, the son of the doctor Carl Georg Hasenclever (1855–1934) and his wife Mathilde Anna (née Reiss; 1869–1953), Walter Hasenclever began studying

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 ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1908 before changing to the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

. From 1909 to 1914 he studied in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, where he became interested in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, 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 ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

Career

In 1910 he published his first volume of poems, ''Towns, nights and people'' (''Städte, Nächte und Menschen''). In 1914 his play '' The Son'' (''Der Sohn'') was his first successful Expressionist drama. At first, Hasenclever was pro-war and volunteered for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

. Soon he came to reject the war, simulated

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

, and was released from duty in 1917. That same year he was presented with the Kleist Prize for his passionate adaptation of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

' ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., ...

''. He was a good friend of the artist

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expres ...

who depicted him in his 1918 work "The Friends" with

Käthe Richter Käthe or Kathe is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Käthe Dorsch (1890–1957), German actress *Käthe Gold (1907–1997), Austrian actress *Käthe Grasegger, later Deuschl (1917–2001), German alpine skier *Kathe Green (bor ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, where Hasenclever was recuperating from his supposed illness in a sanatorium. In 1924, Hasenclever met

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 o ...

; at this time he worked as a French correspondent for the magazine ''8-Uhr-Abendblatt'', spending a lot of time in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, where he also befriended the dramatist

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His ...

. In 1926 he produced the successful

comedy 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 ...

A Better Gentleman A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes ...

'' (''Ein besserer Herr'') and in 1928 the comedy ''

Marriages are Made in Heaven Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

'' (''Ehen werden im Himmel geschlossen''). In 1930, he wrote scripts for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

for

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

; at this time he lived in

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 constitu ...

in an "artists' colony".

Exile, capture and death

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 ...

took power in 1933, his works were banned, burned during the

book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politi ...

, then removed from libraries. Hasenclever went into

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 ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

. In 1934, he married Edith Schläfer there. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Hasenclever was imprisoned twice as a "foreign enemy" in France. When France fell to Germany, he was in the prison camp of

in the south-east of France. In the early hours of 22 June 1940 he took his own life with an overdose of the

barbiturate Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential a ...

Veronal Barbital (or barbitone), marketed under the brand names Veronal for the pure acid and Medinal for the sodium salt, was the first commercially available barbiturate. It was used as a sleeping aid (hypnotic) from 1903 until the mid-1950s. The chemic ...

'', so as not to fall into the hands of the Nazis.

Legacy

Since 1996 the Walter Hasenclever Prize has been awarded to a German-language writer every two years. Winners have included

Peter Rühmkorf Peter Rühmkorf (25 October 1929 – 8 June 2008) was a German writer who significantly influenced German post-war literature. Rühmkorf's literary career started in 1952 in Hamburg with the magazine ''Zwischen den Kriegen'' ("Between the Wars") ...

(1996),

George Tabori George Tabori ( György Tábori; 24 May 1914 – 23 July 2007) was a Hungarian writer and theatre director. Life and career Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél and Elsa Tábori. His father Kornél (Cornelius) was m ...

(1998), Oskar Pastior (2000), Marlene Steerewitz (2002) and

Friedrich Christian Delius Friedrich Christian Delius (13 February 1943 – 30 May 2022), also known by his pen name F.C. Delius, was a German novelist. He wrote books about historic events, such as the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and RAF terrorism. Four of his novels were tr ...

(2004). The funds come from the Walter Hasenclever Society (''Walter-Hasenclever-Gesellschaft'') as well as the town of

, the Schiller Society, and Hasenclever's old school, the Einhard Gymnasium.

Selected filmography

*'' Ein besserer Herr'' (1928) *''

Diary of a Coquette ''Diary of a Coquette'' (German:''Tagebuch einer Kokotte'') is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Constantin J. David and starring Fee Malten, Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur and Alfred Döderlein.Bock & Bergfelder p.258 Cast * Fee Malten as Su ...

'' (1929) * '' Love Songs'' (1930) * '' Rendezvous'' (1930) * ''

Men Behind Bars ''Men Behind Bars'' (German: ''Menschen hinter Gittern'') is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Pál Fejös and starring Heinrich George, Gustav Diessl and Egon von Jordan. It is the German language version of MGM's '' The Big Hou ...

'' (1931)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasenclever, Walter 1890 births 1940 suicides People from Aachen People from the Rhine Province German expressionist dramatists and playwrights Expressionist poets Writers from North Rhine-Westphalia Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to France Jewish German writers German Jewish military personnel of World War I Kleist Prize winners Drug-related suicides in France Barbiturates-related deaths German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German poets 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German male writers Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust 1940 deaths German Jews who died in the Holocaust