Hans Henny Jahnn (born Hans Henny August Jahn'';'' 17 December 1894 – 29 November 1959) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

playwright,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, and organ-builder.

Personal life

Hans Henny Jahn was born in 1894 in Stellingen, one of Hamburg's suburbs, and was the son of a shipwright. Jahn met Gottlieb Friedrich Harms "Friedel" (1893–1931), with whom he was united in a "mystical wedding" in 1913, at a secondary school (the

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. ...

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

'') which they both attended, and they fled from Germany to Norway to avoid enlistment into the army for World War I, where they lived together between 1914 and 1918, and after the war ended they returned to Hamburg. They met Ellinor Philips in 1918. In 1919, Jahnn founded the community of Ugrino with a sculptor, Franz Buse. In 1926, Jahnn married Ellinor, and Harms married Sybille Philips, Ellinor's sister, in 1928. When Harms died in 1931 Jahn designed his gravestone. Once the Nazi period began, he fled Germany once again to Zurich and then Bornholm to escape the hostility of the Nazis towards the gay community. Jahnn's bisexuality, well-documented in his life, appears as well throughout his literary work, although it did not receive much recognition for some time due to his eccentric lifestyle, unconventional opinions, and homosexual relationship. Hans Henny Jahnn is buried alongside Harms and Ellinor at Nienstedten Cemetery, Hamburg, Germany.

Writing

As a playwright, he wrote: ''Pastor Ephraim Magnus'' (1919), which ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' describes as a nihilistic,

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

play "stuffed with perversities and

sado-masochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

motifs"; ''Coronation of Richard III'' (1921; "equally lurid");Banham (1998, 553). and a version of ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'' (1926). Later works include the novel ''Perrudja,'' an unfinished trilogy of novels ''River Without Banks'' (''Fluss ohne Ufer''), the drama ''Thomas Chatterton'' (1955; staged by

Gustaf Gründgens Gustaf Gründgens (; 22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg ...

in 1956), and the novella ''The Night of Lead''.

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content o ...

staged Jahnn's ''The Dusty Rainbow'' (''Der staubige Regenbogen'') in 1961. His work was awarded the

Kleist Prize The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Repu ...

. Jahnn was also a music publisher, focusing on 17th-century organ music. He was a contemporary of organ-builder

Rudolf von Beckerath Rudolf von Beckerath (19 February 1907 – 22 November 1976) was a German master organ builder. He was born in Munich, to the painter Willy von Beckerath, but grew up in Hamburg, where his family moved the year he was born. He initially pu ...

Selected bibliography

Prose

* ''Perrudja'' (1929). Trans. Adam Siegel (forthcoming) * ''Fluß ohne Ufer'' (1949–61). ''River Without Banks'' ** ''Das Holzschiff'' (1949). ''The Ship'', trans. Catherine Hutter (1961) ** ''Die Niederschrift des Gustav Anias Horn'' (1949/50) ** ''Epilog'' (1961) * ''13 nicht geheure Geschichten'' (1954). ''Thirteen Uncanny Stories'', trans. Gerda Jordan (1984) * ''Die Nacht aus Blei'' (1956). ''The Night of Lead'', trans. Malcolm Green (1994) *''Jeden ereilt es'' (1968). Unfinished novel, partially translated as ''Bath House'' by Adam Siegel (2015) * ''The Living Are Few, the Dead Many: Selected Works of Hans Henny Jahnn'' (2012). Translations by Malcolm Green.

Plays

* ''Pastor Ephraim Magnus'' (1919) * ''Die Krönung Richards III'' (1921) * ''Der Arzt / Sein Weib / Sein Sohn'' (1922) * ''Der gestohlene Gott'' (1924) * ''Medea'' (1926) * ''Neuer Lübecker Totentanz'' (1931) * ''Straßenecke'' (1931) * ''Armut, Reichtum, Mensch und Tier'' (1933) * ''Spur des dunklen Engels'' (1952) * ''Thomas Chatterton'' (1955)

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jahnn, Hans Henny 1894 births 1959 deaths Writers from Hamburg Bisexual men Bisexual writers German expressionist dramatists and playwrights Radical Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Kleist Prize winners German LGBT writers German pipe organ builders LGBT dramatists and playwrights German male novelists German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German male writers 20th-century LGBT people