Otto Julius Bierbaum
Ship ahoy and off on holiday with the Yankeedoodle and Otto Julius Bierbaum
Imagine your doctor advises you to do the following:
"Buy a ship's trunk and put the amphitrites [sea nymphs, the author] to the test. Your future lies in the water, which has salt content and bromine in the salt. Spit out once and drink as much sunlight as you can. But, I implore you, leave all writing utensils at home, because [] the pen is the dangerous balancing pole with which you have kept your balance on a tightrope up to now."
This introduction can be found in the colourful travel diary "The Yankeedoodle Trip" by the forgotten literary cultural genius Otto Julius Bierbaum, who celebrates his 150th birthday this month. He was born on 28 June 1865 in Grünberg/Lower Silesia into a family of restaurateurs and confectioners. As his father had opened a pub in Petersgasse in Leipzig, he sent his son to Thomasgymnasium for his schooling. However, it seems that Otto Julius was already considered enterprising, headstrong and unruly as a child - qualities that would prove to be true gifts in his later cultural endeavours. The intended refinement of the spirit at the Dresden-Neustadt Masonic Institute therefore turned out to be a fallacy: according to him, it had to mould "young boys, who were difficult to smooth at home, into well-polished youths."
The many interests of the jack-of-all-trades were not only reflected in his studies in law, philosophy, German and even sinology, but also in his love of travelling, which was reflected in his visits to the universities of Leipzig, Zurich, Munich and Berlin. In Munich, he sought to professionalise himself as a writer and journalist, wrote feature articles and reviews, made a name for himself as an impressive lyricist, founded the Gesellschaft für modernes Leben and published several literary journals. He was soon regarded as one of the most important representatives of Munich Modernism.
He was particularly fond of satire. The popular saying "Humour is when you laugh anyway" - for some even a life motto - was coined by him. He devised cabaret pieces and his biography from 1897 set standards for literary variety theatre.
But he was not only a pioneer in this field. He reformed book design and typology with conspicuous dedication. But that was not all: he wrote song lyrics and chansons, many of which were set to high-calibre music, and with the art magazine "The Island" he laid the foundations for the traditional publishing house that would later develop from it.
He died of kidney disease on 1 February 1910, aged just 45. Based on the incorrect information in an obituary, one often finds "Radebeul" or elsewhere "Kötzschenbroda" as the place of death. However, this is incorrect, he died in Dresden and found his eternal resting place in the Munich urn cemetery.
Despite his rich cultural impact, the literary multi-talent Otto Julius Bierbaum has fallen into oblivion. His Yankeedoodle travelogue was published in 1909, the last of his widely circulated books at the time. The quote: "Travelling instead of racing" was entirely in keeping with his life motto for an open and conscious approach to people and things, against arrogance and intolerance. Although he particularly enjoyed travelling by car, here he had to board a saloon boat that took him and his Italian wife around the Mediterranean. A little insight shows that the swell didn't suit everyone on board and how this was skilfully remedied:
"My wife, fresh as ever, suddenly turned yellow in the face. Then green. Then she said: mal di mare. I immediately rushed to apply the remedy that always works when you know you'll be on solid ground in ten minutes: I laughed at her. She became furious. The illness was cured."
Whether seasick or not, anyone who is physically unable or unwilling to travel this summer is recommended to take this spirited and enigmatic reading journey past Genoa, Monte Carlo, Corsica, Syracuse, Baalbek, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Constantinople!
Maren Gündel, City Archive
Published in: Official Gazette Radebeul June 2015