DÜRRENMATT, Friedrich
Nationality: Swiss. Born: Konolfingen, 5 January 1921. Education: University of Zurich, 1941-42; University of Bern, 1942. Family: Married 1) Lotti Geissler in 1946 (died 1983), one son and two daughters; 2) Charlotte Kerr in 1984. Career: Drama critic, Die Weltwoche, Zurich, 1951-53; codirector, Basler Theater, 1968-69; co-owner, Züricher Sonntags-Journal , 1969-71. Writer-in-residence, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1981; traveled to Greece and South America, 1983-84, and to Egypt, 1985. Awards: City of Bern drama prize, 1948, for Es steht geschrieben; City of Bern literature prize, 1954, for Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon; radio play prize of the War Blind, 1957, for Die Panne; Prix Italia, RAI, 1958, for Abendstunde im Spätherbst; Preis zur Förderung des Bernischen Schrifttums, 1959, for Das Versprechen; Schiller prize, Mannheim, 1959, for Grieche sucht Griechin; New York Drama Critics Circle award for best foreign play, 1959, for The Visit; Grillparzer prize, Austria, 1968, for Der Besuch der alten Dame; Grosser Schiller-Preis, Schweizer Stiftung, 1969, for Die Physiker; Canton of Bern Grosser Literaturpreis, 1969; International Writers prize, Welsh Arts Council, University of Wales, 1976; Buber-Rosenzweig medal, 1977; City of Bern literature prize, 1979; Austrian State award, 1983; Carl Zuckmayer medal, Rhineland Palatinate, 1984; Bavarian literature prize, 1985. Honorary degrees: Temple University, 1969; Hebrew University, 1977; University of Nice, 1977; University of Neuchâtel, 1981. Died: Neuchâtel, 14 December 1990.
PUBLICATIONS
Collections
Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden (30 vols.). 1980.
Gesammelte Werke, edited by Franz Josef Görtz (7 vols.).1988.
Plays
Es steht geschrieben [It Is Written] (produced Zurich, 1947).1947; revised version, as Der Wiedertäufer [The Anabaptists] (produced Zurich, 1967), 1967.
Der Blinde [The Blind Man] (produced Basel, Switzerland,1948). 1947; revised edition, 1965.
Romulus der Grosse (produced Basel, 1949). 1957; revised version (produced Zurich, 1957), 1964; translated as Romulus the Great and published with An Angel Comes to Babylon, 1957.
Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi (produced Munich, 1952).1952; as Fools Are Passing Through (produced New York, 1958); as The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (produced London, 1959), published with Problems of the Theatre, 1964.
Herkules und der Stall des Augias: Mit Randnotizen eines Kugelschreibers (radio play). 1954; as Herkules und der Stall des Augias (stage play version of the radio play; produced Zurich, 1963), 1963; as Hercules and the Augean Stables, 1963.
Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon (produced Munich, 1953).1954; revised version (produced Zurich, 1957), 1957; translated as An Angel Comes to Babylon (produced California, 1962), and published with Romulus the Great, 1957.
Der Besuch der alten Dame (produced Zurich, 1956). 1956; asThe Visit (produced New York, 1958), 1956.
Nächtliches gespräch mit einem verachteten Menschen: Ein Kurs für Zeitgenossen (radio play). 1957; as Conversation at Night with a Despised Character: A Curriculum for Our Times, 1957.
Das Unternehmen der Wega (radio play). 1958; as The Mission of the Vega, 1962.
Der Prozess um des Esels Schatten [The Trial of the Ass'sShadow] (radio play). 1958.
Stranitzky und der Nationalheld [Stranitzky and the NationalHero] (radio play). 1959.
Abendstunde im Spätherbst (radio play). 1959; as Episode on an Autumn Evening, 1959; as Incident at Twilight, in Postwar German Theatre, 1968.
Frank der Fünfte: Oper einer Privatbank [Frank the Fifth:Opera of a Private Bank], music by Paul Burkhard (produced Zurich, 1959). 1960; revised edition, 1964.
Der Doppelgänger (radio play). 1960.
Die Panne, adaptation from his novel (radio play). 1961.
Die Physiker (produced Zurich, 1962). 1962; as The Physicists (produced New York, 1964), 1964.
Der Meteor (produced Zurich, 1966). 1966; as The Meteor, 1973.
König Johann, adaptation of a work by William Shakespeare (produced Basel, 1968). 1968.
Play Strindberg: Totentanz nach August Strindberg (producedBasel, 1969). 1969; as Play Strindberg (produced New York, 1971), published as Play Strindberg: The Dance of Death Choreographed, 1973.
Göthes Urfaust: Ergänzt durch das Buch von Doktor Faustus aus dem Jahre 1589, adaptation of a work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (produced Zurich, 1970). 1980.
Porträt eines Planeten [Portrait of a Planet] (produced Dusseldorf, 1970). 1971.
Titus Andronicus: Eine Komödie nach Shakespeare, adaptation of a work by William Shakespeare (produced Dusseldorf, 1970). 1970.
Der Mitmacher. 1976.
Die Frist (produced Zurich, 1977). 1977.
Die Panne [The Breakdown], adaptation of his own novel.1979.
Achterloo (produced Zurich, 1983). 1983.
Radio Plays:
Der Prozess um des Esels Schatten , 1951;Stranitzky und der Nationalheld , 1952; Nächtliches Gespräch mit einem verachteten Menschen , 1952; Herkules und der Stall des Augias , 1954; Das Unternehmen der Wega , 1954; Die Panne , 1956; Abendstunde im Spätherbst , 1958; Der Doppelgänger , 1961.
Screenplays:
Es geschah am heiligen Tag (It Happened inBroad Daylight), 1960; Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi , 1961; Der Besuch der alten Dame , 1963.
Novels
Pilatus (novella). 1949.
Der Nihilist (novella). 1950; as Die Falle, in Die Stadt: Prosa I-IV, 1952.
Der Tunnel (novella). In Die Stadt: Prosa I-IV, 1952.
Das Bild des Sisyphos (novella). 1952.
Der Richter und sein Henker. 1952; as The Judge and His Hangman, 1954; as End of the Game, 1955.
Der Verdacht. 1953; as The Quarry, 1961.
Grieche sucht Griechin. 1955; as Once a Greek …, 1965.
Die Panne [The Breakdown]. 1956; as Traps, 1960; as A Dangerous Game, 1960.
Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman. 1958; asThe Pledge, 1959.
Der Sturz (novella). 1971.
Justiz. 1985; as The Execution of Justice, 1989.
Minotaurus: Eine Ballade. 1985.
Der Auftraug; Oder, Vom Beobachten des Beobachters der Beobachter. 1986; as The Assignment: Or, On the Observing of the Observer of the Observers, 1988.
Short Stories
Die Stadt: Prosa I-IV. 1952.
Der Hund; Der Tunnel; Die Panne: Erzählungen (vol. 20 ofWerkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Grieche sucht Griechin; Mister X macht Ferien; Nachrichten über den Stand des Zeitungswesens in der Steinzeit: Grotesken (vol. 21 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Der Sturz; Abu Chanifa und Anan ben David; Smithy; Das Sterben der Pythia: Erzählungen (vol. 23 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ).
Other
Theaterprobleme (essay). 1954; as Problems of the Theatre, with the play, The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi , 1958; as Problems of the Theatre, 1964.
Friedrich Schiller: Eine Rede (acceptance speech). 1960.
Der Rest ist Dank: Zwei Reden, with Werner Weber (acceptance speech). 1961.
Die Heimat im Plakat: Ein Buch für Schweizer Kinder (satirical drawings). 1963.
Monstervortrag über Gerechtigkeit und Recht nebst einem helvetischen Zwischenspiel: Eine kleine Dramaturgie der Politik (lecture). 1966; translated in Plays and Essays, 1982.
Theater-Schriften und Reden (essays and speeches), edited byElisabeth Brock Sulzer:
Vol. 1: Theater-Schriften und Reden. 1966.
Vol. 2: Dramaturgisches und Kritisches. 1972.
Vol. 3: Writings on Theatre and Drama (translated selections from Theater-Schriften und Reden and Dramaturgisches und Kritisches ). 1976.
Sätze aus Amerika (travel book). 1970.
Zusammenhänge: Essay über Israel: Eine Konzeption. 1976.
Gespräch mit Heinz Ludwig Arnold. 1976.
Lesebuch. 1978.
Albert Einstein: Ein Vortrag (lecture). 1979.
Theater: Essays, Gedichte und Reden (vol. 24 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Kritik: Kritiken und Zeichnungen (vol. 25 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Literatur und Kunst: Essays, Gedichte und Reden (vol. 26 ofWerkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Philosophie und Naturwissenschaft: Essays, Gedichte und Reden (vol. 27 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Politik: Essays, Gedichte und Reden (vol. 28 of Werkausgabe in dreissig Bänden ). 1980.
Plays and Essays (includes Romulus the Great; The Visit; 21 Points to The Physicists; The Judge and His Hangman; Problems of the Theater; A Monster Lecture on Justice and Law Together with a Helvetian Interlude ), edited by Volkmar Sander. 1982.
Rollenspiele: Protokoll einer fiktiven Inszenierung und Achterloo III, with Charlotte Kerr. 1986.
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Film Adaptations:
The Judge and His Hangman (television), 1957; Fools Are Passing Through, 1961; The Visit, 1964; The Deadly Game (television), 1982, from the novel, Die Panne; The Pledge, 2001.
Bibliography:
A Bibliography of Four Contemporary German-Swiss Authors: Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Max Frisch, Robert Walser, Albin Zollinger by Elly Wilbert-Collins, 1967; Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Bibliographie by Johannes Hansel, 1968; Friedrich Dürrenmatt; A Bibliography by Regina Lawler, 1968; "Durrenmatt: A Bibliography" by Peter Gontrum, in West Coast Review, 4(3), 1970, pp. 25-32, 37-44.
Critical Studies:
The Playwrights Speak, edited by Walter Wager, 1967; Friedrich Dürrenmatt by Murray B. Peppard, 1969; Friedrich Dürrenmatt by Armin Arnold, translated by Sheila Johnson, 1972; To Heaven and Back: The New Morality in the Plays of Friedrich Dürrenmatt by Kurt J. Fickert, 1972; Dürrenmatt: A Study in Plays, Prose, Theory by Timo Tiusanen, 1977; Dürrenmatt: A Study of His Plays by Urs Jenny, translated by Keith Hamnett and Hugh Rorrison, with additional material by Kenneth S. Whitton, 1978; Friedrich Dürrenmatt: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Bodo Fritzen and Heimy F. Taylor, 1979; The Theatre of Friedrich Dürrenmatt: A Study in the Possibility of Freedom, 1980, and Dürrenmatt: Reinterpretation in Retrospect, 1990, both by Kenneth S. Whitton; Play Dürrenmatt, edited by Moshe Lazar, 1983; Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The Happy Pessimist, 1997; Understanding Friedrich Dürrenmatt by Roger Alan Crockett, 1998.
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Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-90) was born in Konolfingen in Bern canton and died in Neuchâtel. The son of a Protestant minister, he haphazardly pursued literary, philosophical, and scientific studies at both Basel and Zürich universities before devoting himself to full-time writing. In particular his readings in Bertolt Brecht's epic theater and Thornton Wilder's metaphysical comedies proved decisive in his becoming a playwright. Throughout his career Dürrenmatt wrote prose fiction and critical essays, in addition to his world-renowned dramas.
Only one of his fictional works, the detective novel Der Verdacht (1953; The Quarry, 1962), deals directly with the Holocaust. Here a Bern police superintendent, with the help of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, pursues a notorious Nazi physician who operated without anesthetics on his victims in the camps. The novel's reflections on the potency of evil anticipate many of the central concerns of Dürrenmatt's mature dramas.
In his two most famous plays, the grotesque comedies Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956; The Visit, 1958) and Die Physiker (1962; The Physicists, 1964), Dürrenmatt leaves behind his earlier historically metaphysical costume dramas and treats Holocaust-related issues, but without actually setting them in World War II. He strongly felt that a stage setting of Auschwitz itself would reveal that art is weaker than reality. As Lawrence Langer has observed: "Dürrenmatt knew that there are ways of bringing Auschwitz to the audience without bringing Auschwitz directly to the audience, not by ignoring the horrors of the gas chamber and the crematorium but by inventing situations equally gruesome, reported with remorseless exactitude, but only peripherally—if at all—identifiable with the events of the Holocaust."
Clearly the town of Güllen (meaning "liquid manure" in Swiss dialect) in The Visit and the insane asylum in The Physicists are effective settings for the atrocities of an angstridden post-Holocaust world. The perverted mass behavior governed by a distortion of justice in the former play and the anxieties about the future of a world without meaning or life in the latter one reveal Dürrenmatt's fears unleashed by World War II. In The Visit (subtitled a Tragic Comedy ) the myriad characters representing all walks of life, from religion to medicine and education to commerce, become accomplices out of greed in the murder of a defenseless victim; castrated toadies and an ever-increasing number of spineless townspeople wearing yellow shoes evoke Holocaust resonances. In The Physicists, paradoxically, the more the scientists recuse themselves from bellicose governmental agencies, the greater the chances that a nuclear holocaust might be unleashed by the power-hungry director of their mental institution.
In his longest essay on drama, "Theaterprobleme" (1954; "Problems of the Theater," 1964), the playwright explains his attraction to the grotesque as a moral comedic force. Revealing that he considers Napoleon to be European history's last tragic figure, Dürrenmatt claims that the disappearance of concreteness and immanence in modern life make tragedy impossible. Thus the twentieth century, although characterized by such "world butchers with slaughtering machines" as Hitler and Stalin, was essentially a nontragic age. Black comedy, with all of its distancing devices, was the only suitable medium for exploring impersonal bureaucracy and the disappearance of direct individual responsibility. In an ever-increasingly anonymous statistical world, Dürrenmatt saw it as his mission to create a stage-worthy grotesque comedic genre of critique. As he states, in this age "Creon's secretaries deal with Antigone's case." After Strindberg and Shakespeare adaptations in the late 1960s and '70s, Dürrenmatt fell silent as a dramatist.
Despite the social satirical critique that characterizes Dürrenmatt's oeuvre, there are moments at the end of his important works where the main characters voice deep personal insights into their conduct. The most famous of these takes place in The Visit when Alfred Ill deeply regrets his own complicity in the mistreatment of Claire Zachanassian 45 years before. In The Quarry such a moment is Holocaust-specific. Gulliver, the Jewish survivor and helper of the police superintendent, defends his murder of the notorious camp physician: "We as individuals cannot save this world, that would be as hopeless a task as that of poor Sisyphus … We can help only in single instances, not in the whole—the limitation of the poor Jew Gulliver, the limitation of all people. Therefore, we ought not to try to save the world but to get through it—that is the only true adventure that remains for us at this late hour."
