Bernard von Brentano
Bernard von Brentano was a notable German writer and journalist, born into a prominent family with a rich cultural heritage. His father served as a Minister of Justice, and his mother was well-educated, though skeptical of his literary ambitions. Brentano received a conservative Catholic upbringing and pursued studies in philosophy and literature across various universities. He gained recognition in the Weimar Republic for his work at the Frankfurter Zeitung, where he contributed over one hundred articles under the pseudonym "bB." His political and literary views drew him into leftist circles, including the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Writers.
However, after the rise of the Nazi regime, his work was censored, leading him to exile in Switzerland. During this time, he continued to express his loyalty to Germany, despite facing accusations of opportunism. After World War II, Brentano returned to Germany, where he received accolades, including acceptance into the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung and the Goethe Medal. His literary legacy remains significant, with his works preserved in the Deutsches Literaturarchiv. Brentano's life reflects the complexities of a writer navigating political turmoil and personal challenges in 20th-century Germany.
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Subject Terms
Bernard von Brentano
Fiction and Nonfiction Writer and Poet
- Born: October 15, 1901
- Birthplace: Offenbach, Hesse, Germany
- Died: December 29, 1964
- Place of death: Wiesbaden, Germany
Biography
Bernard von Brentano was the fifth of six children born to Otto Rudolf von Brentano and Lilla Beata Schwerdt, distant cousins. Otto Rudolf became Minister of Justice, then Minister of the Interior for the province of Hesse. Bernard’s brother Heinrich became West Germany’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Bernard’s mother was the great- granddaughter of Franz Brentano, half-brother of the great Romantic poet Clemens Brentano. She was highly educated and well-read, but skeptical of Bernard’s desire to become a writer. The children received a conservative Catholic upbringing in a frugal household.
After studying philosophy and literature at several universities, Brentano went to Berlin, where he struggled to earn a living. In 1922, he married the baroness Marie Elisabeth von Esebeck; they soon divorced. In 1929, he married Margot Gerlach, with whom he had two sons: Georg Michael in 1933, and Peter Christian in 1935.
After publishing two volumes of poetry and a play, Brentano joined the Berlin editorial staff of the democratic-liberal newspaper, the Frankfurter Zeitung. Between 1925 and 1930, Brentano wrote well over one hundred feature articles for the paper, signed “bB,” and was considered one of the best journalists in the Weimar Republic. In 1928, the pro-Marxist dramatist Bertolt Brecht brought Brentano into the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Writers. In 1929, Ernst Rowohlt published Brentano’s study of war letters from fallen soldiers, and a collection of Brentano’s reviews and essays. Heinrich Mann then invited Brentano to join the P.E.N. Club (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists).
By 1930, Brentano was too communist for the Frankfurter Zeitung and moved to the newspaper Berliner Tagblatt. In 1932, he published Der Beginn der Barbarei in Deutschland [the beginnings of barbarity in Germany]. This book was immediately seized in 1933 when Adolf Hitler was elected. All of Brentano’s other books were blacklisted, and he was barred from the P.E.N. Club. Brentano and his wife left for Switzerland, going first to Zürich, then to Küsnacht.
In exile, Brentano’s continuing loyalty to Germany earned him the epithet, “A political party with one member.” In 1940, he obtained a visa to visit his mother in Darmstadt, and then went on to Berlin. In 1943, his biographical study of August Wilhelm Schlegel was published by Cotta in Stuttgart. Hermann Hesse called it the best book of the year, but in 1945, Manuel Gasser attacked Brentano in the Swiss newspaper Weltwoche as a sympathizer with the Nazi Regime, an Anti-Semitist, and an opportunist who had traveled to Hitler’s Germany to scout out publishing opportunities. Brentano sued for libel and won in 1947.
In 1947, Brentano also developed the first symptoms of a progressive illness. In 1949, he returned to Germany with his family. He was accepted into the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung [German academy for language and creative writing], and awarded the Goethe Medal by the government of Hesse. His remains are in the Deutsches Literaturarchiv [German literary archive] in Marbach am Neckar.