Dehmel, Richard

Dehmel, Richard (rĭkh`ärt dā`məl), 1863–1920, German poet. An ardent mountain climber and soldier, he expressed his restless temperament in passionate and impressionistic poetry. His verse, often dealing with social problems, represents a revolt against extreme naturalism. Among his works are the poetic collection Erlösungen [redemptions] (1891) and the verse novel Zwei Menschen [two human beings] (1903).

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Dehmel, Richard 

Born Nov. 18, 1863, in Wendisch-Hermsdorf; died Feb. 8, 1920, in Blankenese, near Hamburg. German poet.

In the 1880’s and 1890’s, Dehmel sided with the Berlin circle of naturalists. In 1914 under the influence of nationalistic propaganda he volunteered to go to war; he described his war experiences in the diary Between People and Humanity (1919). His early works are characterized by a social theme (the collections Redemptions, 1891, and But Love, 1893). The struggle of the rational and ethical with the instinctive principles in man is expressed in the poetic cycle The Transformation of Venus (1907), the narrative poem The Two (1903), and the dramas Fellow Man (1895) and Michel Michael (1911).

WORKS

Gesammelte Werke in Einzelausgaben. Berlin, 1922–27.
Dichtungen, Briefe, Dokumente. Hamburg, 1963. (Bibliography on pages 307–10.)
In Russian translation:
Sobr. soch., vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1911–12.

REFERENCES

Lunacharskii, A. V. “Rikhard Demel’.” In the collection Znanie, book 24. St. Petersburg, 1908.
Admoni, V. G. “Demel’.” In Istoriia nemetskoi literatury, vol. 4. Moscow, 1968.
Bab, J. R. Dehmel. Leipzig, 1926.
Hagen, P. von. R. Dehmel …. Berlin, 1932.