Hans Henny Jahnn
Hans Henny Jahnn was a multifaceted German writer, organ specialist, and pacifist, born into a family of four sons in Hamburg. His early life was marked by the death of a sibling, which shaped his identity and interests, particularly in twins. Jahnn had a complex relationship with his own gender identity and sexuality, feeling a disconnect from traditional male roles and embracing attractions to both sexes. He began his literary career in 1908, achieving significant recognition with the drama "Pastor Ephraim Magnus," for which he received the Kleist Prize.
In addition to his literary contributions, Jahnn was deeply involved in music, restoring over a hundred baroque organs across Europe. His life took a significant turn when he and his family fled Nazi Germany in 1933, eventually settling in Denmark. There, he continued his literary work, producing his acclaimed "Fluß ohne Ufer" trilogy, while also advocating for animal rights and environmental concerns. Jahnn's progressive views were ahead of his time, reflecting his pacifism and commitment to social issues. He passed away in 1959 after a demonstration against nuclear armament, leaving behind a legacy that includes several prestigious literary awards and the founding of the Hamburg Academy of the Arts.
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Subject Terms
Hans Henny Jahnn
Playwright
- Born: December 17, 1894
- Birthplace: Hamburg-Stellingen, Germany
- Died: November 19, 1959
- Place of death: Hamburg-Blankensee, Germany
Biography
Hans Henny Jahnn was the youngest of four sons born to the ship’s carpenter Gustav William Jahn and his wife Elise Petersen Jahn. The third son had died over a year before Hans was born. Nevertheless, he felt an affinity with this dead brother, doubled the final letter of his surname, and developed a fascination with twins. Jahnn formed a close relationship with the musician Gottfried Harms, and was devastated by Harms’s death in 1931. Hans felt he should have been female, and changed his middle name from the masculine Henry to the feminine Henny. Throughout his adult life, he was attracted to both sexes.
Jahnn attended vocational schools in Hamburg. He began to write in 1908, and graduated from high school in 1914. Jahnn and Harms went to Norway to avoid being drafted for World War I. When examined for active duty, Jahnn told the physician he would not shoot at a human body. They remained abroad until the end of 1918.
In 1919, Jahnn and Harms settled on the outskirts of Hamburg. For Jahnn’s first literary publication, the drama Pastor Ephraim Magnus, he was awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize. Jahnn left the Christian church in 1920, since he felt it created an artificial divide between the physical and the spiritual self. As an alternative, he founded the artists’ community of faith Ugrino. The community disbanded in 1925, but the Ugrino Verlag (Ugrino press) continued to publish complete scholarly editions through the 1950’s, making accessible the works of earlier composers. In 1923, Jahnn and Harms expertly restored a baroque organ in the St. Jakobi Church in Hamburg, the first of more than a hundred organs Jahnn would work on in Germany, France, and Scandinavia.
In 1928, Jahnn married the gymnastics instructor Ellinor Philips; their daughter Signe was born in 1929. Harms married Ellinor’s half-sister Sibylle (Monna), with whom he had one son, Eduard. The two families lived together. They left Germany after Hitler came to power in 1933. From 1934 to 1950, they lived on the Danish island of Bornholm. In 1935, they were joined by a young Jewish woman, Judit Müller-Touraine. In the late 1940’s, Jahnn adopted Yngve Jan Trede, the son of former Ugrino members. Jahnn gave the boy an excellent musical education, and Yngve married Jahnn’s daughter. While living on Bornholm, Jahnn enjoyed owning horses, continued work as an organ specialist, and wrote his prose masterpiece, the Flu� ohne Ufer (river without a bank) trilogy.
Jahnn’s writing was promoted by the Swiss Germanist Walter Muschg. Jahnn was ahead of his time in his liberal views about sexual relationships, in his pacifism, his insistence on animal rights, his concern for the environment, his warnings about destructive technology, and his portrayal of humans as an unknown quantity. He received the Kleist Prize (1920), the Lower Saxony Prize for Literature (1954), and the Lessing Prize (1956). In 1950, he founded the Hamburg Academy of the Arts, and in 1951 was elected secretary-general of the West German PEN Club [Poets, Essayists, and Novelists]. Jahnn died of a heart attack after participating in a student demonstration against nuclear armament at the Free University of Berlin. He is buried with Harms in the Nienstedt Cemetery near Hamburg.