Kurd Lasswitz

Kurd Laßwitz ( born April 20, 1848 in Breslau, † October 17, 1910 in Gotha; actually Carl Theodor Victor Kurd Laßwitz ) was a German writer. He also published under the pseudonym L. Velatus and is considered the founder of the German science fiction.

Life

Kurd Laßwitz - son of the businessman and politician Karl Wilhelm Laßwitz - studied mathematics and physics at the universities of Breslau and Berlin. In 1873 she received her doctorate " magna cum laude" with a work "to drop, which depend on solid bodies and are subject to gravity ," in the following year the state exam for the higher education service in the fields of mathematics, physics, philosophy and geography.

In 1876 he took a job as a high school teacher at Ernestinum in Gotha, where he taught, among others, Hans Dominik. 1884 was the career- usual appointment as a secondary school teacher and 1909 secret councilor. The latter he owes to his work especially in the educated middle " Wednesday Society to Gotha", which helped with popular lectures in the field of science, literature and philosophy to public education. The Wednesday Club was founded in 1884, much initiated by Laßwitz itself

Kurd Laßwitz died at the age of 62 years in Gotha, where he rests in the main cemetery of the city in a neat honor grave.

Reception

Laßwitz considered one of the fathers of modern science fiction. He also wrote books about physics, epistemology and Immanuel Kant, and also edited a critical edition of Gustav Theodor Fechner ( founder of psychophysics ). Unlike Jules Verne and HG Wells stronger than used Kurd Laßwitz the SF primarily for didactic purposes and criticizing. His future designs are bolder than the works of his two colleagues and contemporaries because they reach further into the future. Therefore, he also meets ( his own words ) again and again to the limits "of the explainable by today's standards ." His novel on two planets ( 1897), with over a thousand pages is one of the most important German science fiction novels, which has been translated into numerous languages ​​and has been reprinted several times. On two planets was an important inspiration for the space pioneer Eugen Sänger and inspired the sky mechanic Karl Stumpff in his youth to turn to astronomy. The work had the early 20th century, despite initially limited distribution, some ( still insufficiently explored ) influence on other writers - such as the expressionism. Ensure an influence on Georg Heym. Arno Schmidt also appreciated the novel. A larger distribution found Laßwitz ' works only in the 20s of the 20th century.

His socially critical lyrics came largely forgotten after they were banned by the Nazis, whose views with Laßwitz ' humanist and pacifist were incompatible.

Eponym

- Chronologically -

• Laßwitzweg: A street in Berlin- locust valley, named on December 4, 1930 and in 1938 renamed Draesekestraße.
• On May 15, 1977 discovered Hans -Emil Schuster at the European Southern Observatory's an asteroid of the inner main belt: ( 46514 ) Lasswitz. The appointment took place on 7 April 2005.
• Kurd - Laßwitz Price: It is awarded based on the model of the American Nebula Award for German -language science fiction since 1980.
• Kurd - Laßwitz Fellowship from the residence city of Gotha: The In 2007, donated and endowed with 3,000 Euro scholarship was first awarded in 2008. Applications are open once a year in German writers who have published at least one work of children 's literature. Applicants must be willing during the six-month promotion period and during a stay in the furnished apartment Kurd - Laßwitz to write a new manuscript, which will appear as a scholarship edition.

Bibliography

• Works edition: Pictures from the future. Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008)

• Werkausgabe: nature and man and other lectures and essays. Volume II / 8 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-940679-27-7.

• Werkausgabe: The doctrine of Kant of the ideality of space and time. Vol II / 2 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-34-5.

• Reprint: history of atomism from the Middle Ages to Newton. Olms, Hildesheim, ISBN 3-487-00490-9.

• Werkausgabe: soap bubbles. Modern Fairy Tale. Vol I / 3 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-24-6.

• Werkausgabe: Gustav Theodor Fechner. Vol II / 5 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-31-4.

• Reprint: On two planets. Foreword by Wernher von Braun. Scheffler, Frankfurt 1969

• Werkausgabe: realities. Vol II / 6 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-32-1.

• Werkausgabe: Never and always. Vol I / 7 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-25-3.

• Werkausgabe: Aspira. Vol I / 6 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-18-5.

• Werkausgabe: Sternentau. The plant from Neptune moon. Vol I / 8 Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg (2008), ISBN 978-3-940679-15-4.

A voltage applied to twenty volumes work output appears as a collection Laßwitz since 2008 by Verlag Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg.