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Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright, born 14 Nov 1779, died 20 Jan 1850. Read more in English.
In the early 19th century Adam Oehlenschläger introduced Romanticism in Denmark.
af Soeren Mogensen
I 1829 blev Adam Oehlenschläger laurbærkronet som nordisk digterkonge i Lunds domkirke. Bag sig havde han en produktion af digte, teaterstykker og prosa, inspireret af romantikere som Goethe, Fichte og Schelling. Han var den der først satte romantikken i udtryk med vægt på det folkelige, de nordiske sagn - fra Saxo til Eddaerne - og det nationale. Han foretrak det nordiske og danske fremfor det græske. Hans prisopgave fra universitetet i 1800 hed: "Var det gavnligt for Nordens Skiønne Litteratur om den gamle nordiske Mytologie blev indført og almindelig antaget, i stedet for den Grædske?" Danmark havde historisk i de år været vidne til f.eks. slaget på Reden i 1801, bombardementet af København i 1807, statsbankerotten i 1813 og han måtte inden sin død i 1850 opleve treårskrigen.
Hans litterære liv var præget af gode ungdomsår og senere de litterære fejder med så stærke kræfter som f.eks. Baggesen, Grundtvig og J.L. Heiberg. Trods dette har han efterladt sig en af de mest betydningsfulde produktioner i dansk litteratur med værker som f.eks. "Guldhornene", "Sanct Hansaftens-Spil" og "Aladdin, eller den forunderlige Lampe". Værker som henter sin inspiration højt oppe og dybt nede i den nordiske folkekultur.
Skønt urolige forhold i Danmark på Oehlenschlägers tid og en skribentkarriere med svingende kritik, levede Oehlenschläger en i øvrigt fredelig tilværelse. Den poet, der blev hyldet i Lund var født på Frederiksberg, hvor faderen med det tyske navn først var organist ved Frederiksberg kirke senere ved Frederiksberg slot. Som 12årig kom han ind på en af de nye borgerskoler og han forsøgte sig efter endt eksamen fra skolen med ringe held som skuespiller. H.C. Ørsted tog ham under vingerne, han blev student og skrev i 1800 den omtalte prisopgave.
Men så skete det! Heinrich Steffens havde været i Tyskland og kom hjem til København, hvor han holdt en række forelæsninger om det romantiske natursyn. Oehlenschläger var vakt og det siges at han efter sekstens timers samtale med Steffens, gik hjem og skrev "Guldhornene". Dette digt kom med i "Digte 1803", en digtsamling som fik en noget blandet modtagelse.
Oehlenschläger turede nu rundt med Steffens i København og de delte en overgang bolig, men Steffens kunne ikke finde embede i Danmark og tog tilbage til Tyskland. Oehlenschläger blev forlovet med Kamma Rabeks søster Christiane Heger. Imidlertid tog han på dannelsesrejse, først selvfølgelig til Tyskland for at møde Steffens igen i Halle, men også for at møde sine romantiske læremestre dernede. På rejsen skrev han flere værker f.eks. "Nordiske digte" (1807) og "Axel og Valborg" (1810). Han vendte hjem til Danmark efter fire år, efter også at have besøgt Paris og Rom, for at blive gift med Heger og indtræde i et embede, som professor i æstetik.
Men læs Oehlenschläger! I stedet for at læse ham gennem Baggesens, Grundtvigs og Heibergs kritiske penne, så læs selv hvad han rent faktisk opnåede med sin digtning. Sagndigtning om vikingetiden, det tidspunkt hvor nationalstaten Danmark blev dannet, var nødvendig i krisetider som de, der herskede i begyndelsen af forrige århundrede. At få samling på identiteten, at søge det dybe i danskernes egen nære nordiske historie, så de dengang kunne mærke deres rødder. Rødder, som var plantet mellem brede bøge og bautastene - mellem nutid og fortid, som også nutidens danskere synger det i vores nationalsang af Adam Oehlenschläger. Eller han kunne digte om danskere, der kunne lide gøgl og folkefest i Dyrehaven. Men også det fremmede havde sin plads f.eks. i Aladdin med eksotiske steder og mennesker. Den romantiske kilde springer fra det mystiske, eksotiske, oprindelige, historiske og tågede, og fra disse kilder finder digterens geni enheden i naturen og i menneskelivets natur, siger den romantiske teori. Oehlenschläger søgte ikke absolut splittelsen, antitesen eller konflikten, men ofte denne enhed i altet. Læs f.eks. digtet "Helge" (1814) og se menneskelivets natur overgivet til så store kræfter som kærlighed, blodskam, venskab og mord i digte med sans for detaljen og dramaet i det stof Oehlenschläger f.eks. kunne hente fra Saxos danmarkshistorie. Det er spændende at læse Oehlenschläger!
Oehlenschläger blev hyldet i Lund i 1829 som digterkonge. Hans borgerlige tilværelse, med de mange børn, kone og embede var tilsyneladende roligt - med i digte, prosa og teaterstykker til Det kongelige Teater levede han et rigt indre liv. Han blev hyldet igen - også af Heiberg - lige før sin død i 1850 som 70årig. Han blev et betydningsfuldt liv i dansk litteratur. Men et sidste ord fra det sidste større værk fra Oehlenschlägers hånd: "Endt er Regnar Lodbrogs Kvæde; gamle Skjald om gamle Nordens Helte sang for sidste gang." (Regnar Lodbrog, 1849)
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was born on the 14th Nov. 1770 into a very poor family in a small house on Vesterbro in Copenhagen. Today there is a street named after him in that area. Both his parents were of German descent. His father was an organist and the mother was the daughter of Danish citizen but brought up in German.
The year after Adam was born his father became the overseer of Frederiksberg castle, where he grew up in modest but peaceful and happy surroundings. His father was a jovial and healthy person, his mother a kind, serious and very religious woman, who often fell into deep melancholy, all of which had a huge impact on his later work and poetry.
Adam wanted to become an actor for the stage but did not have nay success so he took up latin-law and passed the examinen in 1800.
In 'Bakkehuset' that same year, 21 years of age, he met and got engaged to Kamma Rahbeks sister, Christiane Heger, whom he later married in 1809.
As Danish romantic poet and dramatist, Oehlenschläger turned for themes to the sagas and to Scandinavian history. He became one of the Danish Golden Age´s greatest poets and is the poet of Denmark's National anthem : "Der er et yndigt Land", written in 1819 as part of a contest to find a new national anthem, and by the 1920s it had become the national anthem despite not actually winning the aforementioned contest 100 years earlier (the winning song is lost in oblivion). Rather than praising the king, the national anthem is based on Norse mythology and old legends, and focuses on the beauty of the country. He also delivered many great works for the theater and like no one else brought the ideas and the tone of the Romanticism to the stage.
Even on the basis of his first works, Adam Oehlenschläger was assured of a position as the leading figure of Danish Romanticism. His Digte (1803, Poems) were the starting signal for the new literature. This volume included the famous poem "Guldhornene" (The Golden Horns) (1803, tr. 1913) that is an original and creative treatment of myth.
He did many short reading dramas, summing up the philosophy of universal Romanticism, both of which became part of literary mythology for later writers and were to form part of the Danish cultural tradition until far into the 20th century. The same applies to his verse reading drama Aladdin (from Poetiske Skrifter) (1805, Poetical Writings), which until about the time of the First World War constituted an essential text for later writers, whether they agreed or disagreed with the ideas in it. Oehlenschläger created a new, sensuous poetical language and brought new life to poetry; after the publication of Nordiske Digte (1807, Nordic Poems) he turned Nordic mythology and legend into a living source of inspiration for literature and cultural life and breathed new life into Danish drama through his great tragedies and historical plays, the best known of which, Earl Hakon the Mighty (1807, tr. 1857) describes the decline of heathenism in Scandinavia. His other works include lyrics, epics and dramas such as Axel and Valborg (1810, tr. 1851) and Helge (1814) and then later through more psychological plays such as Dina (1842).
After a prolonged journey abroad 1805-09 (including visits to Goethe in Weimar and Madame de Staël in Paris), Oehlenschläger became Professor of Aesthetics in 1810.
In 1829 he was proclaimed the King of Nordic Poetry by Esaias Tegnér, but after 1813 he encountered a good deal of criticism in Denmark on account of what was seen to be too great a production of plays, and also his determined concentration on Nordic themes, even at a time which demanded a more realistic presentation of the present. At the same time he relinquished Romanticism and replaced it with a humane bourgeois idealism. He wrote some of his works (e.g. the play Correggio) in German and won widespread recognition in Germany.
1829, Oehlenschläger crowned Scandinavian poet laureate.
When he turned 70 year old, one year before his death, a beautiful and touching ceremony was given to him at a huge gala ceremony in Copenhagen, where speeches and tributes were bestowed him by many well known people, among them the famous Danish poet and pastor N.F.S. GRUNDTVIG, who declared Oehlenschläger the 'Master of Unity' for the all the Nordic Countries.
Adam Oehlenschäger is today known as the National poet of Denmark and there is a great deal of humour and humanity in his later work, particularly in his letters and his autobiography.
For his great tribute to the stage, a statue created by H.W.Bissen in 1961 of - ADAM OEHLENSCHLÄGER - was placed at the entrance to the Danish Royal Theatre in Copenhagen In 1874.
To honour his memory, the Danish Royal Porcelain factory in Copenhagen created a Bicentenary Plate in 1979.
This bibliography is far from complete.
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