Paul Scheerbart

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Paul Karl Wilhelm Scheerbart (born January 8, 1863 in Danzig-October 15, 1915 in Berlin) was an author of fantastic literature and drawings. He published also under the pseudonym Kuno Küfer. He is best known for the book Glasarchitektur from 1914.

He was associated with expressionist architecture and Bruno Taut. He composed aphoristic poems about glass for the Glass Pavilion at the Werkbund Exhibition (1914).

1 Life
2 Work
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Life

Paul Scheerbart

Paul Scheerbart began his studies of philosophy and history of art in 1885. In 1887 he worked as a poet in Berlin and tried to invent Perpetual motion machines. In 1892 he was one of the joint founders of the Verlag deutscher Phantasten (Publishers of German Dreamers).

At this time he was in financial difficulties. After writing in different publications he produced his first novel 'Die große Revolution' ( The Great Revolution ), which was published by the Insel-Verlag. The young Ernst Rowohlt published Scheerbart's bizarre poem collection Katerpoesie and became his friend.

Scheerbart's fantastic essays about glass architecture influenced architects at that time, including the young Bruno Taut. Among his Berlin friends and drinking circle was Erich Mühsam, who dedicated a chapter to Scheerbart in his 'Unpolitical Memories'. Scheerbart, whose own works played on far planets, was also friendly with Richard Dehmel.

[edit] Work

1889 Das Paradies. Die Heimat der Kunst (Paradise. Home of the Arts)
1893 Ja... was... möchten wir nicht Alles!, (Yes.....What......We woudn't all like to have!), A Fable
1897 Ich liebe Dich!, (I love you), A Novel with 66 Intermezzos
1897 Bagdads berühmte Köchin, (Bagdad's famous female cook), Arab culture novel
1897 Der Tod der Barmekiden, (The death of the Barmekiden), Arab Harem novel
1898 Na prost!, (Well Cheers!) Fantasy King novel
1900 Die wilde Jagd, (The wild hunt), a development novel in eight stories
1901 Rakkóx der Billionär, (Rakkóx the trillionaire) an ostentatious novel
1901 Die Seeschlange (The Sea Serpent) A sea novel
1902 Die große Revolution, (The Great Revolution) A moon novel
1902 Immer mutig!, (Always courageously!) A Fantasy novel
1902 Liwûna und Kaidôh, A Soul novel
1902 Weltglanz, (World Shine), a sun fairy tale
1903 Kometentanz, (Comet dance), Astral Pantomime in two acts
1903 Der Aufgang zur Sonne, (The stairway to the sun), house fairy tales
1904 Der Kaiser von Utopia, (The emperor of Utopia), a folktale
1904 Machtspäße, (Clowning about), Arab novellas
1904 Revolutionäre Theater-Bibliothek, (Revolutionary theatre library), collection of plays
1906 Münchhausen und Clarissa, Berlin novel
1909 Die Entwicklung des Luftmilitarismus und die Auflösung der europäischen Land-Heere, Festungen und Seeflotten, (The development of air militarism and the dissolution of the European Land-army, fortresses and sea-fleets)
1909 Kater-Poesie, (Kater poetry), poems
1910 Das Perpetuum mobile, (The Perpetual mobile), the history of an invention
1912 Das große Licht, (The Great Light) A Münchhausen-Breviary
1912 Flora Mohr, A glass flower novella
1913 Lesabéndio, an Asteroid novel
1914 Das graue Tuch und zehn Prozent Weiß, (The grey cloth and ten per cent of white), a ladies novel
1914 Glasarchitektur (Glass architecture)
1921 Von Zimmer zu Zimmer, (From room to room) letters to his wife

[edit] References

(German) Mechthild Rausch: Von Danzig ins Weltall. Paul Scheerbarts Anfangsjahre (1863 - 1895). München: Ed. Text und Kritik 1997. ISBN 3-88377-549-5
(German) Uli Kohnle: Paul Scheerbart. Eine Bibliographie. Bellheim: Edition Phantasia 1994. ISBN 3-924959-92-7
(German) Paul Kaltefleiter, Berni Lörwald und Michael M. Schardt (Hrsg.): Über Paul Scheerbart. 100 Jahre Scheerbart-Rezeption. 3 Bände. Paderborn: Igel-Verlag 1998. ISBN 3-927104-23-X (Band 1); ISBN 3-927104-88-4 (Band 2); ISBN 3-89621-055-6 (Band 3).