Moritz Jahn facts for kids
Moritz Jahn (born March 27, 1884, died January 19, 1979) was a German writer and teacher. He was especially known for his poems and stories written in Low German, which is a language spoken in northern Germany. He wrote many different types of poetry, like ballads, lyrics, and narratives. Jahn was born in Lilienthal, Lower Saxony, into a family that spoke Low German. He was active as a writer from the 1920s to the 1950s.
His Life Story
Moritz Jahn started his career as a teacher. Later, from 1921 to 1925, he studied German studies (the study of German language and literature) and art history. During World War II, in 1943, he was working as a principal in Geismar. He retired in 1944 to focus on his writing.
Jahn was a member of the Nazi Party for a short time between 1933 and 1935. In 1941, he also joined an organization for writers that was supported by the government at that time. In 1944, the University of Göttingen gave him a special doctorate degree. A place in Göttingen, called Moritz-Jahn-Haus, is named after him. On March 27, 2014, Göttingen celebrated his 130th birthday. In 1959, he received two important awards for his writing: the Fritz Reuter Prize and the Klaus Groth Prize. He passed away on January 19, 1979, when he was 94 years old.
His Writing Career
Moritz Jahn's most famous works were written in the Low German language. He wrote many different things, including poems, ballads (story-poems), narratives (stories), and historical accounts. Some of his poems were short and showed his strong desire to write in Low German.
Many of his stories were set in the Lower German region. Some of his works were thoughtful or sad, while others were full of funny or critical elements. Jahn often wrote about people who were a bit different or didn't quite fit in with society. An example of this is his collection of poems and ballads called Ulenspegel un Jan Dood (1933).
Other well-known stories he wrote include the novel Frangula (1933), the short novel De Moorfro (1950), and Lucifer (1956). He also published important poetry collections like Unkepunz, Ein deutsches Gesicht (1931) and Im weiten Land (1938).
His Books
- Die Geschichte von den Leuten an der Außenföhrde. Junge Generation Verlag, Berlin 1930
- Boleke Roleffs. Eine niederdeutsche Erzählung. Spielmeyer, Göttingen 1930
- Unkepunz. Ein deutsches Gesicht. Spielmeyer, Göttingen 1931
- Frangula oder Die himmlischen Weiber im Wald. Reclam, Leipzig 1933
- Ulenspegel un Jan Dood. Niederdeutsche Gedichte. Verlag Westphal, Lübeck 1933
- Im weiten Land. Erzählungen. Langen Müller, München 1938
- Die Gleichen. Langen Müller, München 1939
- Das Denkmal des Junggesellen. Eine harmlose Geschichte. Langen Müller, München 1942
- De Moorfro. Verlag der Fehrs-Gilde, Hamburg 1950
- Luzifer. Verlag der Fehrs-Gilde, Hamburg 1955
