Hans Bayer, known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Thaddäus Troll, (18 March 1914 – 5 July 1980) was a German journalist and writer and one of the most prominent modern poets in the Swabian German dialect. In his later years, he was also an active campaigner for libraries and for support, pension rights, and fair publishing contracts for writers. He was born in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart, and committed suicide there at the age of 66. The literary award

Thaddäus-Troll-Preis Thaddäus-Troll-Preis is a literary prize awarded by the ''Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller in Baden-Württemberg'', an organization that supports and sponsors writers in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The prize is awarded annually ...

is named in his honour.

Life and career

Thaddäus Troll was born Hans Bayer in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart. His family had a soap-making business in the town. After he finished his secondary education at the Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium, he worked briefly as a volunteer at a newspaper in Cannstatt. He then studied German, art history, comparative literature, theater, and journalism at the universities of Tübingen, Munich, Halle, and Leipzig, receiving his doctorate in 1938 from

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. Bayer served as a reserve lieutenant in the German army, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

, from 1938. Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in the autumn of 1939, he applied to, and eventually, in the autumn of 1940, was accepted into the army's propaganda troops, the PK (''Propagandakompanien''),Handels, Andrea (12 August 2014).
Ausstellung, Topographie des Terrors: 'Hans Bayer – Kriegsberichter im Zweiten Weltkrieg'
" RBB Kulturradio (www.kulturradio.de). Review (in German) of the exhibition "Hans Bayer – War Correspondent in the Second World War" (13 August – 16 November 2014), at

Topography of Terror The Topography of Terror (german: Topographie des Terrors) is an outdoor and indoor history museum in Berlin, Germany. It is located on Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, on the site of buildings, which during the Nazi reg ...

(museum), Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 20 August 2014. See also th
English-language synopsis of the exhibition
on the museum website; retrieved 20 August 2014.Steur, Claudia (2014). "Hans Bayer/Thaddäus Troll – From war correspondent to literary figure and regional author." ''Hans Bayer: War Correspondent in the Second World War'' xhibition catalog Bilingual, in German and English. Stiftung Topographie des Terrors. 152. which were under the command of the '' Wehrmachtpropaganda'' department of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (the army's supreme command), and politically controlled by the Reichs Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. At their peak the PK comprised some 30 companies and 15,000 soldiers with backgrounds as journalists, photographers, artists, and film and radio personnel, who were charged with the task of recording their experiences and observations on the front in a form suitable for dissemination in the Nazi-controlled media. After a three-month training period, in Potsdam, Bayer served as a PK reporter from 1941 to 1945. He was stationed at first in Poland, in January 1941, and in June his unit moved to the Soviet Union, on the Eastern Front. A report he wrote on the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

, which he visited a number of times, was used as the text for a photo essay published in the '' Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung''. Much of his work was published in military newspapers, including reports from the Soviet Union about the daily life of the German soldiers, and the impoverished condition of the Russian population. He also wrote feature articles, including humorous and satirical pieces. After a sojourn in southern Germany and Berlin from the end of 1942 to August 1943, he was assigned to a different PK unit and served as editor of the army newspaper ''Der Sieg'' (The Victory) through its closure in early 1945, part of the time while based in Warsaw. In his postwar life, Bayer avoided reference to his career as a PK war correspondent; decades later he stated obliquely that he looked back "with deep shame" on what he had seen and experienced in the war. Bayer spent the end of the war in an English prisoner-of-war camp in Putlos, in the vicinity of

Oldenburg in Holstein Oldenburg in Holstein () is a town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the state Schleswig-Holstein of Germany. Oldenburg was the chief tow ...

, in spring to summer 1945, and while there directed the camp's theatre. Later that year, he married the journalist Elfriede Berger. The couple had one daughter but divorced a few years later. He then married another journalist, Susanne Ulrici Bayer, and had two more daughters. After the war, Bayer worked as a journalist and co-founded with comedian

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

, '' Das Wespennest'' (The Wasp's Nest), Germany's first post-war satirical magazine. (The magazine ceased publication in 1949.) Bayer was a correspondent for '' Der Spiegel'' from 1947 to 1951, but during that time he also began a career as a free-lance writer. He adopted the pseudonym "Thaddäus Troll" in 1948, the name under which he is primarily known and chosen because he wanted his books to be on library shelves near those of his role model

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

. In the ensuing years he published prolifically—poems, plays, novels, short-stories, theatre criticism, and satirical essays—often written in Swabian dialect. He also wrote scripts for the Düsseldorf cabaret Kom(m)ödchen, articles on wine and cookery, and a sex education book in Swabian on the model of

Peter Mayle Peter Mayle ( "mail"; 14 June 1939 – 18 January 2018) was a British businessman turned author who moved to France in the 1980s. He wrote a series of bestselling memoirs of his life there, beginning with '' A Year in Provence'' (1989). Early l ...

's ''Where Did I Come From?''. His poetry was based on everyday life but had a political dimension in common with many post-war German poets. According to Wolfgang Beutin writing in ''A History of German Literature'', Troll's playful linguistic use of dialect was simultaneously a "confrontation with social convention and a criticism of social rigidity," a trait akin to

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct me ...

and one which he shared with the

Franconian dialect Franconian or Frankish is a collective term traditionally used by linguists to refer to many West Germanic languages, some of which are spoken in what formed the historical core area of Francia during the Early Middle Ages. Linguistically, there ...

poet . Although he was a supporter of the

Social Democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

politicians

Gustav Heinemann Gustav Walter Heinemann (; 23 July 1899 – 7 July 1976) was a German politician who was President of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He served as mayor of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, and Mini ...

and

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, Troll's approach to politics was essentially non-partisan and, like his poetry, was often playful.Biography of Thaddäus Troll
originally published in 1984 in the literary journal ''exempla'' and republished on the official website of Troll's literary estate. Retrieved 22 October 2012. In 1950 he became one of the founding members of Werner Finck's ''Radikale Mitte'' (Radical Middle) party. Describing themselves as an "Association for Combating the Deadly Seriousness of the Time" and a "Parody Party", they were in favour of radicalism but opposed to extremism of both the Left and the Right. The party's symbol was a

safety pin The safety pin is a variation of the regular pin which includes a simple spring mechanism and a clasp. The clasp forms a closed loop to properly fasten the pin to whatever it is applied to and covers the end of the pin to protect the user from t ...

. In his later years Troll was an active campaigner for libraries and for support, pension rights, and fair publishing contracts for authors.Ignée, Wolfgang (29 September 2008)
"Einer unserer größten Schwaben: Thaddäus Troll"
(One of our greatest Swabians: Thaddäus Troll). ''

Stuttgarter Zeitung The ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'' ("Stuttgart newspaper") is a German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily. History and profile It was first edited ...

''. Retrieved 18 October 2012. He was one of the founders of the ''Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller'', an organization that supports and sponsors writers in the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, and served as its first chairman from 1968 to 1977. He also served on the executive councils and committees of (General Association of German Writers) and Süddeutschen Rundfunk (South German Radio). In 1978 he was elected Vice-President of the German branch of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

.Lindenberg, Eleonore (2002)
"Thaddäus Troll"
. Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller in Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 18 October 2012. After a lengthy and severe depression, Thaddäus Troll committed suicide in his Stuttgart apartment with an overdose of sleeping pills on 5 July 1980.''Der Spiegel'' (14 July 1980)
"Gestorben Hans Bayer"
(Hans Bayer has died) He was 66 years old and had planned his own funeral before his death. At his wake the mourners were served his favourite dumplings and

Trollinger Trollinger, Schiava, or Vernatsch, is a red German/Italian wine grape variety that was likely first originally cultivated in the wine regions of South Tyrol and Trentino, but today is almost exclusively cultivated on steep, sunny locations in t ...

wine. A

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

band accompanied him to his grave in the Steigfriedhof cemetery in Bad-Cannstatt. He specified no lengthy graveside sermons, only the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

and a reading of his self-written obituary. In the year following his death, the ''Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller'' established a literary award in his honour, the

. That same year, Hoffmann & Campe published a posthumous anthology of his writings, ''Das große Thaddäus Troll-Lesebuch'', which included Troll's self-written obituary.Troll's obituary was originally published in 1970 in ''Vorletzte Worte: Schriftsteller schreiben ihren eigenen Nachruf'' (Penultimate words: Writers write their own obituary), a collection of self-written obituaries from 45 German writers published by Bärmeier & Nikel.

Selected works

* ''Sehnsucht nach Nebudistan'' (1956), comic novel. Kindler Verlag * ''Hilfe, die Eltern kommen!'' (1956), novel (revised version published 1964). Sanssouci * ''Deutschland deine Schwaben'' (1967). Hoffmann & Campe * ''Preisend mit viel schönen Reden – Deutschland deine Schwaben für Fortgeschrittene'' (1972). Hoffmann & Campe * ''Wo komm’ ich eigentlich her?'' (1974), children's book based on

's ''Where Did I Come From? The Facts of Life without Any Nonsense''. Hoffmann & Campe * ''O Heimatland'' (1976), poetry in Swabian dialect. Hoffmann & Campe * ''Der Entaklemmer'' (1976), adaptation of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

's play ''

The Miser ''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...

''. Hoffmann & Campe * ''Deutschland deine Schwaben im neuen Anzügle'' (1978). Hoffmann & Campe * ''Das große Thaddäus Troll-Lesebuch'' (1981), posthumous anthology of Troll's writings. Hoffmann & Campe * ''Thaddäus Trolls schwäbische Schimpfwörterei'' (1987), posthumous collection of Troll's Swabian anecdotes and swear-words. Silberburg-Verlag

Studies

* Bischoff, Jörg (2013). ''Thaddäus Troll: Eine schwäbische Seele''. Tübingen: Silberburg-Verlag. .

References

External links

Official website for Thaddäus Troll's literary estate

Books by and about Thaddäus Troll
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troll, Thaddaus German journalists German male journalists 20th-century German journalists Writers from Stuttgart 1914 births 1980 suicides 20th-century German poets German male poets 20th-century German male writers Drug-related suicides in Germany Swabian-language writers