Otto Roquette
Encyclopedia
Otto Roquette was a German author.
and History in Heidelberg, Berlin, and Halle. After tours in Switzerland and Italy, he moved to in Berlin in 1852. He became a teacher in Dresden in 1853. He returned to Berlin in 1857 and in 1862 became a professor of literary history at the War Academy until he changed to the Vocational Academy (now the Berlin Institute of Technology) in 1867. In 1868 he joined the Vandalia-Teutonia Berlin
. From 1869 he taught at the Polytechnic in Darmstadt (now TU Darmstadt
). In 1893 he was named to the Geheimrat
. Roquette befriended the German author Paul Heyse and, like Heyse, was a member of the literary group "Rütli"
.
Roquette's pseudo-romantic and epigonic lyric poetry and his fairy tale-laden epic verse is representative of Butzenscheibenlyric. From 1850 on, his works were extremely popular and especially beloved in conservative circles. His fashionable post-revolution poetry was a deliberate departure from the politically-tinged verse of the pre-March era
. His celebrated verse-epic on themes of love, wine, and youth, Waldmeisters Brautfahrt, first appeared in 1851 and enjoyed sensational success for a book at that time – appearing in more than 50 editions over thirty years.
Roquette's work was popular with some Lieder composers. His 1851 poem Noch ist die blühende, goldene Zeit was fit to a well-known folk tune in 1863 by musician Wilhelm Baumgartner. Roquette was also a novelist, playwright, literary historian and autobiographer.
Later generations found Roquette's work to be predominantly shallow and of little artistic value, and it is virtually forgotten today.
Life and Work
The son of a district court councillor, he first went to Bromberg (modern Bydgoszcz) in 1834, and from 1846-1850 studied PhilologyPhilology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and History in Heidelberg, Berlin, and Halle. After tours in Switzerland and Italy, he moved to in Berlin in 1852. He became a teacher in Dresden in 1853. He returned to Berlin in 1857 and in 1862 became a professor of literary history at the War Academy until he changed to the Vocational Academy (now the Berlin Institute of Technology) in 1867. In 1868 he joined the Vandalia-Teutonia Berlin
Corps Vandalia-Teutonia
Vandalia-Teutonia Berlin is a German Student Corps in the Kösener SC-Verband , the umbrella organization of the oldest German fraternities. As a corps, Vandalia-Teutonia practices academic fencing and wears Colours. Its membership comprises active and former students and alumni of all Berlin...
. From 1869 he taught at the Polytechnic in Darmstadt (now TU Darmstadt
Darmstadt University of Technology
The Technische Universität Darmstadt, abbreviated TU Darmstadt, is a university in the city of Darmstadt, Germany...
). In 1893 he was named to the Geheimrat
Geheimrat
Geheimrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the Imperial, royal or principal courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the Geheimer Rat reporting to the ruler...
. Roquette befriended the German author Paul Heyse and, like Heyse, was a member of the literary group "Rütli"
Rütli (literary group)
Der Rütli was a German literary group, named after the famous Swiss meadow. It was founded on 9 December 1852 by members of the Tunnel über der Spree as "a kind of subsidiary tunnel" with a more intimate atmosphere, in contrast to the ceremonial and public nature of...
.
Roquette's pseudo-romantic and epigonic lyric poetry and his fairy tale-laden epic verse is representative of Butzenscheibenlyric. From 1850 on, his works were extremely popular and especially beloved in conservative circles. His fashionable post-revolution poetry was a deliberate departure from the politically-tinged verse of the pre-March era
Vormärz
' is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. Also known as the Age of Metternich, it was a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to calls for liberalism...
. His celebrated verse-epic on themes of love, wine, and youth, Waldmeisters Brautfahrt, first appeared in 1851 and enjoyed sensational success for a book at that time – appearing in more than 50 editions over thirty years.
Roquette's work was popular with some Lieder composers. His 1851 poem Noch ist die blühende, goldene Zeit was fit to a well-known folk tune in 1863 by musician Wilhelm Baumgartner. Roquette was also a novelist, playwright, literary historian and autobiographer.
Later generations found Roquette's work to be predominantly shallow and of little artistic value, and it is virtually forgotten today.
Works
- 1850: Walpurgis
- 1851: Orion
- 1851: Waldmeisters Brautfahrt (Verse-Epic)
- 1852: Liederbuch (under the title "Poems" 1859)
- 1852: Der Tag von St. Jakob
- 1853: Das Reich der Träume
- 1854: Herr Heinrich
- 1855: Haus Haidekuckuck (Verse-Epic)
- 1855: Das Hünengrab
- 1858: Heinrich Falk (Novel)
- 1959: Erzählungen
- 1860: Leben und Dichten Johann Christian Günther's (Scholarly work, biography)
- 1862: Neue Erzählungen
- 1864: Susanne
- 1866: Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth (Libretto to an Oratorio by Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
) - 1867: Luginsland
- 1867: Pierrot
- 1867–76: Dramatische Dichtungen
- 1868: Krachmost
- 1869: Das Paradies
- 1870: Novellen
- 1871–75: Welt und Haus (Novella)
- 1873: Gevatter Tod
- 1873: Rhampsinit
- 1873: Die Schlangenkönigin
- 1877: Euphrosyne (Novel)
- 1878: Das Buchstabirbuch der Leidenschaft (Novel)
- 1878: Im Hause der Väter (Novel)
- 1879: Geschichte der Deutschen Dichtung von den ältesten Denkmälern bis auf die Neuzeit (Scholarly work, literary History)
- 1879: Die Prophetenschule (Novel)
- 1883: Friedrich Preller
- 1884: Neues Novellenbuch
- 1884: Das Haus Eberhard
- 1884: Unterwegs
- 1884: Tage des Waldlebens
- 1884: Baum im Odenwald
- 1887: Große und kleine Leute in Alt-Weimar
- 1890: Frühlingsstimmen
- 1890: Des Lebens Mummenschanz
- 1892: Ul von Haslach
- 1894: Siebzig Jahre (Autobiography)
- 1895: Sonderlinge
- 1896: Krethi und Plethi
- 1896: Von Tag zu Tage (posthumous)