Paul Lindau (3 June 1839 – 31 January 1919) was a German dramatist and novelist.

Life and works

Lindau was born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

as the son of Carl Lindau, a lawyer (Justizkommissar) whose parents Hertz Levin (a physician) and Henriette Cohen had converted from

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. Hertz Levin changed his name to Hermann Lindau after conversion.Wilhelm, Gertraude, "Lindau, Paul" in: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' 14 (1985), p. 573-575
Online version
Paul was educated at Halle,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and

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 ...

. He spent five years in

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 ...

to further his studies, acting meanwhile as foreign correspondent to German papers. After his return to Germany in 1863 he was engaged in journalism in

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 ...

and

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

. In 1870 he founded ''Das neue Blatt'' at Leipzig; from 1872 to 1881 he edited the Berlin weekly '; and in 1878 he founded the well-known monthly ''Nord und Süd'', which he continued to edit until 1904. Two books of travel, ''Aus Venetien'' (Düsseldorf, 1864) and ''Aus Paris'' (

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, 1865), were followed by some volumes of critical studies, written in a light,

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

vein, which at once made him famous. These were ''Harmlose Briefe eines deutschen Kleinstädters'' (Leipzig, 2 vols., 1870), ''Moderne Märchen fur grosse Kinder'' (Leipzig, 1870) and ''Literarische Rücksichtslosigkeiten'' (Leipzig, 1871). He was appointed intendant of the court theatre at

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

in 1895, but removed to Berlin in 1899, where he became manager of the Berliner Theater, and subsequently, until 1905, the Deutsches Theater. He began his dramatic career in 1868 with ''Marion'', the first of a long series of plays in which he displayed a remarkable talent for stage effect and a command of witty and lively dialogue. Among the more famous were ''Maria und Magdalena'' (1872), ''Tante Therese'' (1876), ''Gräfin Lea'' (1879), ''Die Erste'' (1895), ''Der Abend'' (1896), ''Der Herr im Hause'' (1899), and ''So ich dir'' (1903). He also adapted many plays by Dumas, Augier and Sardou for the German stage. Five volumes of his plays were published (Berlin, 1873–1888). Some of his volumes of short stories acquired great popularity, notably ''Herr und Frau Bewer'' ( Breslau, 1882) and ''Toggenburg und andere Geschichten'' (Breslau, 1883). A novel-sequence entitled ''Berlin'' included ''Der Zug nach dem Westen'' (Stuttgart, 1886, 10th ed. 1903), ''Arme Mädchen'' (1887, 9th ed. 1905) and ''Spitzen'' (1888, 8th ed. 1904). Later novels were ''Die Gehilfin'' (Breslau, 1894), ''Die Brüder'' (

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, 1895) and ''Der König von Sidon'' (Breslau, 1898). His earlier books on ''Molière'' (Leipzig, 1871) and ''Alfred de Musset'' (Berlin, 1877) were followed by some volumes of dramatic and literary criticism, ''Gesammelte Aufsätze'' (Berlin, 1875), ''Dramaturgische Blätter'' (Stuttgart, 2 vols., 1875; new series, Breslau, 1878, 2 vols.), and ''Vorspiele auf dem Theater'' (Breslau, 1895).

Brother

His brother,

Rudolf Lindau Rudolf Lindau (10 October 1829 in Gardelegen, Saxony – 14 October 1910) was a German diplomat and author. Milestones Rudolf Lindau was responsible for commanding the first Swiss delegation to Japan on 28 April 1859, along with Swiss Aimé Humb ...

(1829–1910), was a well-known diplomat and author.

References

* Hadlich, ''Paul Lindau als dramatischer Dichter'' (2nd ed., Berlin, 1876)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindau, Paul 1839 births 1919 deaths Writers from Magdeburg Writers from the Province of Saxony Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni Leipzig University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German male writers