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Gerhart Hauptmann

ゲルハルト・ハウプトマン

Geruharuto Hauputoman

Pen Names:

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1862-11-15 （Obersalzbrunn (now Szczawno-Zdrój, Poland)）
Died
1946-06-06 （Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków / Jelenia Góra, Poland)） age 83
Nationality
German
Languages
German
Residence History
Breslau (now Wrocław) → Rome (brief) → Berlin (Charlottenburg, Erkner etc.) → Schreiberhau (now Szklarska Poręba) → Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków / Jelenia Góra) and Hiddensee (summer retreat)

Career

Occupations
playwright, novelist, poet
Active Years
1885-1946
Memberships
German Society for Racial Hygiene (founding member, 1905)
Influenced By
Johannes Guttzeit, Otto Brahm, Georg Büchner, Gusto Gräser
Influenced
Thomas Mann, Max Reinhardt, The naturalist movement in German theatre

Education

Royal Art and Vocational School in Breslau (sculpture)
Sculpture
Period: 1880–1882
Country: Germany (then Kingdom of Prussia)
Temporarily expelled then reinstated; left in 1882
University of Jena (philosophy, brief)
Philosophy / Literary history (left)
Period: 約1884（短期）
Country: Germany
Did not complete degree
University of Berlin (Humboldt University of Berlin)
History (turned attention to theatre and literature)
Period: 1890年代初期（在学期間は不明）
Country: Germany
Shifted focus from studies to theatre and writing

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1912
Organization: The Nobel Committee, Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
Goethe Prize
1932
Organization: City of Frankfurt am Main
Result: 受賞
Franz-Grillparzer-Preis
Organization: Austria (award body)
Result: 受賞（複数回）
Order of the Red Eagle, Fourth Class
1915
Organization: German Empire (awarded by Kaiser Wilhelm II)
Result: 受賞
Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches (Eagle Shield)
Organization: Germany (state honor)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Weavers

1892 social drama (Naturalism) 120 pages

A social drama depicting the uprising of Silesian weavers; portrays workers' hardships and collective resistance, a landmark of naturalist theatre.

labor and exploitationcollectivity vs individualitysocial injustice
Translations
  • English translation (The Weavers)

The Rats

1911 play 110 pages

A modern play exploring urban decay and interpersonal collapse, depicting social corruption and individual tragedy.

hypocrisy of bourgeois societyindividual isolation
Translations
  • English translation (The Rats)

Before Sunrise

1889 naturalistic drama 90 pages

Depicts alcoholism and family breakdown frankly; caused a major scandal in German theatre and inaugurated naturalistic drama.

alcoholismheredity and environmentfamily disintegration
Translations
  • English translation (Before Sunrise)

Bahnwärter Thiel

1888 short novel / novella (Naturalism) 40 pages

A novella about a signalman's tragedy, caught between duty and family; notable for naturalistic realism.

fateduty and pressure
Translations
  • English translation (Lineman Thiel and Other Tales)

Atlantis

1912 novel 280 pages

A novel about a romance aboard a doomed ocean liner; coincidentally close to the Titanic disaster and adapted into a Danish silent film in 1913.

fatal romancefragility of civilization
Adaptations
  • [film (silent)] Atlantis / August Blom (1913)
Translations
  • English translation (Atlantis)

Bibliography

  • Der Narr in Christo Emanuel Quint (1910)
  • Atlantis (1912)
  • Bahnwärter Thiel (1888)
  • Vor Sonnenaufgang (Before Sunrise, 1889)
  • Die Weber (The Weavers, 1892)
  • Der Biberpelz (The Beaver Coat, 1893)
  • Die versunkene Glocke (The Sunken Bell, 1896)
  • Die Ratten (The Rats, 1911)

Adaptations

  • Atlantis (1913 Danish silent film)
  • Stage productions and several film adaptations of plays such as Die Weber

Translations of Works

  • Numerous English translations (Hannele, Lonely Lives, The Sunken Bell, etc.)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realist depiction rooted in Naturalismuse of dreamlike and symbolist elementscombination of social critique and lyrical passages
Recurring Motifs
workers' plightheredity and fateinterplay of dream and realityregionalism (Silesia)

Health

  • Respiratory illness (serious lung ailment in youth)
    1878–1880（若年期に罹患、その後慢性化）
    Sensitivity to city air influenced choice of residence and lifestyle; required periods of convalescence and affected creative life.
  • Bronchitis in later life
    1946（死因）
    Bronchitis worsened and was cause of death in 1946.

Legacy

Gerhart Hauptmann was a leading German playwright and novelist associated with Naturalism; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912. His socially engaged works greatly influenced early 20th-century theatre, though his attitude during the Nazi era has complicated his posthumous reputation.

Museums

  • Gerhart Hauptmann House / Museum (Hiddensee) Hiddensee, Germany

Academic Societies

  • German literary studies associations (various)

Archives

  • Berlin State Library (Hauptmann collection)
  • Authority records in national libraries (VIAF, ISNI etc.)

In Popular Culture

  • Name commemorated in minor planet 8381 Hauptmann and a crater on Mercury
  • Plays such as The Weavers and The Beaver Coat continue to be staged and adapted

Quotes

  • Whoever had forgotten how to cry learned again at the destruction of Dresden. I stand at the end of my life and envy my dead comrades, who were spared this experience.
    Source: Remarks on the bombing of Dresden (reported) (1945)

Trivia

  • Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.
  • The 1913 film Atlantis, based on his novel, was controversial due to its proximity to the Titanic disaster.
  • A founding member (1905) of the German Society for Racial Hygiene.
  • Maintained a summer home on Hiddensee for many years.