Carl Einstein, born Karl Einstein, also known by pseudonym Savine Ree Urian (26 April 1885 – 5 July 1940), was an influential

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

writer, art historian, anarchist, and critic. Regarded as one of the first critics to appreciate the development of

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

, as well as for his work on

African art African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, su ...

and influence on the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

'', Einstein was a friend and colleague of such figures as

George Grosz George Grosz (; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objec ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. His work combined many strands of both political and aesthetic discourse into his writings, addressing both the developing aesthetic of modern art and the political situation in Europe. Einstein's involvement in social and political life was characterized by

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

sympathies and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

views. A target of the German

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

during the interwar

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

period, Einstein left Germany for France in 1928, a half-decade ahead of the rise of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, later taking part in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

on the side of the Loyalist forces during the 1930s. Trapped in southern France following

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's defeat of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

, Einstein took his own life by jumping from a bridge on 5 July 1940.

Early life

Carl Einstein who was born to a

family on 26 April 1885, in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

town of

Neuwied Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...

. The second child born to Daniel Einstein, an active member of the local

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community, and Sophie Einstein, Carl was a year younger than his sister

Hedwig Hedwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Hedwig (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Grzegorz Hedwig (born 1988), Polish slalom canoeist * Johann Hedwig, (1730–1799), German botanist * Romanus Adol ...

, who would become known as a

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and the wife of sculptor Benno Elkan. A third child born to Daniel and Sophie died in 1889. The young Carl Einstein spent much of his youth in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

before moving 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 ...

to study

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. Some ...

and

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

in 1903. Originally given the standard German spelling of his

first name First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

as "Karl" at birth, he adopted the Latinized spelling "Carl" in the 1900s. In Berlin he attended the lectures of

Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach l ...

and

Heinrich Wölfflin Heinrich Wölfflin (; 21 June 1864 – 19 July 1945) was a Swiss art historian, esthetician and educator, whose objective classifying principles ("painterly" vs. "linear" and the like) were influential in the development of formal analysis in a ...

but lacking a high school diploma (Abitur) he could not gain a doctorate. In 1907 he visited

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. S ...

and learnt of

and

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...

, as well as other artists. Upon his return he started writing prose and joined the radical circle around

Franz Pfemfert Franz Pfemfert (20 November 1879, Lötzen, East Prussia (now Giżycko, Poland) – 26 May 1954, Mexico City) was a German journalist, editor of ''Die Aktion'', literary critic, politician and portrait photographer. Pfemfert occasionally wrote u ...

and his magazine ''

Die Aktion ''Die Aktion'' ("The Action") was a German literary and political magazine, edited by Franz Pfemfert and published between 1911 and 1932 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf; it promoted literary Expressionism and stood for left-wing politics. To begin with, ''D ...

''. This led to the publication of ''Bebuquin oder die Dilettanten des Wunders'' in serialised form in ''Die Aktion'' in 1912, with an subsequent volume collecting the episodes in a single book. In 1913 he married Maria Ramm, the sister of

Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert (31 January/12 February 1883, in Starodub – 17 January 1963, in West Berlin) was a German-Russian translator, publisher and gallery owner. She is particularly noted for her work as a translator of Leon Trotsky and her wo ...

and so becoming Franz's brother in law.

Wartime experience

Einstein welcomed the outbreak of war and volunteered for the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

. served as a soldier of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

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 ...

. The majority of his wartime service was spent in German-occupied Belgium. The work carried out by German scholars on Congolese art during the occupation would prove to be considerably helpful in Einstein's later efforts to encourage the beginning of a serious appreciation of black

by Europeans.Carbonell, Bettina Messias (2004). ''Museum Studies: An Anthology of Contexts''. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 135. , . Einstein’s life after the First World War was marked by the violent political and social implications of the war and revolutionary sentiment following the Hohenzollern monarchy's collapse. He was actively involved in the short-lived Revolutionary

Brussels Soldiers' Council A Soldiers' Council (german: Soldatenrat) was established in Brussels on 10 November 1918 after news of the naval mutiny at Kiel and the November Revolution reached German troops in German-occupied Belgium in the final days of World War I. Int ...

and to a lesser extent in the failed

Spartacist Uprising The Spartacist uprising (German: ), also known as the January uprising (), was a general strike and the accompanying armed struggles that took place in Berlin from 5 to 12 January 1919. It occurred in connection with the November Revolutio ...

in Berlin and later in the defeated anarchist

Durruti Column The Durruti Column (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Columna Durruti''), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. During the first months of the war, it became the most recogniz ...

during the

Confusion with Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

was offered a part-time professorship at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

in 1920.

Hendrik Lorentz Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the Lorentz t ...

, one of the people who organised the offer saw it as way of promoting international reconciliation following 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 ...

. However, when the proposed appointment was passed to the government bureaucracy for approval as University professors were regarded as senior civil servants who required royal approval. However, a Dutch military intelligence report was submitted to the Minister of Education Johannes Theodoor de Visser, which gave an account of Carl Einstein's activities in the 1918 Soldiers' Council in Belgium. This caused delays in governmental approval for the appointment. This was accompanied by a number of accounts of Carl's agitational activity during the

German Revolution 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 **Ger ...

, including Carl's graveside oration after the murder of

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

, which frequently omitted his first name. It is possible that this confusion led Paul Weyland to coin the phrase "scientific Dadaism". Indeed,

Hannah Höch Hannah Höch (; 1 November 1889 – 31 May 1978) was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage. Photomontage, or fotomontage, is a type of collage in which the pa ...

featured the inclusion of the image of Albert Einstein in her collage ''Schnitt mit dem Küchenmesser. Dada durch die letzte weimarer Bierbauchkulturepoche Deutschlands'', which was exhibited in the first International Dada Fair, held in Berlin in 1920.

Post-war career

Einstein established a reputation as a well-known author and art critic on the basis of work ranging from his debut novel ''Bebuquin oder die Dilettanten des Wunders'', to his widely read work on African sculpture ''Negerplastik'' (''Negro Sculpture''), credited as being one of the first important books acknowledging African art in Europe (and especially its relationship to Cubism), the final volume of the prestigious Propyläen Verlag history of art series ''Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts'' (''Art of the 20th Century''), which may have gained him an invitation to teach at the Bauhaus (he declined), to the notorious play ''Die Schlimme Botschaft''. Another Africa-related book is ''Afrikanische Märchen und Legenden'', a compilation of African mythology in very expressive language. Einstein also worked on numerous journals and collective projects, among some of the more important: ''Die Aktion'' edited by Franz Pfemfert, ''Die Pleite'' and ''Der Blutige Ernst'' with

, and the legendary journal ''Documents: Doctrines, Archéologie, Beaux-arts, Ethnographie'' edited with

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...

. Einstein's avant-garde orientation and

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political sympathies made him a marked man for

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

attacks during 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 ...

. His passion play ''Die Schlimme Botschaft'' (''The Sad Tidings'', or ''The Bad News'') was met with attacks as

blasphemous Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...

; its 1921 publication resulted in a legal process and a conviction for blasphemy in 1922, and Einstein was forced to atone for the revolutionary ideas placed into the mouth of his

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

with a 15,000-

mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

fine.Palmier, Jean Michel (2006). ''Weimar in Exile: The Antifascist Emigration in Europe and America''. London: Verso. p. 263. , . Better received in France, Einstein left Germany for permanent residence in France in 1928; with

's rise to power in 1933, the exile became permanent and officially mandated. Having met Lyda Guévrékian in 1928, Einstein married her in 1932. The French Cubist painter and sculptor, Georges Braque, served as a witness.Danchev, Alex (2005). ''Georges Braque: A Life''. New York: Arcade Publishing. p. 170. , . Einstein spent 1936-1938 fighting in the Spanish Civil War; returning to France where in 1940, he was arrested and interned along with the other German émigrés until his liberation later in the spring of 1940 as a result of chaotic circumstances in the face of the rapidly progressing German invasion. Although able to escape the German occupation of Paris during the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

and flee to the south, he was left trapped on the French border with

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. Seeing no alternatives, Einstein committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

town of Lestelle-Betharram on 5 July 1940.

Works

* ''Bebuquin oder die Dilettanten des Wunders. Ein Roman''. Berlin: Verlag der Wochenschrift ''

'', 1912. * ''Neue Blätter''. Berlin: Baron, 1912. * ''Wilhelm Lehmbrucks graphisches Werk''. Berlin: Cassirer, 1913. * ''Negerplastik''. Leipzig: Verlag der weißen Bücher, 1915
Internet Archive
* ''Der Unentwegte Platoniker''. Leipzig: Wolff, 1918. * ''Afrikanische Plastik''. Berlin: Wasmuth 1921 (Orbis pictus, Weltkunst-Bücherei; 7). * ''Die schlimme Botschaft''. Berlin: Rowohlt, 1921. * ''Der frühere japanische Holzschnitt''. Berlin: Wasmuth 1922 (Orbis pictus, Weltkunst-Bücherei; 16). * ''Afrikanische Märchen und Legenden; herausgegeben von Carl Einstaein, Rowohlt, 1925. Neuausgabe (1980) MEDUSA Verlag Wölk + Schmid, Berlin.
''African Legends''
First english edition, Pandavia, Berlin 2021. * ''Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts''. Berlin: Propyläen, 1926. (Propyläen-Kunstgeschichte; 16). * ''Entwurf einer Landschaft''. Paris: Kahnweiler, 1930. * ''Giorgio de Chirico''. Berlin: Galerie Flechtheim, 1930. * ''Die Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts''. Berlin: Propyläen, 1931. * ''Georges Braque''. Paris: Editions des chroniques du jour. London: Zwemmer. New York: E. Weyhe, 1934.

As editor

In 1919, along with George Grosz, he edited the magazine ''Der blutige Ernst'' (the title is a pun on "Bloody Ernest" / "Bloody Earnest"), which was published by Trianon Verlag, Berlin

Collected editions

* ''Gesammelte Werke''. Herausgegeben von Ernst Nef. Wiesbaden: Limes, 1962. * ''Carl Einstein. Die Fabrikation der Fiktionen, Gesammelte Werke in Einzelausgaben'', Sibylle Penkert (ed.), Reinbek b. Hamburg, Rowohlt, 1973. * ''Werke''. 3 Bände, Berlin: Medusa, 1980-1985. * ''Bebuquin oder Die Dilettanten des Wunders. Prosa und Schriften 1906-1929''. Published by Hermann Haarmann and Klaus Siebenhaar. Leipzig, Weimar: Kiepenheuer, 1989. * ''Werke. Berliner Ausgabe''. Published by Hermann Haarmann and Klaus Siebenhaar. 6 volumes, Berlin: Fannei & Walz, 1992-1996.

References

Notes Bibliography * Johann Siemon: ''Einstein und Benn — Geschichte einer Entfernung?'' In: Kiefer, Klaus H. (Hg.): ''Carl-Einstein-Kolloquium 1994''. Frankfurt, Berlin, New York, Paris, Vienna 1996. S. 89-104. * Reto Sorg: ''Aus den "Gärten der Zeichen". Zu Carl Einstein "Bebuquin"''. Munich: Fink 1997. * Dirk de Pol
''Die Kant-Rezeption in der Ästhetik des frühen Carl Einstein''
In: ''Philosophisches Jahrbuch'', 104. Jahrgang 1997, 1. Halbband * Alexander Emanuely: ''"La paz que mata - Carl Einstein aus der Asche"'', in ContextXXI 3-4/2005. * David Quigley: "Carl Einstein - A Defense of the Real", Vienna: Walther Konig. 2007 * Liliane Meffre, "Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler und Carl Einstein: Die Wahlverwandtschaft", in ''Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler: Kunsthändler Verleger Schriftsteller'', Stuttgart: Hatje, 1986, p. 85-90.

External links

''German Writer Is Fined For Blaspheming Christ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

, Oct 14, 1922 {{DEFAULTSORT:Einstein, Carl 1885 births 1940 suicides People from Neuwied People from the Rhine Province 19th-century German Jews Expressionist writers German activists German autobiographers German anarchists German art historians Writers from Rhineland-Palatinate German expatriates in France German Army personnel of World War I German people of the Spanish Civil War Jewish anarchists People convicted of blasphemy German male novelists German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights Dada Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust German Jews who died in the Holocaust