Heidelberg - City in Focus

By Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature | Posted:

Being asked about their first associations with Heidelberg, most people all over the world would probably name the castle, the river, the bridges, the hills and the woods.

In the literary field, most people refer to Friedrich Hölderlin, Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim – the famous heroes of the German romanticism who even led to the term “Heidelberg romanticism”. It is true that Heidelberg´s historic writers had a huge impact on the German literary development in the late 18th and early 19th century. In addition, it is true that a stay in Heidelberg in nowadays can be an absolute romantic experience, too!

However, Heidelberg´s historic and current literary scene of writers is far more than that or what the soppy but well-known American musical “The Student Prince” might evoke. In the early 20th century, German poet and representative of symbolism and aestheticism Stefan George has gathered his circle of followers around him in Heidelberg; 1909/10 the young Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, who died 1938 in a Russian gulag camp, started his writing when being a student in Heidelberg. His more famous compatriot Ivan Turgenev often came to Heidelberg in the second half of the 19th century to visit the Russian library or his doctor. All of these writers, just to name a few historic personalities connected to Heidelberg, have been or will be remembered due to their anniversaries in 2016 (Mandelstam) or 2018 (Turgenev and George) by the city of Heidelberg. As the city grateful members the great poet Hilde Domin, who came (back) to Heidelberg in 1961 and died in 2006. She was declared an honorary citizen on her 65th anniversary in 2004.

Heidelberg author Marion Tauschwitz once was her assistant and friend; today she is a respected poet and author herself as well as the spokesperson of the local organized network of Heidelberg authors – beside their numerous memberships in nationwide associations – that has been founded after the UNESCO designated Heidelberg. Actually, more than 100 active authors are living in and around Heidelberg. Some of them currently display excerpts of their work on posters in public tramlines within the project “Poesie unterwegs” (“Poetry en route”). All authors taking part and their (German) texts can be found on www.cityofliterature.de. A wider range of portraits of Heidelberg´s writers can be found on the page of the city library: www.stadtbuecherei-heidelberg.bib-bw.de/seiten/litszene/litszene.htm

An introduction and overview in English here: https://www.heidelberg.de/english,Len/Home/Go+out/Authors.html

One author living in Heidelberg is pretty famous for his deep knowledge of the city cultural and literary history and present: Michael Buselmeier, grown up in Heidelberg and turning 80 this year, ist still offering guided city tours in a very profound, entertaining and free-spirited way. His hardcover book in German language „Literarische Führungen durch Heidelberg. Eine Kulturgeschichte im Gehen“ (“Guided literary tours of Heidelberg. A cultural history by walking”) has already been published in its 4th edition. Buselmeier published several anthologies with texts about or in relation with Heidelberg and one of his novels already proclaimed in its title „The ruin of Heidelberg“ :-)

A book translated into English where you might have been get in touch with Heidelberg is „The Reader“ by Bernhard Schlink. Albeit the story is taking place in Heidelberg, the film with Kate Winslet has not been taken in the city …

Another widely translated Heidelberg author is Ralph Dutli, translator fo the German complete edition of the works by Osip Mandelstam. He is an awarded poet and novelist himself: his works are translated into various languages like French, Czech, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian. An English translation of his novel „Soutines letzte Fahrt“ (Soutine´s last journey) about the Belarusian painter and contemporary of Chagall, Modigliani und Picasso, is currently in progress: www.ralph-dutli.de

A younger, now Berlin based fro some years, writer with a strong relation to Heidelberg is Saša Stanišić: Born 1978 in Viségrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stanišić grow up in Heidelberg from 1992 on and started his writing here. His works „How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone“ (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview12) and „Before the Feast“ (http://tinhouse.com/product/before-the-feast-by-sasa-stanisic/) have been translated to English by Anthea Bell, a well-known British translators who translated among others works by Sigmund Freud, W.G. Sebald, Stefan Zweig, Hans Christian Andersen or even Asterix into English.

Heidelberg is blessed by its high number and variety of authors – if novelists, poets, essayists or playwrights like Ingeborg von Zadow for instance: https://www.ingeborgvonzadow.com/kopie-von-start. By the way, Heidelberg fortunately has a huge translating scene as well – but that is a story for another time …

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