Paul Ernst

Ernst, Paul (Elbingerode, Harz, 1866-1933, St Georgen, Styria), Son of a miner, was educated at Göttingen and Tübingen universities. He took part in Social Democratic politics in the 1890s, and associated with the Naturalist writers Holz and Schlaf. About the turn of the century he abandoned the political Left, and, after a visit to Italy, adopted the neo-Romantic style (see Neuromantik). He soon turned to neo-Classicism (see Neuklassizismus), of which he was the principal champion. His associates were W. von Scholz and S. Lublinski.

Ernst began his career as an author in his thirties with two one-act plays, Lumpenbagasch and Im Chambre séparée, both published in 1898. His tragedies, some of which were historical, include Demetrios (1905), Das Gold (1906), Canossa (1908), Brunhild (1909), and Ninon de Lenclos (1910). Neither these nor his neo-Classical plays, Manfred und Beatrice (1912) and Preußengeist (1914), were successful. His earlier novels, Der schmale Weg zum Glück (1904), in which he draws on his own experiences, and Saat auf Hoffnung (1916), are more engaging than the later historical romances Der Schatz im Morgenbrotsaal (1926) and Das Glück von Lautenthal (1933). He is the author of many Novellen, often grouping them within a frame (see Rahmen). They include the collections Die Hochzeit (1913), Die Taufe (1916), Der Nobelpreis (1919), and Lustige Geschichten (1930).

A critic and essayist, Ernst published Der Weg zur Form (1906), which is notable for the dogmatic presentation of his views, Ein Credo (2 vols., 1913), Der Zusammenbruch des Idealismus (1919), and Der Zusammenbruch des Marxismus (1919, revised as Die Grundlagen der neuen Gesellschaft, 1930). His once popular Erdachte Gespräche (1921) have affinities with his essays. In the 1920s he made a belated attempt to revive the verse epic with Das Kaiserbuch (3 vols., 1922-8) and Der Heiland (1930). He published two autobiographical works, Jugenderinnerungen (1930) and Jünglingsjahre (1931). He was nominated as one of the fourteen founder members of the National Socialist Dichter-Akademie, but he died before the first meeting.