The Hessian Courier, Storm and Stress

Medium: Personal Opinion Theatre [[:Category:|]]

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Artist: Georg Buchner

Confronting Bodies: Hessian authorities and German publishers

Dates of Action: 1834-1836

Location: The state of Hesse-Darmstadt in pre-unified Germany

Description of Artwork: Buchner helped author The Hessian Courier. In 1836 he printed a letter protesting the new grand duke of Hesse, writing, "The political circumstances are enough to drive me mad. The wretched people patiently pull the cart on which the princes and liberals play their monkey tricks." His play "Storm and Stress" describes a society in chaos.

The Incident: Two of Buchner's associates at the Courier were arrested for transporting copies of the periodical. He knew his arrest would promptly follow so he quickly wrote "Storm and Stress." His publisher agreed to print it only if he made cuts. Dialogue such as :

Soldier: Oh Christina, my Christina, when we play the concertina does it leave you sore, sore, sore.

Buchner left to Strasbourg after he recieved a warrant for arrest.

Results of Incident: Buchner studied biology and continued writing plays after leaving Hesse. He was awarded a doctorate and lectureship in natural history from the University of Zurich.

Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]]