by Dirk Grathoff and Gerhard Kraiker

Since 1991, the University of Oldenburg has been working on the 22-volume Critical Complete Edition of the Works and Letters of Kurt Tucholsky (1890 - 1935) with financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The final volume is due to be published by Rowohlt Verlag in 2004 at the latest. The work, which is being organised by literary scholars, political scientists and historians, is a follow-up project to the six-volume complete edition of the works and letters of Carl von Ossietzky (1889 - 1938), which was published in 1994 and met with a great response.

While our research group was still working on the Ossietzky edition, two Tucholsky researchers approached us with the proposal to jointly compile a critical and annotated complete edition of Tucholsky's works. Antje Bonitz, who was in charge of the Tucholsky archive at the German Literature Archive in Marbach and had compiled a three-volume catalogue raisonné, and Michael Hepp, who was working on a comprehensive biography of Tucholsky with financial support from the Hamburg-based Philipp Reemtsma Foundation (published by Rowohlt in 1993, he has since also written a Rowohlt monograph). Another edition, and one almost three times the size of Ossietzky's?

What working capacity was left for further research? The decision was not an easy one, especially as, unlike Ossietzky, Tucholsky's work had already been extensively published, although, as scholars and journalists repeatedly criticised the Tucholsky Foundation and Rowohlt Verlag, none of them were complete, critical or annotated. We finally agreed, and with the support of the state of Lower Saxony, the Tucholsky archive and research centre were established in August 1991. Antje Bonitz and Michael Hepp came to Oldenburg and began preparations for the complete edition, which has been funded by the German Research Foundation since 1995 and is due to be completed in 2003/4. A total of 22 volumes are planned, 15 with texts, 6 with letters and 1 index volume. So far, 6 volumes have been completed, whereby we can assume from previous experience that the time required for the individual volumes will gradually decrease due to the accumulation of knowledge and technical procedures once they have been established.

Up to the beginning of our work, 2160 texts by Tucholsky had been published; the "Complete Edition" will contain more than 3000 in volumes 1 to 15. In the two volumes of letters already published in 1933/34 and 1935, about a third of the letters are first publications.

The reviewer of the FAZ was the only one to comment on Ossietzky's "Sämtlichen Schriften" that a selective edition would have done just as well, as much of it would prove to be quite time-bound for today's readers. (Incidentally, he later personally distanced himself from this criticism.) In the case of Tucholsky, a corresponding objection is even more obvious at first glance in view of the ten-volume "Collected Works" by Mary Gerold-Tucholsky and Fritz J. Raddatz, with text supplements and volumes of letters. However, such a selection would inevitably be tied to the perception of meaning of the editors and the present day. An author as multifaceted and active in the most diverse literary genres as Tucholsky was already perceived during his lifetime and even more so after the Second World War from very different reading interests. How often he was printed, who quoted him in which contexts or declared him their favourite writer - this already indicates the broad spectrum of reading preferences. The writer of poetry so pleasing in form, the narrator of love stories, the provocative political critic who furiously attacked the reaction but did not spare his fellow travellers, the committed pacifist whose striking statements on war still occupy the courts today and are the cause of legislative initiatives, the author of witty and trenchant cabaret chansons, the reviewer of whole mountains of books with a clear-sighted eye for parts of great literature (e.g. Franz Kafka, Gottfried Wilhelm, the German author of the "The Great War").Franz Kafka, Gottfried Benn) and a clouded eye for others (e.g. James Joyce, Robert Musil), the sometimes sarcastic, sometimes understanding observer of bourgeois mentality and morals and, last but not least, the letter writer whose love letters are "among the most beautiful love letters in German literature of this epoch" (Fritz J. Raddatz) - they all found their own audience time and again and were sometimes more, sometimes less in the foreground at different times.

There are two further reasons in favour of an edition that is as complete as possible according to the current state of knowledge: firstly, the scholarly interest that Tucholsky's work has attracted in recent years, including in France, England and the USA. Anyone who has ever written about an author will appreciate having a critical edition - and a detailed annotated one at that - at their disposal. On the other hand, the works of Ossietzky, Tucholsky and others are not only highly interesting diagnoses of the times, of which Hans Mommsen recently (with reference to Ossietzky) rightly stated that they have been astonishingly confirmed by the extensive research of recent decades, they are also themselves relevant contemporary documents of the discourse of the left in the Weimar Republic. If, for example, Tucholsky's two articles from 1928, in which he, despairing over the SPD's policies, offered his help to the KPD with reservations, were to be omitted as an expression of a quickly revised and embarrassing short-circuit, this would not only smooth over his political biography in a problematic way, but also deprive the reader of an important document of that discourse. Secondly, the fact that Tucholsky often wrote for several newspapers at the same time - and those of different political orientations, e.g. in 1920 for the left-liberal papers of Mosse Verlag "Berliner Tageblatt", "Berliner Volks-Zeitung" and "Ulk", for the USPD organs "Die freie Welt" and "Die Freiheit", for the left-wing pluralist "Weltbühne", the cabaret magazine "Schall und Rauch" and for the more right-wing orientated "Pieron", an agitation magazine for the Upper Silesian referendum campaign. What he wrote where, and how he often varied the same themes in an affirmative way, can only be determined if the reader is presented with all the texts.

Tucholsky himself was aware of the fact that he produced remarkably different views of reality and gave in to the impulses of the moment to the point of violating principles. His 5 PS, i.e. five pseudonyms - whereby he characteristically defined Kurt Tucholsky as one of them alongside Theobald Tiger, Peter Panter, Ignaz Wrobel and Kaspar Hauser - were pragmatically justified by him, because publication organs were reluctant to publish several articles by one author in the same issue. At the same time, however, Tucholsky hid as an author behind the pseudonyms he chose, just as other modern writers hide behind their narrators in order to be able to stage critical and ironic plays from different tones. As he often gave in to this need at the same time, sometimes in one day or within a few days, an arrangement of the work according to genre rather than in chronological order, which we have chosen, would have made reception more difficult. However, the fact that Tucholsky often mixed genres speaks even more against a genre classification, so that a moment of arbitrariness would have been unavoidable in the categorisation.

Only texts and letters are separated - and even this simple separation repeatedly causes problems when, for example, letters are written in poem form or poems are an integral part of letters or other literary texts are added to letters as enclosures. For some writers, the letters are more or less informative supplements to their texts, for others they are more a part of the literary production. The latter applies to Tucholsky. He may not have intended this like others, but anyone who takes a look at the already published volumes of letters will be able to understand this assessment, at least for large parts. From 1933 until his death in December 1935, letters were Tucholsky's only remaining form of literary expression. The defeat that he perceived the establishment of National Socialist rule as for himself and his fellow campaigners for peace and the democratic republic had demotivated him for any other form, even before the battle had been fully decided. He also persistently refused to participate in exile journals and publishing houses, which friends repeatedly urged him to do, arguing that the struggle would only be continued with ideas and means that had already proved futile. Realpolitik and his search for new political foundations is all the more intensely the subject of his letters to his friend Walter Hasenclever and, above all, to his friend Hedwig Müller (known as Nuuna), who lived in Zurich, to whom he sent entire essays in the letter supplements labelled Qu (= nonsense) diaries. These have been preserved thanks to Hedwig Müller's foresight, but other letters, such as those to his paternal friend Siegfried Jacobsohn, the founder and editor of the "Weltbühne" until 1926, have unfortunately not.

What were and are the most important steps in such an edition? The first step was to search for further articles and reprints during his lifetime in all relevant newspapers and magazines, a time-consuming task that never reaches the point of certainty that it can be finalised. Further steps include: ensuring the authenticity of the authorship (some of the previous attributions proved to be unreliable and are now shown as "unsecured texts"); dating, which causes difficulties with the unpublished manuscripts and with many letters; recording the variants in various prints authorised by Tucholsky; flag corrections of texts and letters combined with the cautiously handled emendations; and finally the annotation, the most time-consuming part of the editing work.

The commentary in the text volumes should not account for more than a third of the total volume. The ratio is different for the volumes of letters, which contain considerably more commentary, primarily due to the fact that parts of the counter-letters are reproduced in them. The primary task of the commentary is to make accessible to readers those parts of the text or letters that would not be immediately accessible without an explanation of the historical references. In doing so, we assume that readers are well-informed, i.e. we generally refrain from reproducing what can be looked up in general encyclopaedias, foreign dictionaries or the like and what can be assumed to be general historical knowledge. In addition to specialised reference works, the commentaries draw their knowledge primarily from the newspapers used by Tucholsky himself (the media library of the Oldenburg University Library has an excellent collection of these). In this way, the commentary editors can not only approximately reconstruct his level of information in the respective case, they are also best able to recognise allusions to processes, events, statements as well as Tucholsky's unspoken allusions or counter-positions to the newspapers. The reciprocal references between the newspapers and magazines, both positive and negative, were much more pronounced in the Weimar Republic than they are today; especially in the numerous Berlin publications involved in the Republic's directional struggles, the fiercest feuds were the order of the day; Tucholsky, the target of right-wing and at times communist polemics over the years, was a frequent participant.

A second function of the commentary can be summarised as a service for readers: Source indexing of quotations and literary allusions (as far as we recognise them), information on persons and references to persons (beyond the index of persons), institutions and events, translations, cross-references to other passages in the text or letters, references to special literature and the like. What we do not regard as the task of the commentary are our own interpretations of the literary work and judgements of the political statements; an edition of works can only create the best conditions for interpreters and critics, the analysis must take place elsewhere. The Research Centre has been intensively involved in this in numerous publications on Ossietzky, Tucholsky and their environment.

Remark. One annoying experience of the members of the Research Centre should not be omitted in this overview: While the workload in the actual editing work is gradually being reduced through routine gains, the difficulties in project organisation have increased considerably. The reason for this is the legal stipulation that staff may not be employed for more than five years, which has since proved to be counterproductive, especially if it is applied rigidly. This is very threatening for a project that is already dependent on the special competences of the employees for reasons of an externally imposed time economy. The amount of work that has to be done, how many detours it takes to overcome this hurdle in each individual case of contract extension, cannot be described here. In any case, this would be a commendable task for all those who so wholeheartedly demand greater research effectiveness from universities. Without the support of the President of the University and the willingness of the German Research Foundation to engage unbureaucratically in new approaches, we would have failed to solve this problem.

Last but not least, a positive note should be added: the successful establishment of the Ossietzky and Tucholsky archives with their research centres and the completed or advancing complete editions has contributed significantly to the fact that the estate of Hannah Arendt of the University of Oldenburg is now being deposited (copied) in an archive and a research centre for the publication of a Hannah Arendt edition is being set up. These three focal points: Carl von Ossietzky, Kurt Tucholsky and Hannah Arendt are to be brought together to form an interdisciplinary centre for research into the culture of the Weimar Republic and exile. Together with the "Jewish Studies" degree programme, this will create an internationally important focus for German humanities and cultural studies.

Vol. 1: Texts 1907-13: edited by Bärbel Boldt, Dirk Grathoff, Michael Hepp

Vol. 4: Texts 1920: ed. by Bärbel Boldt, Gisela Enzmann-Kraiker, Christian Jäger

Vol. 9: Texts 1927: ed. by Gisela Enzmann-Kraiker, Ute Maack, Renke Siems

Vol. 14: Texts 1931: edited by Sabina Becker

Vol. 20: Letters 1933-34: edited by Antje Bonitz, Gustav Huonker

Vol. 21: Letters 1935: ed. by Antje Bonitz, Gustav Huonker

1890 Born in Berlin 1903 Attends the Kgl. Wilhelms-Gymnasium 1907 KT's first works appear (anonymously) in 'Ulk' 1909 Graduates as an external student from the Kgl. Luisen-Gymnasium and begins studying law in Berlin 1911 KT's first article appears in 'Vorwärts' (contributor until 1914) / With Else Weil, called Claire Pimbusch, in Rheinsberg / Meeting with Max Brod and Franz Kafka in Prague / Election campaign for the SPD 1912 KT leaves the University of Berlin / 'Rheinsberg. A picture book for lovers' is published 1913 First article in the 'Schaubühne' / Member of the "Schutzverband deutscher Schriftsteller" 1914 Leaves the Jewish community in Berlin 1915 Doctorate from the University of Jena / Enlists as a soldier 1916 KT edits the soldiers' magazine 'Der Flieger' 1917 KT learns to work as a soldier in Alt-Autz (Courland) as a soldier Mary Gerold 1918 Cross of Merit for "War Aid" / transferred to the Political Police Bucharest / Protestant baptism / returns to Berlin / takes over the editorship of 'Ulk' 1919 Militaria series in the 'Weltbühne' / collection of poems 'From-me Gesänge' published / works for the cabaret "Schall und Rauch" 1920 Mary G. comes to Berlin, but separates in the same year and marries the doctor Else Weil / joins the USPD / edits the magazine 'Pieron' / founds the 'Nie-wieder-Krieg' committee 1922 Premiere of the Nelson revue 'Wir steh'n verkehrt', for which KT wrote all the texts 1923 Joins the banking house Bett, Simon & Co. / co-founder of the cabaret "Die Gondel" 1924 Divorce from Else W. and marriage to Mary G. / employee contract with the 'Weltbühne' / admission to the Berlin Masonic lodge "Zur Morgenröte" / correspondent for the 'Weltbühne' and the 'Vossische Zeitung' in Paris 1925 Participation in "Gruppe 1925" with Brecht, Döblin, Brod and others 1926 Board member of the "Gruppe Revolutionärer Pazifsten" and the "Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte" / After Jacobsohn's death, takes over the management of the 'Weltbühne' 1927 KT meets Lisa Matthias, who later appears in his works as 'Lottchen' / Peter Panter publishes 'Ein Pyrenäenbuch' / He hands over the editorship of 'Weltbühne' to Carl von Ossietzky and returns to Paris / Member of the board of 'Rote Hilfe' 1928 First poem for 'AIZ' / Mary Tucholsky leaves him / The anthology 'Das Lächeln der Mona Lisa' is published 1929 KT lives in the Fjälltorp house in Läggesta near Gripsholm Castle / 'Deutschland, Deutschland über alles' (with photomontages by John Heartfield) is published 1930 KT moves into Villa Nedsjölund in Hindås, Sweden 1931 The relationship with Lisa Matthias breaks up / 'Schloß Gripsholm' and 'Lerne lachen ohne zu weinen' are published 1932 KT meets the Zurich doctor Dr Hedwig Müller, known as Nuuna. KT meets Dr Hedwig Müller, known as Nuuna, a doctor in Zurich / World premiere of 'Christoph Kolumbus' at the Leipzig Schauspielhaus / Last article for the Vienna edition of 'Weltbühne' / KT stays with Hedwig Müller in Zurich until September 33 1933 KT's works on the first list in the 'Reichanzeiger' when books are burned and he is expatriated along with 32 other people / KT refuses all offers of public appearances / Divorce from Mary G. 1934 Receives a Swedish alien's passport / refuses to sell any more of his anthologies 1935 KT is dependent on Hedwig Müller's support / dies on 21 December, presumably by suicide

Greetings to the front

Dear reader 1985 -!

By some chance, you rummage through this magazine in the library, find the year you have just written - if it isn't simply 85 by then -, pause and read. Good day.

I'm very self-conscious: you're wearing a suit that's very different from mine, and you're also wearing your brain very differently ... I start three times: each time with a different topic, you have to get in touch ... don't you? Each time I have to give it up again - we don't understand each other at all. I'm probably too small; my time is up to my neck, I barely peek my head a little above the time level ... there, I knew it: you're smiling at me.

Everything about me seems old-fashioned to you: my way of writing, my grammar and my attitude ... ah, don't pat me on the back, I don't like that. In vain I want to tell you how we had it, and how it was, new-fashioned anointed and old-fashioned forgotten ... Nothing. You smile, my voice echoes faintly from the past, and you know everything better. Shall I tell you what moves the people in my time village? Geneva? Shaw premiere? Thomas Mann? The television? A steel island in the ocean as a stopping place for aeroplanes? You blow on everything and the dust flies metres high, you can't see anything for all the dust.

Flattery? Unfortunately not. Of course you have not solved the question: "League of Nations or Pan-Europe"; questions are not solved by mankind, but left lying around. Of course you have three hundred more important machines for daily life than we do, and you are just as stupid, just as clever, just as modern as we are. What's left of us? Don't rummage around in your memory for what you've just learnt at school. What has remained is what happened to stay; what was so neutral that it came across; what is really big (about half of it, and nobody cares about that - just a bit on Sunday mornings, in the museum): we don't really understand each other. It's the same as if I were talking to a man from the Thirty Years' War today. "Yes, are you all right? The siege of Magdeburg must have been a real drag ...?" and what they say.

I can't even have a lofty conversation with you over the heads of my contemporaries, to the tune of: we both understand each other, because you are an advanced man, like me. Oh, my dear fellow: you too are a contemporary. At most, when I say "Bismarck" and you have to remember who that was, I grin to myself: you can't imagine how proud the people around me are of his immortality ... Well, let's not go there. Besides, you'll want to go and have breakfast now.

Good morning. The paper has already turned yellow, yellow like the teeth of our country magistrates, there, now the paper is crumbling under your fingers ... well, it's already that old. Go with God, or whatever you call it then. We probably don't have too much to say to each other, we mediocrities. We are disintegrated, our content has gone with us. The form was everything.

Yes, I still want to shake your hand. For the sake of decency. And now you're leaving. But I'll shout this after you|: You're no better than us and the previous ones. But no trace, but none at all-

Under the pseudonym Kaspar Hauser in the Weltbühne of 6 April 1926

The authors

Prof Dr Dirk Grathoff (52), studied German and Philosophy in Berlin (FU) and at Indiana University (USA). Doctorate in 1972, habilitation in 1980, lecturer in Giessen (1973-1980), visiting professorships in Freiburg and Munich, Professor of German Literature in Oldenburg since 1985, research focus on classicism/romanticism - Heinrich von Kleist; culture of the Weimar Republic, contemporary literature, founder and organiser of the "Literatour Nord".

Prof. Dr Gerhard Kraiker (61), studied political science, sociology and psychoanalysis at the universities of Saarbrücken, Frankfurt/M., Marburg and Gießen. Assistant and lecturer in political science in Giessen. Since 1974 Professor of Political Science in Oldenburg, specialising in social and state theories. Research focus: History of political ideas, emergence of the Federal Republic, political culture of the Weimar Republic.