Emil Strauss

Strauss, Emil (Pforzheim, 1866-1960, Freiburg, Breisgau), studied at Berlin University 1886-90. He had friends among the adherents of Naturalism (see Naturalismus), including M. Halbe and G. Hauptmann. For a short time he farmed in southern Baden, and in 1892 emigrated to Brazil, where he remained until 1901. His first Novellen, collected in Menschenwege (1899), and a tragedy, Don Pedro (1899, revised 1914), appeared before his return to Europe. In 1903 he spent a short time in Switzerland, before settling at Überlingen, Württemberg, on Lake Constance. From 1911 to 1915 he lived at Hellerau near Dresden, and from 1925 until his death he alternated between Freiburg and Badenweiler, both in Baden.

Strauß made his name primarily with the novels and Novellen written after his return to Europe at the age of 34. Freund Hein. Eine Lebensgeschichte (1902), depicting the torments suffered by Heinrich Lindner, a schoolboy, nurtured a theme repeatedly treated by writers of the period (among them Hesse with Unterm Rad and Musil with Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß, both 1906). Der Engelwirt. Eine Schwabengeschichte (1901), a shorter work, is a village tragicomedy, in which, after great tribulation, an erring husband (the Engelwirt) is reconciled with his wife. The novel Kreuzungen (1904) has as its principal characters a man (Hermann Anshelm) and two young women (Elfriede and Klara); their characters and the interplay of their relationships are traced with considerable insight. Later novels are Der nackte Mann (1912, set in Baden at the beginning of the 17th c.), Das Riesenspielzeug (1934, a long political parable), and Lebenstanz (1940).

Strauß is an acknowledged master of the shorter narrative, and the sensitive Novelle Der Schleier (1920) is held by many to be his finest work. It was included in 1931 in a collection, to which Strauß gave the title Der Schleier; other stories included are Das Grab zu Heidelberg, Liebe, Baptist, Gartenäre, Befund, and Der Skorpion. Also noteworthy are Hans und Grete, Der Laufen (both in the collection Hans und Grete, 1909), Der Spiegel (1919), and the three stories of Dreiklang (1949), Unterwegs, Frau Kampe, and Otta, dealing with three women of different temperament and in different situations; each has to recognize her true identity and come to terms with it (Einklang). Strauß wrote two more plays, the realistic drama Hochzeit (1908) and the patriotic play Vaterland (1923). Ludens (1955) contains recollections, essays, and poems. Gesammelte Werke appeared 1949 ff.

Strauss, Emil (āmēl' shtrous) , 1866–1960, German novelist. His writings exemplify the transition from naturalism to impressionism by containing elements of both. His novel Freund Hein (1902) rapidly gained fame for its portrayal of a tyrannical German secondary school. In it, as in his plays, in the short stories of Hans und Grete (1909), and in such novels as Kreuzungen (1904), he exalted the virtues of experience and of free moral and creative development. Vaterland (1923) and later works stress patriotism above personal happiness.