Hermann Hesse in Saarbrücken: When the “Author’s Evening” Turned into a Fiasco
Hermann Hesse in Saarbrücken: When the “Author’s Evening” Turned into a Fiasco
The Kleine Tonhalle – A Student Classic with History
Anyone who studies in Saarbrücken quickly becomes familiar with the name of a local pub or restaurant: Die kleine Tonhalle (“The Little Tonhalle”). But it isn’t the historical background that draws diligent students there — it’s the legendary, generously sized portions of spaghetti bolognese available for a very fair price.
Few, however, ever stop to wonder where the name Kleine Tonhalle comes from. Most are unaware that it pays homage to the original “Tonhalle”, a large venue in Saarbrücken that stood directly opposite the current site until its destruction during the Second World War. The original Tonhalle was described as a concert and social hall.
The Memorable Evening of the Young Hermann Hesse
The original Tonhalle became the stage for one of the strangest evenings in the literary life of German Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse. On April 22, 1912, the young author had accepted an invitation from the Saarbrücken Association of Württembergers to give a reading from his works.
For Hesse, the evening would remain unforgettable for several reasons. First, the modest audience that showed up had expected a humorist — a teller of jokes — and made no secret of their disappointment when they realized that was not the case. Second, Hesse’s reading was repeatedly disrupted by the noise from the floor below, where a loud event described as “Biermusik” (beer music) was taking place — an event that, as it turned out, attracted far more attention from the people of Saarbrücken. [1]
Hesse’s Literary Response: “Der Autoren-Abend” (“The Author’s Evening”)
Hermann Hesse later transformed this highly unsuccessful evening, along with his encounters with the hosts and his stay at the home of the association’s president Gottlob Fritz and his wife at Mainzer Straße 23, into a short story.
The story, titled “Der Autoren-Abend”, was first published on July 23, 1914, in the Munich magazine Simplicissimus. Hesse, however, did not mention the actual names of people or places. Saarbrücken became “Querburg”, and the Fritz family appeared under the name Schievelbein.
Hesse made the connection explicit only decades later, in a letter written in 1953:
“The little town was Saarbrücken, and it’s all literally true — the bourgeois house with the golden chair and the parrot, the reading in the half-empty room above the giant hall with the beer concert, everything.” [3]
A Delightful Little Book About the Event
Edited by Ralph Schock, a small but thoroughly entertaining book about this anecdote was published in 2000 by Gollenstein Verlag. It is not particularly thick, but it is highly enjoyable — and warmly recommended to anyone interested in Hesse or Saarbrücken’s cultural history. [1]
The publication documents the circumstances of the reading, includes photographs of the author and the original Tonhalle, and reproduces the announcement and subsequent newspaper report from the Saarbrücker Zeitung.
Naturally, it also contains Hesse’s original short story “Der Autoren-Abend”, along with photos of his handwritten manuscript. In addition, the texts Hesse read that fateful evening are included.
Sources and Notes
[1] Schock, Ralph (ed.): Hermann Hesse, Autorenabend in Saarbrücken. Verlauf und Folgen der Lesung vom 22. April 1912; Gollenstein Verlag, Saarbrücken 2000.
[2] Schank, Stefan: Leider kein humoristischer Rezitator: Hermann Hesses Lesung in Saarbrücken vom 22. April 1912.
URL: literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=4711, accessed 03.12.2016, referring to Michels, Ursula; Michels, Volker (eds.): Hesse, Hermann: Gesammelte Briefe, Band 4; Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a.M. 1979.
[3] Quoted in: Immer, Nikolas: Lesen statt Lachen. Hesse’s Erlebnis in der Querburger Provinz.
In: Binggeli, J. Ulrich (ed.): Heimweh nach Freiheit. Resonanzen auf Hermann Hesse, Tübingen 2012, pp. 54–59, referring to Michels, Ursula; Michels, Volker (eds.): Hesse, Hermann: Gesammelte Briefe, Band 4; Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a.M. 1979.
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