A Late Friendship: The Letters of Karl Barth and Carl ZuckmayerIn his circular letter to those friends who had sent greetings to him on the occasion of his 82nd birthday, Karl Barth penned the following: "Finally, in high old age a remarkable friendship has been my lot, namely, with poet Carl Zuckmayer. . . . What a man he is! He can be very serious and also very merry." The friendship between Barth and Zuckmayer lasted just under two years; yet, as one can tell from the letters included in this volume, it was a deep and meaningful relationship. Calling Barth a "great and respected friend," Zuckmayer wrote in a letter to Barth's assistant, "I received only kindness and warmth from him, and the stringent and postulating way in which he conducted dialogue always benefited and strengthened me." The letters, which show a personal side of the two men not often found in their respective works, cover a variety of subjects. As Zuckmayer says in his essay "Story of a Late Friendship" (included in this volume), "Everything concerning everyday life and world events and daily politics occupied him [Barth] and aroused his criticism and lively interest." The two also exchanged ideas and plans for projects--both teaching and writing--and evaluated each other's works and those of other authors. The volume includes a letter Zuckmayer wrote to Eberhard Busch after Barth's death, a poem Zuckmayer wrote and sent to Barth, and Barth's list of rules for older people in relation to younger. |
Contents
Letters of Carl Zuckmayer and Karl Barth | 3 |
To Fathers for the Family Album C Z | 36 |
Rules for Older People in Relation | 45 |
Copyright | |
1 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
¹For Aargau bark Barth's letter Basel beautiful believe birthday Brecht Briellmann Bruderholz CARL ZUCKMAYER Dear cheerful Christian church circular letter Dear and Honored Dear Herr death Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dogmatics edition of Barth's especially Evangelical father Frau Stöckli German Ginsberg Goethe Grächen heard highpoint HINRICH STOEVESANDT Honored Friend hope hospital impression Institut de France Jacob Grimm Jean-Paul Sartre Jesus Christ July KARL BARTH kind Kirche in Erneuerung last letter LATE FRIENDSHIP live Mainz mariology Max Born memoirs Mozart natural science perhaps person play pleasure poems poet Pour le Mérite prayer published Raabe Roman Catholic Saas-Fee Schleiermacher sent Zuckmayer sight for sore sincere greetings sore eyes spirit story summer talk Teufels thank theater theology things tion told truly Val d'Hérens Valais Wilhelm Raabe wine wishes and greetings worship write wrote younger Zollikon ZUCKMAYER Dear Friend Zurich