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Gottfried Benn

ゴットフリート・ベン

Gottfried Benn

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1886-05-02 （Mansfeld (near Putlitz), German Empire）
Died
1956-07-07 （West Berlin, West Germany） age 70
Nationality
German
Languages
German
Religion
Lutheran (Protestant)
Residence History
Mansfeld (birthplace) → Berlin (main place of activity) → West Berlin (place of death)

Career

Occupations
Physician, Pathologist, Poet, Essayist
Active Years
1912-1956
Nominations
Nobel Prize in Literature (nominated 5 times)

Education

University of Marburg
Faculty of Theology / Theology
Period: 1900s
Country: Germany
Entered to study theology to please his father; later moved toward medical studies
Kaiser Wilhelm Academy
Military medicine / Medical faculty / Medicine
Degree: MD
Period: 1900s–1912
Year of Graduation: 1912
Country: Germany
Trained as a military physician; later moved into pathology
Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin
Period: 1900s
Country: Germany
Attended in connection with medical / military medical education

Awards

Georg Büchner Prize
1951
Organization: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Morgue and Other Poems

1912 Poetry

A collection using medical and pathological imagery— corpses, decay and the body—representative of early German Expressionism and Benn's shockingly direct voice.

deathphysical decaypathological imagerynihilismExpressionism
Translations
  • Multiple English translations exist

Statische Gedichte

1948 Poetry

A postwar collection showing a calmer, more composed aesthetic—often seen as representative of Benn's later 'static' poetic phase.

stasismeditation on existencememory
Translations
  • Translated into English and other languages

Doppelleben (Double Life)

1950 Autobiography / Memoir

An autobiographical work recounting his medical experiences, literary career, and reflections on the interwar and postwar periods.

autobiographymemoryprofessional experience
Translations
  • English translation exists (Double Life)

Bibliography

  • Morgue and Other Poems (1912)
  • Fleisch (1917)
  • The Collected Writings (1922)
  • Schutt (1924)
  • Betäubung (1925)
  • Spaltung (1925)
  • Nach dem Nihilismus (1932)
  • Der Neue Staat und die Intellektuellen (1933)
  • Kunst und Macht (1935)
  • Selected Poems (1936)
  • Statische Gedichte (1948)
  • Ptolemäer (1949)
  • Doppelleben (Double Life) (1950)
  • The Voice Behind the Screen (essays / recollections)

Adaptations

  • Film 'My Heart Is Mine Alone' (Mein Herz - Niemandem) (1997, dir. Helma Sanders-Brahms) — a film about the relationship with Else Lasker-Schüler

Translations of Works

  • Selected Poems (English translations, e.g. Oxford University Press editions)
  • Ptolemäer (English translation, Plutarch Press)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Expressionist intensityclinical and pathological imagerylater 'static' composed style
Recurring Motifs
body / cadaverdecay and bloodhospital and dissection scenesnihilism

Health

  • cancer
    1950年代（晩年）
    Affected his late-life productivity and health; he died of cancer in 1956

Legacy

Gottfried Benn is regarded as a major 20th-century German poet—an early Expressionist voice and a representative of the later 'static' poetry. His temporary sympathy for National Socialism complicates his reception, but awards like the Georg Büchner Prize and postwar recognition led to reevaluation.

Museums

  • Gottfried Benn Library (Berlin) Berlin, Germany

Academic Societies

  • Gottfried Benn Society (Gottfried-Benn-Gesellschaft)

Archives

  • Holdings in the German National Library and other archives

In Popular Culture

  • Portrayed in films such as 'My Heart Is Mine Alone' (1997), which explore his relationship with contemporaries

Quotes

  • “The solitary molar of a hooker, who had died a missing person, held a gold filling. As if by silent agreement, the rest had fallen out. The mortician knocked out the filling, pawned it and went dancing. Because, he said, only earth should return to earth.”
    Source: From 'Morgue and Other Poems' (excerpt) (1912)

Trivia

  • Between 1912 and 1913 he dissected over 200 corpses in Berlin; this experience influenced his early poetry.
  • He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.
  • Awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1951.
  • Had a romantic relationship with poet Else Lasker-Schüler.