8. Friedrich Spielhagen

On the occasion of his seventieth birthday

The Berlin "Freie literarische Gesellschaft" has offered Friedrich Spielhagen the Honorary Presidency on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The poet was delighted to accept it.

We do not feel called upon to pay a comprehensive tribute to Friedrich Spielhagen, who, to our deepest satisfaction, is still active among us, and will content ourselves with offering our greetings to the jubilarian together with all the many others to whom he has become so valuable through his work. As faithful chroniclers, however, we will report in the next issue on how time celebrates its son, who has expressed its pulse in his works like no other.

The recognition and reverence shown to Friedrich Spielhagen from all sides was beautifully expressed on his seventieth birthday (February 24 [1899]). Envoys from the most diverse circles of the world of artists, writers and society offered their greetings to the man on this day. Young and old gathered around him to tell him what he meant to them. To an association of poets and writers, who conveyed their wishes to him through Ernst Wichert, Spielhagen spoke in a short, meaningful speech about his artistic goals and intentions, about his relationship to the up-and-coming generation. Spielhagen knows better than anyone the value of the achievements of younger artists; but what he has not lost sight of in his own creations is the awareness that art is more than the accumulation of human documents. - And something else is characteristic of Spielhagen. He is not a one-sided "artist in himself". He is a man who has intimate connections with the entire cultural content of his time, with the aspirations and ethical will of that time. That ethical freedom is not possible without political freedom is one of this poet's dogmas. And he expressed it to another group of birthday guests. - The Berlin Press Association, the Literary Society, the Frankonia fraternity in Bonn and the Hamburg Literary Society were among those who sent representatives to the birthday celebrant.

It has already been mentioned in the last issue that the Berlin "Freie literarische Gesellschaft" (Free Literary Society) presented Friedrich Spielhagen with a festive greeting in the form of an appointment as its honorary president. On his birthday, members of the board presented him with this honorary office. Max Hoffmann, Director Felix Lehmann, Dr. J. Lehmann, Dr. M. Lorenz and Dr. R. Steiner joined the new Honorary President, and the latter gave a short speech explaining the reasons why the Society had asked Friedrich Spielhagen to accept the honorary presidency. The latter expressed his sincere pleasure at receiving proof of recognition from this circle as well.

During the banquet, which took place on the 26th in Spielhagen's honor, Prof. Erich Schmidt developed in a lengthy toast what position the jubilarian held within German literature. This banquet united a wide circle of admirers around the poet.