Todtnauberg is a German village in

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

(''Schwarzwald'') belonging to the municipality of Todtnau, in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

. It is named after the homonymous mountain ("berg" means hill or mountain in German). It is famous because it is the place where the German

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

had a chalet and wrote portions of his major work, ''

Being and Time ''Being and Time'' () is the 1927 ''magnum opus'' of German philosopher Martin Heidegger and a key document of existentialism. ''Being and Time'' had a notable impact on subsequent philosophy, literary theory and many other fields. Though controv ...

''.

History

The village was an autonomous municipality until it was merged into Todtnau on 1 April 1974.

Geography

The village is amsl, north of Todtnau, in the northeastern corner of Lörrach District. It is a distance of from

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, from Lörrach, from

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, in Switzerland, and from

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

, in France. The town is within hiking distance of Feldberg, the highest point in the Black Forest, and its open, well-sunlit valley helps sustain its popularity as a destination for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.

Culture

Shortly after giving an interview to and following Paul Celan's lecture at

hosted Celan at his chalet at Todtnauberg in 1967. The two walked in the woods. Celan impressed Heidegger with his knowledge of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

(also evident in his poetry), and Heidegger is thought to have spoken about elements of his press interview. Celan signed Heidegger's guest book. Celan later wrote a poem entitled "Todtnauberg" which concerned the meeting. The chalet features in the film '' The Ister''. The 1992 play ''Totenauberg'' by Nobel-prize winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek explores themes related to Heidegger's philosophy as well as his cultural influence. The title is a pun on the place-name "Todtnauberg", with the prefix "" alluding to the relationship between Heidegger's work and politics, and the deaths of millions ("") under Hitler's Fascist regime.''Totenauberg'' (1992), Additionally, the connection between mountains and the dead is a common theme throughout Jelinek's literary work (see '' Die Kinder der Toten''.) In 2006,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

produced a play with the title ''Todtnauberg'', telling the story of the meeting between Celan and Heidegger, but also the story of

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

's affair with Heidegger.

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...

wrote the play and Joss Ackland starred as Heidegger.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lörrach (district) Villages in Baden-Württemberg