Felix Hartlaub
Felix Hartlaub was a German writer and historian born on June 17, 1913, in Bremen, Germany. He grew up in a culturally rich environment, influenced by his father, an art historian and director of the Mannheim art museum. Hartlaub's academic journey began with studies in philosophy and history at the University of Heidelberg, later shifting to the University of Berlin, where he earned his doctorate in modern history in 1939. His career took a dramatic turn when he was drafted into the military during World War II, initially serving as a historian for the Nazi regime before being reassigned to combat roles, ultimately leading to his disappearance in 1945, presumed dead during a Russian ambush.
Despite his short life, Hartlaub's literary contributions were significant, consisting of novellas, short stories, plays, and journal entries. His works, many published posthumously, are characterized by themes of existentialism, homesickness, and the human experience amid historical turmoil. Notable pieces include "Der verlorne Gott," a sophisticated play exploring the intersections of history, religion, and myth, and "Die Reise des Tobias," a modern retelling of the apocryphal book of Tobit. Hartlaub's ability to blend various styles—historical with fictional, prose with verse—leaves a lasting legacy that reflects both a creative spirit and the struggles of his time.
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Felix Hartlaub
Writer
- Born: June 17, 1913
- Birthplace: Bremen, Germany
- Died: December 31, 1945
- Place of death: Berlin, Germany
Biography
Felix Hartlaub was born in Bremen, Germany, on June 17, 1913, to Gustav Friedrich and Félicie Hartlaub. Within a year of his birth, his art historian father accepted an appointment as the assistant director of the art museum in Mannheim, eventually becoming its chief director, a post he held until1933, when the Nazi government dissolved his position. Hartlaub and his two younger siblings spent their formative years in this tranquil German city. Time at the museum in the company of his father sparked the young scholar’s interest in history.
Following his attendance at the local grammar school, Hartlaub boarded at a high school in Heppenheim from 1928 until1932. His education was interrupted in 1930 by his mother’s sudden death, and the teenaged Hartlaub traveled through Italy to recover from the shock of his loss. In 1934, Hartlaub enrolled in courses in philosophy and history at the University of Heidelberg, but he left to pursue studies at the University of Berlin, eventually earning his doctorate in modern history in 1939.
Upon completion of his Ph.D., Hartlaub was drafted into national service. Initially a military historian for Führer headquarters during World War II, he was reassigned to the infantry in 1945. En route to Berlin to assume his new post, he vanished. He was suspected to have perished in a Russian ambush, and his body was never recovered. Hartlaub was thirty-two at the time of his presumed death.
Much of Hartlaub’s work appeared posthumously as collections of writings in books and as individual pieces in periodicals. Comprised of novellas, short stories, plays, journal entries, expository writings, and notes for pieces that remained unwritten, his body of work is a relatively thin, but impressive, collection indicative of a creative life cut short. Personal correspondence also survives. Genovefa Hartlaub, the author’s sister, edited Das Gesamtwerk, her brother’s collected works, which was published in 1955 and included juvenilia as well as adult writing. Contained in the volume is “Der verlorne Gott,” a play that alternates prose and verse sections while exploring connections between history, religion, and myth. Written in 1929 while the author was still in his teens, the sophisticated ideas, double format, and command of language are impressive.
Hartlaub’s modern heroes exist both within history and outside of it. They endure despite surrounding events over which they have little control. “Die Reise des Tobias” is a modern version of the apocryphal book of Tobit. Set in the Middle East, a young merchant’s son travels with an angel as his cohort; Tobias’s trip across the sands is a metaphor for his crossing into adulthood. Incomplete at the time of Hartlaub’s death, the author left two possible scenarios for the novel’s resolution in his papers, one comic and one tragic.
Like many German writers of his era, Hartlaub explored existential themes of homesickness, loneliness, and humanity’s sense of separation from the world. His ability to mix styles effectively—historical with fictional, prose with verse, academic with vernacular—is his chief literary legacy.