Emilie Rouanet-Kummer (1824–1902; m. 1850, until his death)
Children
7 (four of them lived into adulthood)
Theodor Fontane (German pronunciation:[ˈtʰeːodoɐ̯fɔnˈtaːnə]ⓘ; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a Germannovelist andpoet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-centuryGerman-languagerealist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known today, only at age 58 after a career as a journalist. Many of his novels delve into topics that were more or less taboo for discussion in the polite society of Fontane's day, including marital infidelity, class differences, urban vs. rural differences, abandonment of children, and suicide. His novels sold well during his lifetime and several have been adapted for film or audio works.
Fontane's novels are known for their complex, often sceptical view of society in the German empire. He shows different social and political parts of society meeting and sometimes clashing,[1] his main characters range from lower-middle class to Prussian nobility. Fontane is known as a writer of realism, not only because he was conscientious about the factual accuracy of details in fictional scenes, but also because he depicted his characters in terms of what they said or did and refrained from overtly imputing motives to them. Other trademarks of Fontane's work are their strongly drawn female characters (such asEffi Briest andFrau Jenny Treibel),[2] tender irony[3] and vivid conversations between characters.[4]
Fontane at age 23, drawing by Georg Friedrich Kersting
Fontane was born inNeuruppin, a town 30 miles northwest of Berlin, into aHuguenot family.[5] At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to anapothecary, his father's profession.[6] He became an apothecary himself and in 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work (Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe, now lost). His further education was inLeipzig, where he became acquainted with the progressives of theVormärz.
Fontane's first published work, the novellaGeschwisterliebe (Sibling Love), was published in theBerlin Figaro in December 1839. His biographerGordon A. Craig claimed it gave few indications of being a gifted writer: "Although the theme ofincest, which was to occupy Fontane on later occasions, is touched upon here, the mawkishness of the tale... is equalled by the lameness of its plot and the inertness of the style in which it is told, and [the characters] Clärchen and her brother are both so colourless that no one could have guessed that their creator had a future as a writer."[7]
In 1844, Fontane enlisted in thePrussian army and began the first of numerous journeys to England, which fostered his interest inOld English ballads, which he – a lifelong anglophile – began to imitate.[9] In 1845 became engaged to his future wife, Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, whom he had met when still at school.[10]
Fontane played a brief part in the revolutionary events of1848. In 1849 he left his job as an apothecary and became a full-time journalist and writer. In order to provide for his family he accepted a job as a writer with the Prussianintelligence agencyZentralstelle für Presseangelegenheiten, which was intended to influence the press towards the German nationalist cause. There he specialized in British affairs, and the agency made him for several years its correspondent inLondon, where he was later joined by Emilie, whom he had married in 1850, and their first two sons.[11] While still in London he left his government job and on his return to Berlin became editor of the conservative newspaperNeue Preussische Zeitung. As a man ofliberal sympathies for free press and a united Germany Fontane ruefully wrote to a friend about his job with theZeitung: "I sold myself to the reaction for thirty pieces of silver a month... These days one cannot survive as an honest man."[12]
Fontane's travel books about Britain includeEin Sommer in London (A Summer in London, 1854),Aus England, Studien und Briefe (From England: Studies and Letters, 1860) andJenseit des Tweed, Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland (Beyond the Tweed, Pictures and Letters from Scotland, 1860). In the books Fontane reflects both nature and the mood in Britain at that time.[13] The success of the historical novels ofWalter Scott had helped to make British themes much in vogue on the Continent. Fontane'sGedichte (Poems, 1851) and balladsMänner und Helden (Men and Heroes, 1860) tell of Britain's former glories.Back in Germany Fontane became particularly interested in his home province, theMarch of Brandenburg. He enjoyed rambling through its rural landscapes and small towns and delighted in the growth of its capital city, Berlin. His fascination with the countryside surrounding Berlin may be seen in his picturesqueWanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg (Walks through the Province of Brandenburg, 1862–82, 5 vols), in which he extended his earlier fascination with British history to his native land.
In 1870, Fontane quit his job at theKreuzzeitung and becamedrama critic for the liberalVossische Zeitung, a job he held until his retirement. He had already written aboutPrussia's war against Denmark inDer schleswig-holsteinische Krieg im Jahre 1864 (1866) and theAustro-Prussian War inDer deutsche Krieg von 1866 (1869). He went to the front to observe theFranco-Prussian War in 1870 and after being taken prisoner atVaucouleurs remained in French captivity for three months.[14] He memorialized his experiences inKriegsgefangen Erlebtes 1870 (Experiences as a Prisoner of War, 1871) and published his observations concerning the campaign in the bookDer Krieg gegen Frankreich 1870–71 (The War against France, 1870–71, published 1874–76). In his observations he strongly criticized Prussian militarism: "A mere glorification of the military without moral content or elevated aim is nauseating."[15]
At the age of 57, Fontane finally began work on his novels, for which he is remembered best today.[16] Fontane's lifelong wish to be able to live from his literary works was finally fulfilled.[17] A finehistorical romance,Before the Storm (Vor dem Sturm, 1878), was followed by a series exploring modern life, notablyL'Adultera (Woman Taken in Adultery, 1882), which was the first of his society novels and deemed risky for its theme of adultery.[18]
His novelsIrrungen, Wirrungen (Trials and Tribulations, 1888),Frau Jenny Treibel (1892) andEffi Briest (1894–95) yielded insights into the lives of thenobility and middle-class citizens. His achievement in this regard was later described as poetic realism. InDer Stechlin (written 1895–97), his last completed novel, Fontane adapted the realistic methods and social criticism of contemporary French fiction to the conditions of Prussian life.
Fontane was plagued by health problems during his last years but continued to work until a few hours before his death. He died in the evening of 20 September 1898 in Berlin.[19] As a member of the French Protestant Church of Berlin he was buried in the congregation's cemetery on the Liesenstraße. His wife, Emilie, was buried beside him four years later. Their graves were damaged during World War II but later restored.
Graves of Theodor and Emilie Fontane in the Französische Friedhof, Liesenstraße, Berlin"Modern Book Printing" from theWalk of Ideas in Berlin, Germany – built during 2006 to commemorateJohannes Gutenberg's invention, c. 1445, of movable printing type. With Fontane's name among other famous German writers.
