Werner Vordtriede (18 March 1915 – 25 September 1985) was an emigre from

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 ...

first to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and then to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

who was a professor of German language and literature at the

University of Wisconsin 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". Uni ...

from 1947 to 1960 before returning to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and accepting an appointment at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. Beyond his scholarly publications, he translated and authored a number of fictional and non-fictional works.

Early years in Germany

Vordtriede was born in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

to Käthe ''née'' Blumenthal (1891–1964) and Gustav Adolf Vordtriede (1882–1929), co-owner of a chocolate factory in

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

. His father's military service in World War I as well as his parents' separation in 1916 and subsequent divorce led to a relocation, first in 1922 to

Todtmoos Todtmoos is a village and municipality in the district of Waldshut in the southern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea ...

in the

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 ...

and in 1923 to

Freiburg im Breisgau 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 ...

, where he lived with his mother and his sister Fränze (1911–1997). His father, whom he never met, died in an accident in Herne in 1929. His mother was politically active and worked as local editor of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

''Volkswacht'', one of five daily newspapers published in Freiburg at that time. His sister would later become a professor of English literature in the U.S. As a youngster, he was interested in German literature and corresponded with such literary luminaries as

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

and

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

. As a 16-year-old, he won a trip to Paris as a prize in an essay-writing contest. In 1933 he completed his secondary education at the Gymnasium in the

Herdern Herdern is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Frauenfeld District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Herdern is first mentioned in 1094 as ''Harderin''. Originally it was under the authority of ...

district of Freiburg.

Emigre years in Switzerland and the U.S.

Following the Nazi accession to power in 1933, Vordtriede emigrated to Switzerland, where in 1934 he was introduced to the German Jewish philosopher Edith Landmann in

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 ...

and through her affiliated with the George Circle, even adopting

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

's distinctive calligraphy as his own handwriting style. He matriculated at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

in 1934 with a major in German philology and a minor in English philology, taking courses with such noted academics as

Emil Ermatinger Emil Ermatinger (21 May 1873 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland – 17 September 1953 in Zurich) was a Swiss professor for Germanic philology. Ermatinger studied classical philology in Zurich and Berlin. 1897 he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the Universi ...

and Bernhard Fehr, an

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

specialist. Prevented from seeking employment by the terms of his student visa, he managed to keep his head above water by working part-time as a private tutor and writing articles and book reviews for the ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

'' under various pseudonyms (Werner Salasin, Werner Stoutz, and r. e.). Thanks to a travel stipend, he was able to spend the summer of 1937 in

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...

. Finding the situation in Switzerland increasingly untenable, he chose to emigrate to the U.S. in 1938. At pains to conceal both his homosexual orientation and his Jewish ancestry on his mother's side, he maintained that he had been driven into exile on political grounds. Vortriede's passage to New York aboard the luxury liner SS ''Nieuw Amsterdam'' was paid for by the English author Robert Hichens, and he was subsequently supported by grants from the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom, personally meeting with its general secretary, Prince Hubertus zu Löwenstein, in 1943. He enrolled at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, where he was employed as a teaching assistant and earned a master's degree in 1939 with a thesis entitled " Hölderlins Spätstil als Mittel zur Deutung seines Weltbilds". On a summer jaunt to Europe, he was caught off-guard by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and, as a German passport holder, interned as an

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...

in France. A few months later he was able to return to the U.S. In New York City he became acquainted with the poets

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

and

Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in B ...

Saint-John Perse Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet, writer and diplomat, awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the soaring flight and the ev ...

, the author

Richard Beer-Hofmann Richard Beer-Hofmann (11 July 1866 – 26 September 1945) was an Austrian dramatist and poet. Life and career Richard Beer was born on 11 July 1866 in Vienna to Jewish parents. His mother died of childbed fever within a week of his birth and afte ...

, and the sociologist Christiane Hofmannsthal-Zimmer (the daughter of poet

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, libretto, librettist, Poetry, poet, Playwdramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, th ...

) as well as the emigre

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann (with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship) and Go ...

. The poet Robert Duncan was his lover in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

, where he briefly owned a house (alluded to in the multivalent title of his 1975 memoir ''Das verlassene Haus'', "The Abandoned House"). He was a teaching fellow at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and in 1941 was reunited in New York City with his mother, who also emigrated from Germany. He taught briefly at Central Michigan College before he and his mother moved to Evanston when he enrolled at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

for doctoral study with a major in French literature and a minor in German literature. There he worked as a teaching assistant and completed the Ph.D. in 1945 with a dissertation on "The Conception of the Poet in the Works of

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

and Stefan George". He was immediately hired at the rank of instructor by

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where he taught German for two years, and in 1946 he was naturalized as a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

. At this time he became acquainted with the literary scholar Erich von Kahler and the writer

Hermann Broch Hermann Broch (; 1 November 1886 – 30 May 1951) was an Austrian writer, best known for two major works of modernist fiction: '' The Sleepwalkers'' (''Die Schlafwandler,'' 1930–32) and '' The Death of Virgil'' (''Der Tod des Vergil,'' 1945). ...

. His sister Fränze arrived in the U.S. in 1947, initially residing in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Vordtriede was recruited by the University of Wisconsin as an assistant professor in 1947, and he also taught at the Middlebury German Summer School in 1948. He was described by one colleague as a popular teacher "who brought animation to the classroom", for example "by acting out in class the role of the village girl who dreamed of marrying a count" in

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called '' Seldwyla Folks'' (''Die Leute von Se ...

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

"Kleider machen Leute". He chose to go on personal leave for the academic year 1952–53 to bolster his academic track record by publishing numerous book reviews and articles, especially in the pages of the Wisconsin German Department's house journal ''Monatshefte''. Although he did not yet have a book publication, he was duly promoted to an associate professorship with tenure at the University of Wisconsin in 1954. He now served as a dissertation director for the first time, supervising Roland Hoermann's 1957 thesis on

Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. ...

's symbolism, and he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1957. Beginning in the late 1950s, he made frequent trips to Europe, also visiting his former home in Freiburg. In Madison, he resided in the modest digs of the bachelor faculty housing on the top floor of the University Club. Following his promotion to a full professorship in 1959, still without a book publication, he supervised the doctoral dissertations of Don Travis (on

Stefan Andres Stefan Paul Andres (26 June 1906 – 29 June 1970) was a German novelist. As the Nazi regime flexed its power, Andres moved away to Italy in 1937, returning to Germany 13 years later. He was a widely read German writer in the post-World War ...

, 1960), Henry Geitz (on

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

, 1961), and Philip Glander (on Varnhagen von Ense, 1961) before surprising his colleagues by announcing at a departmental meeting his decision to resign from the University of Wisconsin after fourteen years and to relocate to Germany, where he intended to break with the academy and become a freelance author.

Return to Germany

After returning to Germany in 1960, Vordtriede changed plans and successfully applied for a position at the

. He held a professorship there for fourteen years until taking early retirement, at age 61, in 1976. He returned to the United States as a visiting professor at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in the spring of 1964, at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

in the fall of 1966, the

University of California–Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was ...

in 1968–69, and the

University of Massachusetts–Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the Ma ...

in the fall of 1970, thus residing in the U.S. for a total of twenty years. His publications during these years included several editions of canonical German authors, a monograph of

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

(''Novalis und die französischen Symbolisten''), a memoir recounting his first years as an emigre in the United States (''Das verlassene Haus. Tagebuch aus dem amerikanischen Exil 1938–1947''), an opera libretto, translations of English and French poetry, and numerous journal articles. Following retirement he realized his ambition to become an author by writing four novels, one of which remained unpublished at his death. His final book publication was a four-volume edition of Stefan George's poetry.

Death and legacy

Colleagues, former students, and friends wrote contributions for a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' honoring Vordtriede on his seventieth birthday, but the volume did not appear until one month after his death. He died, a U.S. citizen, during a study trip near

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

in September 1985. A lifelong bachelor, he had no descendants and was estranged from his sister as of the 1970s. His colleague and former student

Dieter Borchmeyer Dieter Borchmeyer (born 3 May 1941 in Recklinghausen) is a German literary critic. Borchmeyer is Professor Emeritus of Modern German Literature (''Neuere Deutsche Literatur'') and Dramatic Theory (''Theaterwissenschaft'') at the University of He ...

served as the executor of his estate. Vordtriede had preserved documents pertaining to Nazi Germany as authentic historical records, and they along with many letters and other papers were bequeathed to the

German Literature Archive The Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach (DLA – German Literature Archive), established in 1955, in Marbach am Neckar, is one of the most significant literary archives in the world. Its collections span literary and intellectual history from 1750 ...

in Marbach. His correspondence with his mother Käthe Vordtriede was edited for a book publication (1998) and formed the basis for a televised documentary (2001). Käthe Vordtriede is memorialized in Freiburg with a ''

Stolperstein A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...

'' and a street name. Werner Vordtriede was interred in Munich in 1985, and after the expiration of a twenty-year lease for his burial plot, the grave was vacated in accordance with German cemetery practice.

Vordtriede House Freiburg

A private initiative is at work advancing knowledge about the Vordtriede family, whose members Käthe Vordtriede, Frances (Fränze) Vordtriede-Riley, and Werner Vordtriede resided variously from 1926 to 1939 at 4 Fichte Street in the Haslach district of Freiburg before emigrating to the United States via Switzerland and England. The initiative was launched by author Jürgen Lang, who now resides in the landmarked house owned by Bauverein Freiburg. Founded in 2014, the project won a city award for "civic engagement" in 2015. A sponsorship award followed in 2022 in recognition of the project's stance against anti-Semitism, right-wing radicalism, and racism.Würdigung der Aktiv-Preistragenden 2021 aus Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz und dem Saarland. Rückblick auf die Preisverleihung am 11.05.2022
Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz, May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022. The plan is to turn the residence into a meeting place and small museum under the motto "Remembering, Researching, Reminding".

Book publications

Monograph

* ''

Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...

und die französischen Symbolisten. Zur Entstehungsgeschichte eines dichterischen Symbols.'' Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1963.

Memoir

* ''Das verlassene Haus. Tagebuch aus dem amerikanischen Exil 1938–1947.'' Munich: Hanser, 1975. Revised and expanded edition. Edited by Ekkehard Faude. With an afterword by Dieter Borchmeyer. Lengwil: Libelle, 2002.

Fictional works

* ''Der Nekromant. Text für eine Oper.'' Munich: Heimeran, 1968. (Music by Peter Förtig.) * ''Geheimnisse an der Lummer. Roman.'' Vienna: Rhombus, 1979. * ''Der Innenseiter. Roman.'' Munich: Steinhausen, 1981. * ''Ulrichs Ulrich oder Vorbereitungen zum Untergang. Roman.'' Munich: List, 1982.

Edited volumes

** Achim von Arnim and

Bettina Brentano Bettina von Arnim (born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano; 4 April 178520 January 1859) was a German writer and novelist. Bettina (or Bettine) Brentano was a writer, publisher, composer, singer, visual artist, an illustrator, patr ...

: ''Achim und Bettina in ihren Briefen. Briefwechsel Achim von Arnim und Bettina Brentano. Mit einer Einleitung von

Rudolf Alexander Schröder Rudolf Alexander Schröder (26 January 1878 – 22 August 1962) was a German translator and poet. In 1962 he was awarded the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Career Much ...

.'' 2 volumes. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1961. Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1988. ** ''Achim von Arnim. Isabella von Agypten''. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1964. *

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

: ** ''Clemens Brentano. Gedichte.'' Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1963. ** ''Clemens Brentano. Briefe, Tagebücher, Gespräche, Erinnerungen des Dichters und der Zeitgenossen, die mit ihm in Verbindung standen.'' Dichter über ihre Dichtungen, vol. 6. Munich: Ernst Heimeran, 1971. Co-editor: Gabriele Bartenschlager. *

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He formulated Grimm's law of linguistics, and was the co-author of the ''Deutsch ...

: ''Jacob Grimm über seine Entlassung.'' Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1964. * ''Kinderlieder aus

des Knaben Wunderhorn ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder'' (German for "The boy's magic horn: old German songs") is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano. The book was published in three volumes, the ...

''. Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1964. *

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

: ''Gedichte. Deutsch und Englisch.'' Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1964. Translations by Werner Vordtriede,

Erich Fried Erich Fried (6 May 1921 – 22 November 1988) was an Austrian-born poet, writer, and translator. He initially became known to a broader public in both Germany and Austria for his political poetry, and later for his love poems. As a writer, he ...

, and Christian Enzensberger. *

Quirinus Kuhlmann Quirinus Kuhlmann (also: Culmannus, Kühlmann, Kuhlman; 26 February 1651 – 4 October 1689) was a German Baroque poet and mystic. Kuhlmann insisted upon the importance of the events of his life as confirmation of his divine mission. Known for ...

: ''Aus dem Kühlpsalter.'' Berlin: K. H. Henssel, 1966. *

Bettina von Arnim Bettina von Arnim (born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano; 4 April 178520 January 1859) was a German writer and novelist. Bettina (or Bettine) Brentano was a writer, publisher, composer, singer, visual artist, an illustrator, patr ...

: ''Bettina von Arnims Armenbuch.'' Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1969. *

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

: ''Friedrich Schiller. Von den Anfängen bis 1795.'' Dichter über ihre Dichtungen, vol. 3/I. Munich: Ernst Heimeran, 1969. Co-editors: Bodo Lecke, Rudolf Hirsch. *

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

: ** ''Heinrich Heine. Sämtliche Werke.'' 4 volumes. Munich: Winkler, 1969–72. Co-editor: Jost Perfahl. 2nd, revised edition Munich: Winkler, 1992–94. Co-editor: Erhard Weidl. ** ''Heine-Kommentar'', vol. 1: ''Zu den Dichtungen'' and vol. 2: ''Zu den Schriften zur Literatur und Politik.'' Munich: Winkler, 1970. Co-editor: Uwe Schweikert. ** ''Heinrich Heine.'' Dichter über ihre Dichtungen, vol. 8/II. Munich: Ernst Heimeran, 1971. Co-editor: Rudolf Hirsch. ** ''Heinrich Heine. Buch der Lieder, Deutschland, ein Wintermärchen und andere Gedichte.'' Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1992. * Therese von Bacheracht and

Karl Gutzkow Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow ( in Berlin – in Sachsenhausen) was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century. Life Gutzkow was born of an extremely poor family, not proletarian, but of the lowest and most menial ...

: ''Unveröffentlichte Briefe. 1842–1849.'' Munich: Kösel, 1971. *

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

: ''Werke.'' 6 volumes. Neuwied: Luchterhand, 1972. *

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential liter ...

: ''Werke.'' 4 volumes. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1983. Includes French-German translations by Werner Vordtriede.

Translations

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

: ''Metaphysische Dichtungen.'' Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1961. *

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

: ''Gedichte.'' Berlin: Henssel, 1962. *

: ''Liebesgedichte.'' Darmstadt: Luchterhand, 1976. * ''Geh, fang einen Stern, der fällt. Gedichte.'' Leipzig: Insel, 2001. Includes poems by John Donne,

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

, Andrew Marvell,

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

Secondary literature

* Borchmeyer, Dieter and Till Heimeran. ''Weimar am Pazifik. Literarische Wege zwischen den Kontinenten. Festschrift für Werner Vordtriede zum 70. Geburtstag.'' Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1985. ** With contributions by Ehrhard Bahr (

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

), Sigrid Bauschinger ( Amherst), Brian Coghlan (

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

), Donald Crosby (

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

), John Francis Fetzer (

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

Erich Heller Erich Heller (27 March 1911 – 5 November 1990) was a British essayist, known particularly for his critical studies in German-language philosophy and literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Biography Heller was born at Chomuto ...

( Northwestern), Jost Hermand (

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

), Walter Hinderer (

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

), Roland Hoermann (Davis), Christiane Hofmannsthal-Zimmer (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

), Victor Lange (Princeton),

Paul Michael Lützeler Paul Michael Lutzeler (born November 4, 1943, in Doveren, Heinsberg, Germany) is a German-American scholar of German studies and comparative literature. He is the Rosa May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Washington ...

(

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

) et al., as well as texts (prose, poetry, and translations) by Werner Vordtriede himself. * Lang, Jürgen. ''The Vordtriede Quiz. 50 questions and answers about the emigrated Freiburg family.'' Norderstedt: BoD, 2016. * Schönermark, Gesa. ''Telemachs Wandlung. Werner Vordtriede. Eine wissenschaftshistorische Biographie.'' Munich: Herbert Utz, 1995. * Vordtriede, Käthe. ''"Mir ist es noch wie ein Traum, dass mir diese abenteuerliche Flucht gelang." Briefe nach 1933 aus Freiburg i. Br.,

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

und New York an ihren Werner.'' Edited by Manfred Bosch. Lengwil: Libelle, 1998.

References

External links

* Vordtriede-Haus Freiburg in German Wikipedia
Bibliography of Werner Vordtriede
in

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 ...

* Scholarly journal articles b
Vordtriede
in

JSTOR JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...

Werner Vordtriede papers
at the German Literature Archive (Marbach)
1957 portrait photo
held by the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vordtriede, Werner 1915 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century German Jews 20th-century German LGBTQ people 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German memoirists 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German poets 20th-century German translators Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich American gay writers American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male poets English–German translators Gay academics Gay Jews Gay novelists Gay poets German gay writers German-language poets German LGBTQ novelists German LGBTQ poets German male non-fiction writers German male novelists German male poets German Germanists American Germanists German expatriate academics in the United States American academics of German literature Jewish American academics Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American novelists Jewish American poets Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Northwestern University alumni People from Princeton, New Jersey University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of German faculty Writers from Bielefeld Writers from Freiburg im Breisgau Writers from Munich Writers from Zurich