Rudolf Borchardt
Rudolf Borchardt (b. 9 June 1877 in Königsberg, Province of Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire; d. 10 January 1945 in Trins near Innsbruck, German Reich) was a German classical philologist, writer, poet, translator, and speaker. Borchardt was an early adopter of the work of the symbolist poet Stefan George (1868-1932).hegte er in Italien Sympathien für Mussolini und versuchte diesen mit seiner Dante-Übersetzung zu beeindrucken. In Italy, he had sympathy for Mussolini and impressed him with his translation of Dante's La Vita Nuova (1922) and Divine Comedy (1930).
Life
Rudolf Borchardt was born in Königsberg as the second child and eldest son of the Protestant merchant and later banker (Berliner Handelsgesellschaft) Robert Martin Borchardt (1848–1908) and his wife Rose, née Bernstein (1854–1943). In October 1877, the family returned to Moscow, where his father represented his grandfather's (Rudolph Borchardt) tea trading company. The Jewish grandparents had converted in 1864, father Robert was baptized in that year, Rose's parents had also converted.
- 1882: Transferred to Germany – Borchardt grew up in Berlin among six siblings; he was initially homeschooled. He lived at Kronprinzenufer 5, later on the Wannsee. From autumn 1885 to autumn 1887, he attended the French Gymnasium in Berlin, then under the care of Dr. Friedrich Witte at the Royal Gymnasium in Marienburg, West Prussia, until Easter 1893. Borchardt followed his mentor to the Royal Gymnasium in Wesel, Rhineland. 1895 February: Abitur (high school diploma); in the summer semester of 1895, he enrolled in Berlin, studying classical and oriental philology, archaeology, and theology. 1896 May: Enrolled in Bonn, concentrating on classical philology and archaeology, as well as German studies and Egyptology. Teachers: Franz Bücheler, Hermann Usener, Georg Loeschcke, Alfred Körte, Heinrich Nissen, Berthold Litzmann, and others. First publication of ‘Ten Poems’ as a private print.[1]
WWI
- The outbreak of the First World War brought an abrupt end to the privileged villa existence that Rudolf Borchardt had led in Italy since 1906. At the same time, it called into question the writer's moral authority; for the author of the openly pro-war "Ballade von Tripoli" (1911), the aggressively militant "Spectator Germanicus" of the "Süddeutsche Monatshefte" of 1912, had successfully avoided military service until then. This even aroused the displeasure of his friends, as Alfred Walter Heymel's letter to Rudolf Alexander Schröder of September 21, 1914, shows:"We will wait and see, but if he [Borchardt] has not volunteered […], then I personally am finished with him, even if his philological, critical, and rhetorical gifts were even greater than they already are […]. But I fervently hope that everything will be cleared up and that he has long since been drilled as a volunteer." In fact, Borchardt had already volunteered to the German Consul General in Livorno on 2 August 1914. On 15 October 1914, he was mustered out in Lörrach and assigned to the 7th Baden Infantry Regiment No. 142 Müllheim, where, at the age of 37, he completed basic training as a musketeer. He was promoted to Gefreiter (Private E-2/Lance Corporal) on 29 January 1915, and to Unteroffizier (NCO/Corporal/Junior Sergeant) a week later. However, the urgently desired and variously sought-after promotion to the 'appropriate' officer rank remained denied to Borchardt throughout the war. Instead, the military authorities soon concluded that this soldier was primarily good at making speeches.[2]
January 1916, he was "in the field" with the headquarters in St. Marie near Reims. In 1916, his Berlin speeches ‘The War and German Responsibility’ (February, at the invitation of the German Society 1914; published in the same year by S. Fischer) and ‘The War and the German Crisis’ were published under the censorship-altered title ‘The War and the German Decision’ (November 1916).
- February 1916: Leave in Berlin and Freiburg/Breisgau; April 14: Pleurisy; in the Vouziers field hospital until 28 April ; 30 April to 30 June 1916: Reserve military hospital, Sanatorium Dr. Arndt in Meiningen. July: Heiligenberg/Lake Constance. Since August, back in Müllheim, limited garrison duty. Efforts to transfer to Brussels.
On 4 January 1917, he was appointed to the German General Staff (Generalstab des Feldheeres Berlin) where he served with the Berlin Intelligence Officer Department. During the war he gave speeches in which he advocated the imposition of Germanic order on all of European culture.
WWII
In August 1944, as the Allied enemy advanced ever further north, Borchardt and his wife moved from Italy to Innsbruck. Here, their son Cornelius was drafted into the Wehrmacht and had to serve for another month in an anti-aircraft unit. The family was generously provided with food stamps and papers. The idea that he "hid" in Tyrol is one of the many postwar myths.
Death
Borchardt died of heart failure on January 10, 1945. A memorial stone commemorates Borchardt in Trins. His grave is located in the Protestant Riensberg Cemetery in Bremen, in the resting place of the Schröder-Voigt family.
Family
In January 1902, Borchardt fell out with his father because he refused to pay him monthly rent. On February 17, he traveled to Rodaun and visited Hugo von Hofmannsthal, whom he admired. From 1903 onward, he lived in Tuscany, with a few interruptions, in a villa in Monsagrati near Lucca.
In 1906, Borchardt married the painter Karoline Ehrmann (1873–1944) in London and returned with her to Italy, from where, as a sought-after speaker, he went on numerous lecture tours to Germany until 1933. After the divorce from Karoline in 1919, Borchardt married Marie Luise "Marel" Voigt on 16 November 1920, a niece of German poet Rudolf Alexander Schröder, with whom he had been friends for a long time. From this marriage there were four children:
- Kaspar (1921–2013)
- Corona (1923–1999)
- Johann Gottfried (1926–2012)
- Cornelius (1928–2022)
Quotes
- "What a real plant is, once it blooms, doesn't grow anywhere else. A healthy plant either grows roots or flowers. It can't do both at once. If it's vibrant downwards, it wants to go upwards, bloom, and produce seeds. If it's vibrant upwards, blooming and producing seeds, it stands still below." – Root or flower. Depth or surface. Quote from a passionate gardener, which Rudolf Borchardt (born 1877) was also, despised superficial French social novels.[3]
Works (excerpt)
- Zehn Gedichte. Bonn 1896
- Rede über Hofmannsthal. Öffentlich gehalten am 8. September 1902 zu Göttingen. Leipzig 1905
- Villa. Prosa. Haberland, Leipzig 1908
- Rudolf Borchardts Jugendgedichte. Geschrieben 1900–1906. Drugulin, Leipzig 1913
- Der Krieg und die deutsche Selbsteinkehr. Rede öffentlich gehalten am 5. Dezember 1914 zu Heidelberg.
- Der Krieg und die deutsche Verantwortung. Fischer, Berlin 1916
- Der Durant. Ein Gedicht aus dem männlichen Zeitalter. Berlin 1920
- Die halb gerettete Seele. Ein Gedicht. Berlin 1920
- Die Päpstin Iutta. Ein dramatisches Gedicht. Berlin 1920
- Das Buch Joram. Insel Verlag, Leipzig 1922
- Die Schöpfung aus Liebe. Gedichte. Rowohlt, Berlin 1923
- Poetische Erzählungen. Rowohlt, Berlin 1923.
- Die Beichte Bocchino Belfortis.
- Der ruhende Herakles. Dichtung. München 1924
- Handlungen und Abhandlungen. Horen-Verlag, Berlin-Grunewald 1928
- Das hoffnungslose Geschlecht. Vier zeitgenössische Erzählungen. Horen-Verlag, Berlin-Grunewald 1929
- Pamela. Komödie in drei Akten. Deschler, München 1934
- Vereinigung durch den Feind hindurch. Roman. Bermann-Fischer, Wien 1937
- Pisa. Ein Versuch. Verlag der Corona, Zürich 1938
- Der leidenschaftliche Gärtner. Ein Gartenbuch. Arche, Zürich 1951 (postum)
- Jamben. Stuttgart 1967 (postum), ISBN 3-12-901300-8.
- Weltpuff Berlin. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2018 (postum)
- Krippenspiel. Claudius, München 2019 (postum)
