A vivid and evocative portrait of the Wildbad spa resort in the Kingdom of Württemberg. Kerner's lyrical prose captures the natural beauty and healing power of the region, while also delving into the complex social and political dynamics of the time.
Justinus Kerner (1786-1862) was one of the most celebrated figures in nineteenth-century German culture. A physician by training, he was also a leading member of the Swabian Romantic circle of poets which included, among others, Ludwig Uhland and Gustav Schwab.
Justinus Kerner (1786-1862), a Swabian German Romantic poet, medical doctor, and investigator of parapsychological phenomena, is celebrated as a leading intellectual of his time. His notable study of a local clairvoyant, Die Seherin von Prevorst [The Seeress of Prevorst] (1829), was translated into English by Catherine Crowe in 1845. Later in life, Kerner embraced the Romantic interest in childhood, writing a collection of youthful reminiscences titled Bilderbuch aus meiner Knabenzeit [Sketches from My Boyhood] (1849). Influenced by memoirs like Goethe's Dichtung und Wahrheit [Poetry and Truth] and Jung-Stilling's Heinrich Stillings Leben [The Life of Heinrich Stilling], Kerner's work is a shorter, modest account of his boyhood in the Duchy of Württemberg. Comprising eighty-six loosely related sketches, it offers a vivid, charming, and at times serious narrative of growing up in Ludwigsburg, home to the magnificent Ludwigsburg Palace. While focusing on personal experiences, Kerner also acknowledges the impact of the French Revolution on German states like Württemberg. His Sketches from My Boyhood stands out as a gem of nineteenth-century German autobiographical writing.
Eröffnungen über das innere Leben des Menschen
Die Erzählung von Justinus Kerner entfaltet sich durch die faszinierende Figur des Schattenspielers Lux, der mit seinen kunstvollen Schattenspielen die Zuschauer in eine Welt der Illusionen entführt. Kerner verbindet dabei poetische Sprache mit philosophischen Überlegungen zu Licht und Schatten, Realität und Traum. Die Reise des Protagonisten wird zu einer Metapher für die Suche nach Wahrheit und Identität, während die schillernden Charaktere und ihre Geschichten die tiefere Bedeutung des Schattenspiels reflektieren.