Johannes Fastenrath (3 May 1839 – 16 March 1908) was a German writer, translator and Hispanist.

Biography

He was born at

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid ha ...

, and studied at the universities of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He travelled extensively in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1864, 1869, and 1879, and wrote several works of verse in German after the Spanish manner: ''Ein spanischer Romanzenstrauss'' ("A Spanish bouquet of romances," 1866), ''Hesperische Blüten'' ("

Hesperian The Hesperian is a system (stratigraphy), geologic system and geologic timescale, time period on the planet Mars characterized by widespread Volcanology of Mars, volcanic activity and catastrophic flooding that carved immense outflow channels acr ...

blossoms," 1869), ''Immortellen aus Toledo'' ("Everlastings from

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

", 1869); and in ''Das Buch meiner spanischen Freunde'' ("The book of my Spanish friends", 1870), he introduced to German readers the work of contemporary Spanish poets through translations of representative specimens. He translated into German Manuel Juan Diana's comedy ''La Receta contra las Suegras'' (; "Recipe Against Mothers-in-Law"; 2nd ed., 1872). His ''La Walhalla y las glorias de Alemania'' ("

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

and the glories of Germany," 1872-87) performed a reverse service, describing for Spanish benefit, under the guise of interesting essays, prominent German characters from the days of Hermann. His ''Pasionarias de un Alemán-Español'' ("Books of passion from a German-Spaniard") described the

Oberammergau Passion Play The Oberammergau Passion Play () is a passion play that has been performed every 10 years from 1634 to 1674 and each decadal year since 1680 (with a few exceptions) by the inhabitants of the village of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. It was wr ...

. Numerous other original volumes and translations have in a scholarly manner familiarized Germans with much of

Spanish literature Spanish literature is literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects with that of other ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. He also wrote ''Den deutschen Helden von 1870'' ("To the German Heroes of 1870"), a volume of war songs inspired by the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. Fastenrath married Hungarian Luise (or Luisa) Goldmann (1858-1914), sister of writer Anna Forstenheim, a person who maintained the interests and memory of her husband. In 1889 she was named queen of the

Floral Games Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as (, ; modern or ). In French, they became the (), and in Basque (). The origina ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. In 1909, with the legacy of her husband, she instituted two foundations that bear her name, the " Fundación Premio Fastenrath" and the " Premi Fastenrath", which reward writers for creative works in Spanish language and

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

, respectively.

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fastenrath, Johannes 1839 births 1908 deaths German Hispanists Spanish–German translators 19th-century German translators 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers