Clara Emma Amalia Viebig (17 July 1860 – 31 July 1952) was a German author.

Life

Viebig was born in the German city of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, the daughter of a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n civil servant. She was related to

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

. At the age of eight, her father was transferred, and the family moved to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, where Clara attended school. She frequently returned to the Moselle scenery at Trier and vicinity, and took many walks there. When her father died, she was sent to live on the estate of some relatives in

Posen Posen may refer to: Places Europe * Poznań (German: ''Posen''), city in Poland * Grand Duchy of Posen, autonomous province of Prussia, 1815–1848 * Province of Posen, Prussian province, 1848–1918 * Posen (region), the south-western part of t ...

, where she frequented the local Luisenschule. At the age of twenty, Clara moved to

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 ...

with her mother. She went to Berlin to study music, but instead of doing it, found that the stimulus of the great city, in addition to the landscapes she had already seen, was beginning to steer her toward a literary career. She was married to the Jewish publisher Fritz Theodor Cohn (a partner in the firm of Fontane and Company, later of Egon Fleischel and Company) in 1896. The following year, Clara began a successful career as a writer and her works became much admired. After her marriage, she lived most of the time in Berlin and its suburbs (

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

, Zehlendorf).

''Das Schlafende Heer''

In her novel ''Das Schlafende Heer'' ("The Dormant Army" or "The Sleeping Army"), published in 1903, Viebig praised conquest of Polish territories by German settlers and warned of "dangers" posed by Polish minority in Germany, which she characterised as "disloyal" and "uncultured". Left unchecked, she warned, Poles would overwhelm Germany and thus need to be controlled, repressed and assimilated. Viebig's viewpoint was characteristic of German attitudes at the time, and her work formed part of the German Heimatkunst (regionalism) literary movement during this period. This novel became a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1904 and 1905, and, besides ''Die Wacht am Rhein'', was her most read novel. In ''Das Schlafende Heer'' she depicted the alleged racial division between Poles and Germans, focusing on character of Polish women, obsessing with the distinction between blonde and black, white and dark and portraying them as plotting the demise of German men, who needed to be warned in advance. The Poles were living according to Viebig in a state of "animalistic and barbaric state", from which only German "civilizing mission" could save them, the solution to this "Polish problem" was exclusive colonization (preferably combined with expulsions), Viebig warned that "Polish degeneracy" was "contagious". Kristin Kopp from

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

writes that Viebig's novel represents a "prominent example" of narrative strategy that presents Polish characters whose external "whiteness", conceals hidden "blackness", which allows them to infiltrate

German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by its central position in Europe and a history spanning over a millennium. Characterized by significant contributions to art, music, philosophy, science, and technology, German culture is both diverse and ...

and undermine German colonial projects.

Later career

As her fame faded, in 1933 she published ''Insel der Hoffnung'' ("Island of Hope"), which condemned the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

and praised the colonization of the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. However, in 1936 her publications became forbidden by the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

because her husband was Jewish. As Viebig was related to

she herself was not persecuted. She moved in 1937 to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

for a year, but returned a year later and tried to accommodate herself in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Her work continued to be published, albeit with less regularity; eventually, on her 80th birthday in 1940, she was celebrated by the press and Nazis for her work, with ''Das Schlafende Heer'' being praised by Nazi critics as the first "

Volksdeutsche In Nazi Germany, Nazi German terminology, () were "people whose language and culture had Germans, German origins but who did not hold German citizenship." The term is the nominalised plural of ''wikt:volksdeutsch, volksdeutsch'', with denoting ...

novel" and important document of "national fight".Barbara Krauss-Theim (1992) ''Naturalismus und Heimatkunst bei Clara Viebig: darwinistisch-evolutionäre Naturvorstellungen und ihre ästhetischen Reaktionsformen'', p. 240, P. Lang. While her works differ from racist ''Blut und Boden'' literature and her correspondence shows a distance from

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, they are filled with nationalist spirit and show some similarities to volkisch thinking.

Works

Novels

* ''Wildfeuer'', 1896 * ''Dilettanten des Lebens'', 1897
online copy
* ''Rheinlandstöchter'', 1897 * ''Vor Tau und Tag'', 1898 * ''Dilettanten des Lebens'', 1899
online copy
* ''Es lebe die Kunst'', 1899 * ''Das Weiberdorf'', 1899
online copy
* ''Das tägliche Brod'', 1900 ** English edition: ''Our Daily Bread'', 1909
online copy
* ''Die Wacht am Rhein'', 1902
online copy
* ''Vom Müller Hannes'', 1903 * ''Das schlafende Heer'', 1904
online copy
**English edition: ''The Sleeping Army'', 1929 * ''Einer Mutter Sohn'', 1906
online copy
**English edition: ''The Son of his Mother'', 1913
online copy
* ''Absolvo te!'', 1907 **English edition: ''Absolution'', 1908
online copy
* ''Das Kreuz im Venn'', 1908
online copy
* ''Die vor den Toren'', 1910 * ''Das Eisen im Feuer'', 1913 * ''Eine Handvoll Erde'', 1915
online copy
* ''Töchter der Hekuba'', 1917 **English edition: ''Daughters of Hecuba'', 1922 * ''Das rote Meer'', 1920 * ''Unter dem Freiheitsbaum'', 1922
online copy
* ''Menschen und Straßen'', 1923 * ''Die Passion'', 1925 * ''Die goldenen Berge'', 1928 **English edition: ''The Golden Hills'', 1928 * ''Charlotte von Weiß'', 1929 * ''Die mit den tausend Kindern'', 1929 **English edition: ''The woman with a thousand children'', 1930 * ''Prinzen, Prälaten und Sansculotten'', 1931 * ''Menschen unter Zwang'', 1932 * ''Insel der Hoffnung'', 1933 * ''Der Vielgeliebte und die Vielgehaßte'', 1935

Short stories & novellas

* ''Kinder der Eifel'', 1897
online copy
*''Vor Tau und Tag'', 1898 * ''Die Rosenkranzjungfer'', 1900 *''Die heilige Einfalt'', 1910 *''Heimat'', 1914 *''West und Ost'', 1920 * ''Franzosenzeit'', 1925

Plays

*''Barbara Holzer'', 1896 *''Die Pharisäer'', 1899
online copy
*''Kampf um den Mann'', 1903
online copy
*''Das letzte Glück'', 1909 *''Pittchen'', 1909

References

External links

''Clara Viebig Gesellschaft''
– website of the Clara Viebig Society with information on Viebig's life and works, scholarly literature, exhibitions and local museum

– museum at Eisenschmitt ;Online works * *
''Kindheit in Düsseldorf''
(

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

)
''Drei Brauten''
(

)
''Mein Eifelland''
(

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Viebig, Clara 1860 births 1952 deaths 19th-century German novelists 20th-century German novelists German women novelists 20th-century German women writers 19th-century German women writers People from Trier