Die Silbergäule

Heinrich Vogeler: Das Neue Leben. Ein kommunistisches Manifest (Die Silbergäule, vol. 19, 1919)
Kurt Schwitters: Anna Blume (Die Silbergäule, vol. 39/40, 1919)

Die Silbergäule (sometimes with the (German) subtitle: “a radical book series”) is a late Expressionist–Dadaist German book series published in Hanover by the Paul Steegemann Verlag from 1919 until 1922 (or 1923).

The word “Silbergaul” originates from the poem “Des Galgenbruders Gebet und Erhörung (Ein Nachtlied, im Jenseits vorzusingen)”, one of the Galgenlieder (transl. Gallows Songs), nonsensical poems by the German poet Christian Morgenstern, gathered in the famous collection.[1]

History

Heinrich Vogeler: Siedlungswesen und Arbeitsschule (Die Silbergäule, vol. 36, 1919)
Heinrich Vogeler: Über den Expressionismus der Liebe (Die Silbergäule, vol. 12, 1919)

The Steegemann publishing house was founded in Hanover in 1919 by Paul Steegemann (1894–1956). The series Die Silbergäule was launched with publications by Expressionist authors (Rudolf Leonhard, Kasimir Edschmid, and Otto Flake). Among the authors of the first issues were also important inspirations and forerunners of Expressionism, such as Heinrich Mann and Carl Hauptmann. The series, however, gained its literary-historical significance through the publication of Dadaist texts: Kurt Schwitters’s Anna Blume and Die Kathedrale, Walter Serner’s Letzte Lockerung, Richard Huelsenbeck’s En avant dada, Hans Arp’s Wolkenpumpe, and Melchior Vischer’s Sekunde durch Hirn. Alongside the Malik-Verlag in Berlin, the Steegemann Verlag developed into the most important publisher of literary Dada productions.[2]

One of the prominent contributors (also as illustrator) was also Heinrich Vogeler, who was represented with several volumes, for example volume 19, Das Neue Leben. Ein kommunistisches Manifest (The New Life. A Communist Manifesto), with an Expressionist cover illustration by Heinrich Vogeler, volume 12 Über den Expressionismus der Liebe (On the Expressionism of Love), and volume 36, Siedlungswesen und Arbeitsschule[3] (Settlement Organization and Work School), a programmatic draft of a socialist commune with an associated work school, which Vogeler began to realize from 1919 onward at the Barkenhoff in Worpswede.[4]

Overview

According to the catalogue of the German National Library, the publication of the series is documented up to volume 153 and the year 1922 (here in selection):[5]

Die Silbergäule (nos. 1–100) - announcement

A few volumes had been published by the Zweemann Verlag in Hanover.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ cf. signaturen-magazin.de: Morgenstern, Christian: Des Galgenbruders Gebet und Erhörung
  2. ↑ deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de: Die Silbergäule (Untertitel Heft 31-47: eine radikale Bücherreihe). Hannover: Paul Steegemann Verlag, 1919-1920
  3. ↑ In this work, Vogeler developed his ideal vision of a soviet organization in rural communes, which was intended to become the “germ cell” of a classless society. (cf. Heinrich Vogeler: Werden. Erinnerungen. Mit Lebenszeugnissen aus den Jahren 1923–1942. Neu herausgegeben von Joachim Priewe und Paul-Gerhard Wenzlaff. Mit 71 Abbildungen. Berlin. Rütten & Loening 1989, p. 520)
  4. ↑ cf. Walter Fähnders: Heinrich Vogeler und die Barkenhoff-Kommune - heinrich-vogeler.de
  5. ↑ cf. DNB (Die Silbergäule : eine radikale Bücherreihe)
  6. ↑ cf. DNB (online catalogue)

Bibliography

  • Jochen Meyer: Der Paul Steegemann Verlag (1919-1935 und 1949-1960). Geschichte, Programm, Bibliographie. Bibliographien des Antiquariats Fritz Eggert, Band 5. Fritz Eggert, Stuttgart 1975
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Die Silbergäule.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.