Welcome to Kleist in Thun 2011

The year 2011 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811). He wanted to become an officer, failed as a financial administrator, and was put in prison by the French on suspicion of being a spy, yet Kleist left an oeuvre to posterity which is admittedly rather small, but still has the power to move and disturb people today. He succeeded in writing a version of the ancient drama Penthesilea, for example, with such power that “it radiates a dramatic, primordial torment; that mythic chill, the holy terror of antiquity” (Thomas Mann). But Kleist did not receive the recognition he deserved until after the “most glorious and sensual of deaths”, his suicide on 21st November 1811; and again Thomas Mann commented: “A life does not need to last 80 years to be fulfilled in its own way and to end in glory.”

Robert Walser’s text “Kleist in Thun”, which appeared in 1907, sums up Heinrich von Kleist’s enduring role as one of the most important writers in the German language. But the story also reveals the importance of Thun to the poet, as well as the fact that many works, especially “The Broken Jug”, had their origin here.

Heinrich von Kleist lived in Thun twice in his life, in 1802 and 1803. Initially, it was his intention to become a farmer in the spirit of Rousseau. He lived on the small island Delosea, which is known as Kleist Island today. The city of Thun is planning various artistic and scholarly events in international collaboration with other “Kleist locations” (incl. Frankfurt an der Oder and Berlin). The series of events “Kleist in Thun 2011” aims to remember the poet and his work, visualising them in a variety of ways.