- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHenri Théodore Fontane
- Theodor Fontane was born on the 30th of December 1819 in Neuruppin (Germany) near Berlin, the son of a drugstore-owner. After learning pharmacy and working in a drugstore he quit his job to become a freelance journalist in Berlin. He was able to finance his living costs with this job, was later promoted to a Dr.phil. at the university of Berlin and died in this city on the 20th of September 1898. Theodor Fontane is one of the best known authors of the literary "poetical realism" in Germany. He wrote stories that should be realistic, true to life, but also poetic. Among his most famous works are "Effi Briest", the ultimate story of a fatal affair, and "Der Stechlin".- IMDb Mini Biography By: Benjamin Stello
- His ancestors descend from French Huguenots who left France for religious reasons at the end of the 17th century to settle in Brandenburg. The future writer was baptized with the French name Henri Théodore, and the church register entry reads Heinrich Theodore. Fontane was initially taught by his parents and later by a private teacher. From 1832 he briefly attended the Neuruppin high school and from 1833 to 1836 the Klödensche Gewerbeschule in Berlin. During this time he lived with his father's half-brother August Fontane and his wife Philippine Fontane, who entered the literary world as Uncle August and Aunt Pinchen in "My Childhood Years" (1894). After his incomplete schooling, Fontane completed an apprenticeship as a pharmacist from 1836 to 1840. Literary activity was not yet very much in the spotlight at that time, although Theodor Fontane had already written a few poems and essays during this time.
His work as a pharmacist's assistant allowed him to concentrate on writing poems and in this way promoted his literary ambitions. In addition - as was common at the time - the pharmacies were a contact point for the reading circles, where new books and magazines were displayed. This is how Fontane came across Karl Gutzkow's magazine "Der Telegraph von Deutschland" as one of the most important media for "Young Germany". The end of his training also coincided with Fontane's first public appearance as a writer: his story "Geschwisterliebe" was subsequently printed in the "Berliner Figaro". This was followed by various positions as a pharmacist's assistant in Burg, Leipzig or Dresden. From 1841 he worked in Leipzig. Fontane had the opportunity to get to know the Herwegh Club there. But even before that, Georg Herwegh was his literary and political role model.
Leipzig completely shaped the democratic attitude of the writer and later journalist. During this time he translated some revolutionary English workers' poems. In July 1843 he got to know the Berlin poets' association "The Tunnel over the Spree" and with it some personalities such as the later Nobel Prize winner Paul Heyse, Felix Dahn and Theodor Storm. In 1844 he became a member and remained a member for 21 years. The club's environment influenced his literary work; Fontane chose the ballad as his preferred form of poetry. In December 1844 he performed his work "The Tower Fire" there. He often performed his ballads there with themes from Prussian and Anglo-Scottish history, through which he first gained notoriety. Many of them appeared in school reading books. Ballads followed with material from Nordic history and with modern topics such as technology or the working world. From 1844 to 1845 Fontane completed his military service and made his first trip to England during this time. In 1847 he completed his pharmacy training by passing the state examination and became a "first class pharmacist".
He then initially taught pharmacy at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin. In 1848 he briefly took part in revolutionary barricade battles and was enthusiastic about German unity. Then in 1849 he switched entirely to writing. He published several ballads, his first two books "Of the Beautiful Rosamunde" and "Men and Heroes" (1850) and a volume of poetry (1851). In 1850, Theodor Fontane married his school friend Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, and he became a press officer in what later became the "Central Office for Prussian Affairs", a propaganda office in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. Fontane, the democratically minded participant in the 1948 revolution, changed his political views and thus secured bread winning for his family. He evaluated English newspapers for the Prussian newspaper industry. He was able to continue this activity in London in 1852 and between 1855 and 1859. The book "A Summer in London", published in 1854, reports on his experiences in England.
After returning from London, he found a job as an editor at the "Neue Preußische Zeitung" in 1860. On their behalf he reported from the various Prussian war zones. He held the position for a total of ten years. "From England" and "Beyond the Tweed" were published in 1860. These travelogues about England led him to a literary-historical description of his own homeland: a year later he wrote his well-known "Walks through the Mark Brandenburg" and also a volume of ballads. The travel stories are the precursor to his later writing of novels. In 1866 his war book "The Schleswig-Holstein War in 1864" was published and in both years 1870 and 1871 "The German War of 1866". In "Prisoner of War" (1871) Fontane describes his experiences during imprisonment. On a trip to Paris to do a commissioned work about the war between According to reports from Germany and France, he was arrested by the Franktireurs and accused of being a spy.
After a few weeks in prison he was released in December 1870. From 1870 onward, Fontane wrote theater reviews for the "Vossische Zeitung", a job that suited him more. He sided with the naturalists and praised the performances of Henrik Ibsen's plays. His last permanent position, which he only held for a few months, was as secretary of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Fontane's novels only emerged in his later years. The beginning of this was "Before the Storm" (1878), which is also considered the pinnacle of German literary development in the realistic contemporary and social novel. His successful short stories include "Errungen, Wirrungen" (1888), "Irrebringlich" (1892), "Frau Jenny Treibel" (1893), "Effi Briest" (1895 and "Der Stechlin" (1899). In his works, Fontane describes critical of the thin-skinned and empty talkativeness of contemporary Prussian society against the background of history.
Humorous and ironic elements as well as his skeptical attitude make up his linguistic expressiveness. He presents himself as a good observer of people and opinions who paints an accurate picture of his time. Above all, he masterfully mastered the dialogue in his novels with a distinctive web of relationships in terms of content, which gave the pieces a special liveliness. Fontane also presents himself as an extraordinary stylist in his letters. He was one of the most prolific letter writers of his time. His entire written work is estimated to contain over 5,000 printed pages.
Theodor Fontane died on September 20, 1898 in Berlin.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth
- SpouseEmilie Rouanet-Kummer.(October 16, 1850 - September 20, 1898) (his death, 7 children)
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