Johann Peter Hebel
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Johann Peter Hebel (10 May 1760 – 22 September 1826) was a German short story writer, dialectal poet, evangelical theologian and pedagogue, most famous for a collection of Alemannic lyric poems (Allemannische Gedichte) and one of German tales (Schatzkästlein des rheinischen Hausfreundes, English: Treasure Chest of the Family Friend from the Rhine).
Calendar stories
Hebel's second famous work is his calendar stories, which he wrote from 1803 on for the Badische Landkalender and especially from 1807 for its successor, the Rheinländischer Hausfreund. This old Lutheran calendar was selling poorly in the early 19th century, and Hebel was a member of the commission appointed to suggest improvements. After several discussions, Hebel finally became editor of the new calendar, which was first released in 1807. One of the biggest improvements was to have more text, featuring "instructive news and funny stories". Hebel wrote about 30 of these stories each year, and they were highly successful. The Schatzkästlein des rheinischen Hausfreundes was issued in 1811 as a collection of the most interesting of these stories. Further editions followed in 1816 and 1827. The calendar stories included news, short stories, anecdotes, comical stories and modified fairy tales. They were intended both to entertain and to provide moral education. The best-known of Hebel's calendar stories are "Unverhofftes Wiedersehen" (unexpected reunion) and "Kannitverstan" (I cannot understand). The philosopher Ernst Bloch called the first "the most beautiful story of the world". There was a dispute in 1815, as Hebel's calendar story "Der fromme Rat" (pious advice), issued in 1814, was partially criticised by Catholics as being offensive, leading to its removal from the calendar. There he portrays a Catholic who prays to heaven instead of to the cross-bearing priest; the change can be viewed as a conversion of the Catholic to Protestantism. Hebel rounded off his story with the words: "The family friend knows to praise and venerate that, although he has never prayed to a rosary, else he would not write to the Lutheran calendar." Subsequently, Hebel resigned as editor and wrote far fewer calendar stories, except in 1819, when he wrote more than ever to make that year's issue of the Rheinländischer Hausfreund possible.
