Detlev von Liliencron

Liliencron, Detlev von, the name under which Friedrich, Freiherr von Liliencron (Kiel, 1844-1909, Rahlstedt nr. Hamburg) published his writings. The son of a customs inspector of baronial descent, Liliencron had his schooling in Kiel and, briefly, in Erfurt. He entered the Prussian army in 1863, training in Mainz with the 37th (Westphalian) Fusiliers, in which he was commissioned in the same year. He was by temperament a keen soldier and proved himself both brave and humane on active service. His regiment was kept on garrison duty in the Polish provinces of Prussia during the war of 1864, but Liliencron served actively in the war of 1866 as a company officer, seeing mounted action when detached as a liaison officer, and was wounded at Nachod in Bohemia. In the war of 1870 he served with the 81st (1st Hessian) Infantry Regiment and saw fighting at Metz and, during the winter of 1870-1, in northern France. He was wounded at St Remy in October, but returned to duty after a short absence. Several of his poems incorporate, openly or under a thin disguise, experiences from his two campaigns (see Deutscher Krieg and Deutsch-Französischer Krieg).

Liliencron, with no private means, was not able to make ends meet as an officer, and his insolvency obliged him in 1875, while serving with the 54th (7th Pomeranian) Infantry Regiment, to resign his commission. He never fully recovered from this enforced abandonment of a career to which he was devoted. He emigrated to America, but failed to make money or to settle. He returned to Germany in 1877, and became in 1878 a probationary civil servant. In 1882 he was appointed governor (Landesvogt) of the island Pellworm (a minor post) and in 1884 was moved to the parish of Kellinghusen in Holstein. His inability to meet his debts led him to resign this post also (1887). He next lived at Ottensen near Hamburg, attempting, with little success, to make a living by writing. Official recognition with a royal pension came in 1901. He spent his last years in Rahlstedt, close to Hamburg. R. Dehmel and G. Falke were among his friends. He was married three times.

Liliencron's first published work, Adjutantenritte, a collection of war poetry and prose, appeared in 1883. He next turned to drama, writing five historical plays in verse (Knut der Herr, 1885; Die Rantzow und die Pogwisch, 1886; Der Trifels und Palermo, 1886; Pokahontas, not published until 1904; and Die Merowinger, 1888). Arbeit adelt (1887) is a short play dealing with a German officer who emigrates to America, and Sturmflut (published posth.) treats the disastrous coastal flood of 1821. None of these derivative plays enjoyed success. Liliencron wrote to live, and his output consisted largely of short works, stories, and Novellen, of which the following are the principal collections: Eine Sommerschlacht (1886), Unter flatternden Fahnen (1888), Der Mäcen (1889), Krieg und Frieden (1891), Kriegsnovellen (1895), Könige und Bauern (1900), Roggen und Weizen (1900), Aus Marsch und Geest (1901), Letzte Ernte (1909). The distinctions are not always clear, and Liliencron himself classified the title-story of Der Mäcen (there are two others in the collection) as a novel. His novels Breide Hummelsbüttel (1887) and Mit dem linken Ellenbogen (1899) mingle realistic elements with sensational and melodramatic features. Leben und Lüge (1908, sub-titled Biographischer Roman), draws heavily upon the experiences of his own life. His Poggfred, Kunterbuntes Epos in neunundzwanzig Kantussen (1908, originally 12 cantos, 1896) is a shapeless panorama of his own world, sometimes in ottava rima, sometimes in terza rima. It perhaps descends from Childe Harold, and is impregnated with humour and irony.

Liliencron's greatest achievement is in his shorter poetry, ballads and especially lyrics. Apart from Adjutantenritte, they appeared in Gedichte (1889), Der Haidegänger (1890), Neue Gedichte (1893; reissued as Nebel und Sonne, 1900), Bunte Beute (1903), and Gute Nacht (1909). The collected poems were published in 3 vols. in Gesammelte Gedichte (1897-1900). This poetry is uneven, slipping easily into the commonplace, especially when reflection is attempted; but at his best Liliencron has a vigorous freshness of expression, which, disregarding convention, can boldly capture a fleeting moment, riveting the attention on vividly observed or glimpsed detail. The energy and uninhibited forcefulness of his language commended him to the Naturalists, but he also influenced Dehmel, Rilke, and Benn. Particularly notable poems are ‘Die Musik kommt’, ‘Krieg und Friede’, ‘Viererzug’, ‘Zwei Meilen Trab’, and especially ‘Tod in Ähren’ with its chilling pun on Ehre (honour). Liliencron's Gesammelte Werke (10 vols., including letters) were edited by R. Dehmel, 1910-12; an edition of Werke (2 vols.), by B. von Wiese, appeared in 1977.

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Liliencron, Detlev, Freiherr von (dĕt'lĕf frī'hĕr fən lē'lyənkrôn), 1844-1909, German lyric poet, b. Schleswig-Holstein. First a Prussian army officer and later a minor government official, he retired in 1885 to devote himself to writing. Liliencron was one of the first German lyric poets to break with the romantic tradition. His verse, varied, colorful, and humorous, is impressionistic rather than naturalistic. Brahms and Richard Strauss set some of it to music. Among his work is Adjutantenritte (1883), which reflects his love of the martial life and the mock epic Poggfred (1896; final version, 1906).

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