The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Reuter, Fritz

REUTER,, Fritz, German dialect poet and story writer: b. Stavenhagen, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 7 Nov. 1810; d. Eisenach, 12 July 1874. He studied law at the universities of Rostock and Jena, and in 1833 was condemned to death at Berlin for his share in a students' democratic society. His sentence was,

however, commuted by the king to 30 years' imprisonment. Till 1838 he was a close prisoner in various Prussian fortresses, and after a farther period of confinement in the Mecklenburg fortress of Dömitz was set free in 1840. For 10 years he devoted himself to farming but in 1850 became a private teacher in the Pomeranian town of Treptow. In 1853 he was made famous by the publication of humorous poems in the Platt-Deutsch dialect, entitled &lsquo;Läuschen un Rimels&rsquo; (new series, 1858). These were followed by &lsquo;Polterabendgedichte&rsquo; (1855) and &lsquo;Reis' nah bellegen&rsquo; (1855). His later works comprise &lsquo;Kein Hüsung&rsquo; (1858); a tragical village story in verse; &lsquo;Hanne Nüte und de lütte Pudel&rsquo; (1859); &lsquo;Schürr-Murr&rsquo; (1861), a collection of tales in both Low and High German; and &lsquo;Olle Kamellen&rsquo; (1860-68), his chief prose work, a series of tales in Platt-Deutsch, including &lsquo;Ut de Franzosentid&rsquo; (1860); &lsquo;Ut mine Festungstid,&rsquo; an account of his conviction, and imprisonment (1862); &lsquo;Ut mine Strontid,&rsquo; his ma s terpiece (1864); &lsquo;Dörchlauchting&rsquo; (1866); and &lsquo;De Reis' nah Konstantinopel&rsquo; (1868); &lsquo;Die Drei Langhäuse&rsquo; (1878), a satirical play; &lsquo;Lustspiele und Polterabendgedichte&rsquo; (1883); and &lsquo;Reuter-Reliquien&rsquo; (1885). Reuter's stories are lacking in plot, but are marked by clever episodes, skilful character drawing and a humor, which, despite the difficulty of his medium, was universally appreciated in Germany. An edition of his works appeared in 1863-68, and in 1875 two volumes of &lsquo;Nachgelassene Schriften,&rsquo; with biography, were added by Wilbrandt. Consult Ebert, H., &lsquo;Fritz Reuter, sein Leben und seine Werke&rsquo; (Güstrow 1874); Gädertz, K. T &lsquo;Aus Fritz Reuters jungen und alten Tagen&rsquo; (2d ed., 3 vols., Wismar 1897-1901); Glagau, O., &lsquo;Fritz Reuter und seine Dichtungen&rsquo; (2d ed., Berlin 1875); Römer, A., &lsquo;Fritz Reuter in seinem Leben und Schaffen&rsquo; (Berlin 1895); Thurber, C. H., &lsquo;Fritz Reuter&rsquo; (Boston 1914).