15. Ludwig Jacobowski

Died on December 2, 1900

I

We have seen him grow in recent years, grow in creative joy and the boldness of new plans, grow in artistic ability, spiritual strength and inner clarity. We had to experience the pain of seeing this growth abruptly, cruelly - cut off. On December 2, we had to sink into the empty, barren void all the joyful, proud hopes we had pinned on the personality of Ludwig Jacobowski. Anyone who was able to talk to him recently about his plans and his expectations will have an idea of what German intellectual life has lost in this man. He was one of those people of whom it can be said that the scope of their intellectual interests is as broad as intellectual life itself. And there was an energy in his soul, an indefatigable desire to create, which gave his friends the firm belief that he could do whatever he wanted. - He had to wrestle hard with fate. Apart from "death, there is probably not much that this fate bestowed upon him without a difficult struggle. And one can say of his entire art what he prefaced his last creation "Glück", an "act in verse":

It was like dying when I lived it!
It was a comfort to me when I wrote it!
Who ever trembled in the same affliction,
Accept it and love it!

When talking about two events in his youth that had a profound influence on his life, Ludwig Jacobowski mentioned the death of a school friend and his first reading of Schiller's works. It was not yet five weeks ago that he spoke to me of both events as memories that had a very special place in his soul. "I am once again creating a poetic monument to my school friend," he said. In the short notes on his life, which he wrote in October [1887] for external reasons, we find the sentence: "When I was twelve years old, my mother died. I owe it to this hard blow, as well as to a friend who had already died, but especially to the influence of reading our literature, that I became a different person." Anyone with a psychological eye can see from this sentence that it comes from a soul whose feelings are as deep as its aims are broad. Jacobowski wrote these lines at the age of nineteen. Even then, he had gone through times when the seriousness of life had confronted him in its darkest colors. But he also had hours behind him in which his strong energy and the will to rely solely on his own strength gave him comfort and hope. Early on, he sought "consolation" in what he wrote. He was twenty years old when his first collection of poems "Aus bewegten Stunden" was published. In one of the first poems in the booklet, we read the words that are deeply characteristic of his nature:

Man strives to grasp the insubstantial,
To solve the riddles of the universe with the power of thought,
To reach boldly up to the light out of dull nights,
To dive down to the source of all beings,
And over labyrinths of deep-secret questions
Rolls majestically his spirit's chariot of victory.

What Goethe once said to Eckermann, Jacobowski felt early on: "In poetry, only the truly great and pure is beneficial, which in turn stands there like a second nature and either lifts us to itself, or spurns us." In his "eventful hours", moods took place that lifted him up to the great arena on which the highest affairs of man come to fruition, and moods that made him appear like a scorned person who does not have enough strength to participate in these affairs. - He later faithfully described these two moods to us in his novel "Werther, the Jew" (1892) and in the drama "Diyab, the Fool" (1895). In the novel, one side of Jacobowski's character is portrayed, the sensitive soul that is tormented by the adversities of existence, that has to endure harsh pain because it is tender and irritable. The drama portrays the poet's willful nature, which feels superior to those who cause it pain, which draws from itself what the outside world denies it. And how much this nature had to draw from itself was presented to the world in significant art in the book "Loki. Novel of a God" (1898). With this creation, Jacobowski achieved something that can only be achieved through the interaction of three spiritual forces in the personality: childishness, artistry and philosophy. Simplicity in the perception of world phenomena, harmony in artistic creation and depth in the thoughtful contemplation of nature and man: Jacobowski's essence lay in the interpenetration of this trinity. I used this trinity to characterize his nature after he had presented us with his last collection of poems in his "Shining Days". It is one of the most beautiful memories of my life: how I saw his eyes light up when I was able to hand him my review of his "Shining Days" and he read the above words in it. He thought he recognized himself. As an artist, he sought the simplest forms. And he probably saw the goal of art in achieving the most popular simplicity through the highest means. But he never wanted this simplicity without depth. - He disdained all artistic refinement. He did not need to seek out oddities if he wanted to portray life in its true meaning. Poetry came to him from the smallest phenomena of everyday life. He knew how to see in broad strokes.

Jacobowski was a man who pursued all the mysteries of existence in his solitary sensations. In his "Loki", he sketched the labyrinths and lighthouses of existence. Out of gloomy experiences, he came to the harmonious view of life of his "Shining Days". The light from which the verses originate finally fell on his bitter experiences:

Ah, our shining days
Shine like eternal stars.
As consolation for future lamentation
They glow from a golden distance. Don't weep because they have passed!
Smile, because they have been!
And even if the days become gloomier.
Redeem our stars!

And the man who wrestled with himself was at the same time inspired by the desire to work ceaselessly on the elevation of intellectual culture. His ten-penny booklets "Lieder fürs Volk" and the collection "Deutsche Dichter in Auswahl fürs Volk" (published by G. E. Kitzler, Berlin, at a price of 10 pfennigs) arose from a deeply social trait in his personality. He experienced great joy through this undertaking. He liked to speak of this joy. He wanted to serve the spirit of the people; and he had been able to see clearly how deep the need and receptivity for spiritual creations is among the people. He received reports from all sides about the success of his endeavors in this field. He wanted to describe the experiences he had made in this direction in the very near future. Like so many of his plans, this one was also destroyed by a cruel fate.

The preparatory work that Jacobowski left behind for a major work on the development of the popular imagination cannot be overlooked. He once wanted to present the development of the human spirit in thought and artistic creation on a comprehensive basis. His love of folk poetry resulted in the beautiful work "Aus deutscher Seele", a "book of folk songs" (Minden in Westf. 1899). And while he immersed himself in the folk soul on the one hand, he ascended to the lonely heights of romantic poetry on the other. Together with Oppeln-Bronikowski, he recently published "Die blaue Blume", an "anthology of romantic poetry". (Published by Eugen Diederichs in Leipzig.)

Jacobowski's friends were still aware of a plan that was to result in a life's work. He was striving for an artistic interpretation of the cosmic secrets in a poem entitled "Earth". He set himself the highest standards for this creation. He thought of the greatest efforts to become mature for this work.

This all needs to be said in order to appreciate how deeply those who were close to Ludwig Jacobowski feel his loss. It is depressing for them to have to speak of such dashed hopes. They cannot overcome the pain with the awareness that Jacobowski's achievements will leave his name deeply engraved in the annals of German intellectual history. Because for them, this awareness is linked to the bitter thought of what this name would mean if an intellectual power that would have been sufficient for a long, long life had not been destroyed in its first bloom.

II

Death tore Ludwig Jacobowski away from beautiful and far-reaching plans in the thirty-third year of his life. A life that was in constant upward development, filled with restless creative joy, has thus come to an abrupt end. Not so long ago, separated by a relatively short period of time, I was able to present the readers of this magazine with two pictures of this poet's creations, his "Loki. Roman eines Gottes" and of his last collection of poems "Leuchtende Tage". In his "Loki", Jacobowski had reached a temporary high point in his work. This work points both forwards and backwards in the poet's development. Backwards to a life full of external and internal struggles, to a life for which the struggle for existence had not been easy, but which had created a rich content in the struggle with the highest riddles of humanity; forwards to a future that seemed to bring fulfillment to great hopes. It was not a novel in the usual sense of the word, but a symbolic representation of the eternal struggles of the human soul. Jacobowski depicted what constantly weighs on the human heart in the form of a battle between enemy gods. The human mind clings with love to everything that has been created; it wants to cherish and nurture what has been created with devotion. But this created thing must, for its own salvation, give birth to its worst enemy from within itself; the created must be continually transformed so that it does not - in Goethe's beautiful words - arm itself to stare. As true as it is that good human qualities flourish within peace and order, it is also true that the old good must be destroyed from time to time. Jacobowski contrasts this destructive force of existence with the sustaining gods, the Aesir, in the form of Loki.

Only a poet who combines the gift of deep contemplation with the ability to create in the simplest artistic forms is able to conquer the characteristically meaningful world problem through poetry. And Ludwig Jacobowski was gifted with the qualities that made him capable of such a task. After his "Shining Days" appeared, I thought I could not better characterize the essence of his personality than by depicting him as a harmony of the three forms of soul life: the childlike, the artistic and the philosophical. I can still see him before me as he read this characterization of his way of thinking in my review of his "Bright Days" with eyes filled with joy. He believed he had recognized himself. He was always devoted to the study of folk poetry. He believed he recognized the ideal of poetic creation in its simplicity. He competed with this simplicity in his own creations. He did not think much of artistic refinement. That one must return to the childishness of the simple life of the soul at the height of the spirit was a kind of unconscious conviction in him. He really saw the highest things in the simplest lines. And this simplicity was accompanied by the depth of a world observer. Those who were close to him know how he was in his element when he could talk about the great problems of knowledge, when he could ponder the eternal questions of humanity. Everywhere in his poetry we also encounter this process. Broad perspectives leapt out at him from the most mundane experiences.

Ludwig Jacobowski had finally come to a free, harmonious view of the world. It was this that gave rise to verses such as these:

Ah, our shining
Days shine like eternal stars
As consolation for future lamentation
They glow from a golden distance. Don't weep because they have passed!
Smile, because they have been!
And even if the days become gloomier,
Redeem our stars!

But the light he has worked his way up to is dearly bought. And he could have given many of his poems the same motto as the one before his last creation, the one-act play in verse "Glück":

It was like dying when I lived it!
It was a comfort to me when I wrote it!
Whoever trembled at the same time,
Take it and love it!

Jacobowski entered the public eye at an early age. He was twenty-two years old when his first collection of poems "Aus bewegten Stunden" was published. He captured the moods of his secondary and primary school years in these poems. They stem from a youthful life that made it as difficult as possible for him to believe in himself. A highly aspiring idealism lived in this youth, who only believed he was worthy of existence if he set himself the highest tasks. But at the same time, this young man's soul was riddled with the harshest doubts. It had depressing, difficult hours in which all confidence in itself seemed lost. An irritable, brooding mind was combined here with an unshakeable energy, a fine sensitivity to all the impressions of the world with an invincible pride that he owed nothing to anyone but himself. Moods of powerlessness and moods of defiance alternated constantly in the young Jacobowski. We encounter these moods in two of his poems. One is depicted in his novel "Werther, the Jew" (1892) and the other in the drama "Diyab, the Fool" (1895). There, the young man who is cruelly tormented by the adversities of life with a soft, irritable, hypersensitive disposition; here, the defiant one who bravely resists everything hostile and draws all the energy he can from himself to take up the struggle for life.

We could still expect much from the spirit that had grown so visibly with each of his creations. Especially his friends, who were familiar with his rich plans, who had seen how deeply he knew how to take every experience, and who knew his strength, which seemed to increase with ever higher tasks. From a devastating experience he had drawn the material for his poem "Glück" (Happiness), an "act in verse" (Bruns Verlag, Minden 1900), written that fall. Here, too, he had found a beautiful way to transform the harsh bitterness of existence into a poem of great perfection that comforted him.

And just how high the demands he placed on himself were could be fully appreciated when one heard him speak of a poem that was germinating in his mind. In a cosmic work of art, "Earth", he wanted to depict his way of looking at the mysteries of the world. He spoke of this plan as something that was mysterious to him, something that would be difficult to detach from his soul. First of all, he wanted to spend his days "maturing" for this task.

Hand in hand with his artistic interests, Jacobowski had a great thirst for knowledge. He spent a great deal of time thinking about and researching the origins of poetic creation. A small book and numerous essays bear witness to this aspect of his work. He worked towards a major work that would depict the development of the poetic imagination. He collected incessantly for it. He researched the poetry of lower cultures in order to get to know the beginnings of poetic creation. His preliminary work and collections in this field are immense.

And while he was trying so hard to work energetically on the development of the spirit himself and to penetrate this process in a recognizing way, he was restlessly striving for ways to make the treasures of the spirit accessible to the broadest strata of the people. He wrote in quick succession in his books "Aus deutscher Seele. Ein Buch Volkslieder" and (together with Oppeln-Bronikowski) in the "Blaue Blume", a compilation of the most valuable creations of German Romanticism. His venture with cheap popular editions of valuable poetry was particularly fruitful. His "Lieder fürs Volk" and his "Deutsche Dichter in Auswahl fürs Volk" are masterpieces of their kind. He has published a booklet of the best contemporary Iyrian works, which costs only ten pfennigs. At the same price, he has also published a selection of Goethe's and Heine's works. This undertaking promised great results. It was one of his most beautiful experiences in the last months of his life to feel these effects from everywhere. He wanted to bring the best spiritual treasures to the people; and every day brought him new written and oral evidence of the receptiveness of the broadest strata of the people to this enterprise. He often said to me: "That was an attempt. I would readily admit that the attempt was a failure, if that were the case. But the attempt succeeded in the most surprising way. He wanted to describe the experiences he had made in this field in the collection "Freie Warte", also a work from his last years.¹ Fate also destroyed this plan for him.

The seeds of a rich, long human life lay in this personality. Only a small number were allowed to mature.