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Alfred Mombert

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Alfred Mombert
Alfred Mombert
Born6 February 1872
Karlsruhe
Died8 April 1942 (aged 70)
NationalityGerman
OccupationLawyer
Known forPoetry
Alfred Mombert and Emanuel Lešehrad in Prague, 1906

Alfred Mombert (6 February 1872, in Karlsruhe – 8 April 1942, in Winterthur) was a German poet.

Biography

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Mombert was the son of the Jewish-German merchant Eduard Mombert and his wife Helene Gombertz. The economist Paul Mombert was his cousin. In 1890, he passed his Abitur at the humanistischen Grossherzoglichen Gymnasium in his home city of Karlsruhe, and then completed his one-year military service as a volunteer.

From 1891 to 1895 he studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Leipzig and Berlin. In 1896, he passed his first states exam in Heidelberg, and received his doctorate one year later without a dissertation.[1] Afterwards, he proceeded to work as a legal trainee and assistant, he passed his second state exam in 1899. From 1899 to 1906 he practiced law in Heidelberg, where he lived until 1940, a few years in Munich (1909-1911), until 1940. After 1906, he left his occupation and proceeded to devote himself to his literary work.[2][3]

Accompanying his literary pursuits, Mombert studied subjects such as geography, oriental studies, along with taking many trips, particularly to Italy and Switzerland. Mombert managed also to visit a multitude of other countries: Egypt, Algeria, Greece, The Netherlands, Croatia, Morocco, Monaco, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Czechoslovakia, and Tunisia. All the while he was intensively studying ancient Nordic, Oriental, and Indian mythology. This intense study, along with serious contact with the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, and a visionary, life-defining experience from January 1894 lay the groundwork for a kind of mythological-cosmological private religion that he developed through subsequent poetry after The Glowing One.[4]

Alfred Mombert 1924, Lithograph by Emil Rudolf Weiss

His mythological-visionary works were highly valued by Friedrich Kurt Benndorf, Richard Benz, Martin Buber, Hans Carossa, Richard Dehmel, Herbert Eulenberg, Oskar Loerke, Alfons Paquet und Stanisław Przybyszewski, who translated portions of his work into Polish. Mombert spent his years as a writer unmarried, living very secluded, solitary life, often travelling alone. From 1939 until his death, he lived with his widowed sister Ella Gutman. He, however, was friendly with other artists and writers of the time such as: Hans Carossa, Ida, Richard Dehmel, Martin Buber, Max Dauthendey, Herbert Eulenberg, Hermann Hesse, Gustav Landauer, Rudolf Pannwitz, Hans Reinhart, Emanuel Lešehrad, who translated portions of his work into Czech, Hermann Haller, Karl Hofer, Arthur Zweiniger, Emil Rudolf Weiß, who made a portrait of him, and Gustav Wolf, who created images to accompany Mombert's poetry. Letters also indicate, despite great distances, Mombert maintained a love affair with a long-unknown pianist, with the alias Vasanta, who has since been identified as Charlotte Kaufmann (1880-1960).[5] Mombert was also in regular correspondence with a singer by the name of Gertrud Full, whose repertoire included some of his poetry.

Published works

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  • Der Sonnengeist (1905).
  • Aeon, der Weltgesuchte (1907).
  • Aeon vor Syrakus (1911).
  • Der Himmlische Zecher (1909).
  • Der Held der Erde (1919).
  • Aeon Zwischen den Frauen (1920).[6]

References

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  1. ^ Vgl. Ulrich Weber, Alfred Mombert. Ausstellung zum 25. Todestag. 10. April bis 8. Juli 1967 [Badische Landesbibliothek]. C.F. Müller, Karlsruhe 1967, Nr. 26, S. 29.
  2. ^ Mombert, Alfred at Neue Deutsche Biographie
  3. ^ Mombert, Alfred Moritz Biografische Sammelwerke
  4. ^ Elisabeth Herberg, „Alfred Mombert 6. Februar 1872–8. April 1942“. In: Elisabeth Herberg (Ed.): Alfred Mombert. Dichtungen, Bd. 1–3. Kösel, München, 1963, hier Band 3, S. 11f.: „Derart konstituiert sich allmählich ein ungewöhnlicher Begriff von Heimat, [...]: „Urväterheimat“. [...] Er nennt sie „Indien“ und „Asia“, ihr Landschaftliches „Himalaya“ und „Ozean“. Doch erschöpft die Erde, auf ihre realen und mythischen Bezirke eingeschränkt, noch nicht die Vorstellung des Dichters von einer Welt, in der man beheimatet sein kann. Übers Mythische hinaus musste er sich ins Kosmisch-Astrale, zu Stern Kanopus und Atair fühlen, um die Erde, die eigentliche Heimat ganz zu gewinnen. [...] Ebenso war ihm der Mensch, wennschon nur auf der Erde denkbar und hier Wesen von allen Wesen und Dingen, zu fassen allein in einer All-geistig mythischen Wirklichkeit und gebildet aus allem Zukünftigen und Vergangenen. Momberts Studien, auf Alttestamentarisch-Jüdischem seit der Kindheit, auf Abendländisch-Griechischem seit der Schulzeit gegründet, umfassten schließlich die Religionen und Philosophien der europäischen und asiatischen Welten sowie die Geschichte ihrer Völker; ihr Zentrum aber blieb, was der Dichter unmittelbar erlebte: Wesen und Schicksal des deutschen Volkes. Dichter des Alls wie des Rheins, zeitungebunden in den Welten wie zeitgebunden an ein Volk, identifizierte sich Mombert gleichermaßen mit dem Kosmos wie mit Deutschland.“
  5. ^ Vgl. Marek Fiałek, Briefe an Alfred Mombert aus den Jahren 1896–1940. Berlin 2010, S. 92f.; Abb. 28–41, ebd. S. 190–203.
  6. ^ Alfred Mombert de.Wikisource (bibliography)

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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