The Prince of Homburg

by Heinrich von Kleist

Von Kleists last work and his masterpiece a story of guilt, innocence, and moral righteousness involving a prince who violates his orders of battle when distracted by a beautiful princess. Plays for Performance Series.

Genres: Plays, Classics, German Literature, School, Drama, Fiction, Theatre

101 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1821

About the author

The dramatist, writer, lyricist, and publicist Heinrich von Kleist was born in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1777. Upon his father's early death in 1788 when he was ten, he was sent to the house of the preacher S. Cartel and attended the French Gymnasium. In 1792, Kleist entered the guard regiment in Potsdam and took part in the Rhein campaign against France in 1796. Kleist voluntarily resigned from army service in 1799 and until 1800 studied philosophy, physics, mathematics, and political science at Viadrina University in Frankfurt an der Oder. He went to Berlin early in the year 1800 and penned his drama "Die Familie Ghonorez". Kleist, who tended to irrationalism and was often tormented by a longing for death, then lit out restlessly through Germany, France, and Switzerland.

After several physical and nervous breakdowns, in which he even burned the manuscript of one of his dramas, Heinrich von Kleist reentered the Prussian army in 1804, working in Berlin and Königsberg. There he wrote "Amphitryon" and "Penthesilea."

After being discharged in 1807, Kleist was apprehended on suspicion of being a spy. After this he went to Dresden, where he edited the art journal "Phoebus" with Adam Müller and completed the comedy "The Broken Pitcher" ("Der zerbrochene Krug") and the folk play "Katchen von Heilbronn" ("Das Käthchen von Heilbronn").

Back in Berlin, the one time Rousseau devotee had become a bitter opponent of Napoleon. In 1811, he finished "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg." Finding himself again in financial and personal difficulties, Heinrich von Kleist, together with his lover, the terminally ill Henriette Vogel, committed suicide near the Wannsee in Berlin in 1811.

[From http://www.heinrich-von-kleist.com/]

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kleist at the height of his powers: One of the last pieces of writing he finished before his murder-suicide with Henriette Vogel, "The Prince of Homburg" asks what soldierly obedience and military honor actually mean. The play's protagonist wins a battle by accidentally disobeying the orders of his superior - should he be celebrated as a war hero or a should he have to die for his misconduct? How does the Prince preserve his honor as a soldier? This is still a popular play in Germany, as it asks relevant moral questions and displays the strain between the rational and the emotional, dream and reality. Very interesting, especially considering the historic role of the Prussian military and its ambiguous legacy.

[Armina Milani · Rating 4 out of 5]

عالی نبود اما خوب بود. به گمانم خواندنش فقط به زبان اصلی (آلمانی) می‌تواند تاثیر خودش را بگذارد؛ چراکه جادوی کلایست در روایت نیست در زبان است. بنابراین پیشنهاد می‌کنم اگر کسی آلمانی می‌داند حتماً اثر را به آلمانی بخواند.
نوشته مترجم در پایان کتاب راهگشا و درعین‌حال گمراه‌گننده است؛ به باورم نمی‌توان کلایست را در فلسفه هگل فهمید، جهان‌بینی‌شان از اساس باهم متفاوت است و بنابراین در پدیدارشناسی روح نمی‌گنجد. اما به‌هرحال خواندنی‌ست (برخلاف پیشگفتارها و پس‌گفتارهای اکثر مترجمان)

[miledi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Testo teatrale denso di significati, che affronta temi importanti come quello del potere e della sua gestione, dell’illusorietà della realtà e della teatralità della vita. Il principe di Homburg, condannato a morte per aver infranto un ordine del suo superiore, otterrà la grazia quando umilmente si sottometterà alla legge, accettando il suo destino. Tutto è giocato al confine tra realtà e illusione: nella prima scena il protagonista vede e parla in stato di sonnambulismo; nell’ultima si domanda se la stessa liberazione dall’incubo in cui è precipitato, che lo ha portato a un passo dalla morte, non sia nient’altro che un sogno.
Un dramma risolto con uno stile lieve, a tratti persino ironico, e con un ritmo avvolgente: parte lento, acquista man mano velocità, per risolversi nel rush finale. Mi è piaciuto moltissimo.

Non c'entra niente con il dramma di von Kleist, lo so, ma non resisto...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oty-x...

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ESPAÑOL: Curiosa obra del teatro romántico alemán, que he visto por primera vez en el archivo de Estudio-1. Mientras está sonámbulo, el príncipe Frederick von Homburg es objeto de una broma del Gran Elector Federico Guillermo de Brandenburgo, por lo que al día siguiente está pensativo y no se entera de las órdenes. Durante la batalla de Fehrbellin contra los suecos, transgrede las órdenes, y su transgresión les lleva al triunfo. A pesar de ello es condenado a muerte por desobediencia. El resto de la obra es la lucha de su amada la princesa Natalia y de los otros oficiales para conseguir que el Gran Elector le perdone.

ENGLISH: A curious German Romantic play, which I saw for the first time in the RTVE archive. While sleepwalking, Prince Frederick von Homburg is the target of a joke by the Grand Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, so the next day he is pensive and oblivious to his orders. During the Battle of Fehrbellin against the Swedes, he transgresses orders, and his transgression leads to their victory. Despite this, he is sentenced to death for disobedience. The rest of the play is the struggle of his beloved Princess Natalia and the other officers to obtain the Grand Elector's forgiveness.

[Elisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edit: 1 Stern.
Wieso habe ich ihm damals denn zwei gegeben? 😂😐

[Bookswithchristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pflicht, Ehre, Loyalität, individuelle Freiheit und die Konsequenzen von Befehlsverweigerung.

Heinrich von Kleists "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg" ist ein tiefgründiges Drama, das zeitlose Fragen über die Natur von Ehre, Gehorsam und individueller Freiheit aufwirft. Der Prinz repräsentiert die Komplexität des menschlichen Geistes, gefangen zwischen persönlicher Ambition und den Anforderungen der Gesellschaft. Das Stück ist nicht nur eine militärische Tragödie, sondern auch eine psychologische Erkundung menschlicher Reife und moralischer Verantwortung.

In diesem Drama wird deutlich, dass wahre Ehre nicht nur in persönlichen Errungenschaften, sondern auch in der Anerkennung der eigenen Verantwortung und der Akzeptanz von Konsequenzen liegt.

[FlorianS. · Rating 2 out of 5]

schreibt wohl nicht nur gold

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tuttə meritiamo amici come Hohenzoller e Kottwitz.

[Regitze Xenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly? Boring. I'm wondering how I'll view it after class on Monday, but in reading it, I was mostly just bored.

[Cary Brecher · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely can be read as proto-fascist, a lot of the specific word choice in the translation reflects a fascist understanding of the relation between the state and the individual, at the same time it can equally be read as a simple nationalism, the same kind of which was emerging across europe at the time of writing and for which the work would be less condemned if it was a french or english product. the antithetical reading of both these exists as well, and, imo the dominant one, where the prince's decision to give his life to maintain honor w/in the context of law and order and to subject himself to the state is a dumb one, driven by his cowardly feelings of uncertainty in the face of certain death as he looks for something resolute (the state) to depend on in his dying days. really i think kleist was struggling with his post-kantian crisis and gave a fair amount of credence to both sides of this dialectic, but i don't think a reading of this must necessarily be seen as proto-fascist

[Conor Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethereal and ripe with narrative misdirection, this dark and mysterious work forces the reader to consider their mortality, their willingness to sacrifice, and the fine lines between free will and determinism. Although ostensibly about the titular Prince, the narrative is dictated by the Elector (read: King). The Prince is nominally a man of power and influence. His fate, however, is guided by forces over which he has no control. Much like an audience member, the Prince’s experiences are predetermined.

For the Prince, that which is real is fake and that which is fake is real. In his dreams he experiences love, compassion, and adoration: the emotions that cannot be expressed in his lived reality, due to the iron grip of the Elector on his existence. He also intuits the direction of the forces that shape his reality. In the grips of consciousness, though he acts with the illusion of choice, his reality is a constructed state. He lives on the verge of death, existing only to follow orders. His one foray into self-determination is met with the most overt display of dominance in the narrative.

Kleist’s own struggles with faith shine through in the Calvinist ethics of the Prussia he depicts. Imagining the Elector as God, we have the story of a young man’s struggle with faith and his foray into sin through the violation of the commandments; the narrative crux being the everlasting goodness and magnanimity of the Lord. Indeed, this play gives rise to more than one interpretation, revolving around Kleist living out his internal struggles with the strictures of his time, and his desire for adoration and nobility. Kleist’s desire for a dramatic death is well documented, and his eventual murder-suicide pact carried out at Wannsee in Germany, was preceded by multiple attempts to die in a duel. The Prince, in this sense, may be seen as a vassal.

Although deemed unperformable on its publication, due to its depiction of emotion in a man of the military - the fear of a soldier, stripped naked to his bare essence when confronted with death - the ultimate message is one of obedience, honour, and conviction. If we are to take the optimistic view and believe that the dreams of the Prince describe the conditions of his reality, then we are left with a picture of triumph over adversity. On this view, a noble Prince, willing to die for the honour of King and Country, is saved by the adoration of his beautiful wife-to-be, the ranking officers in the army, and the grace of God and King.

On the pessimistic view, a beloved pawn is pushed around from the shadows, taken to the brink of the abyss and then pulled back by the vicissitudes of fate. His marching to and fro will ultimately cease in a manner as inane as his commuted death sentence

Kleist leaves us to decide. But I believe I know what Kleist thought.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of David Constantine's translation. It was a treat for me to re-read Kleist's most famous play after a 20-year interval, in the context of my chronological tour of early romanticism, and after reading 2 other Kleist plays and 3 of his fiction works.

Homburg, more than Broken Jug or Amphitryon, seems firmly in the romantic camp, and more evocative of Schiller. The title character is part Hamlet, part Calderon's Sigismundo, and yet his particular struggle between passion and duty plays out within a nationalistic framework.

The question, which Brecht would take up more darkly a century later in Die Massnahme, is how strict the state should be in enforcement of its laws. Should a brave soldier who defeats the enemy on the battlefield be put to death as a traitor because his victory was won by disobeying orders and undermining the larger battle plans?

The notion that even a hero may be disciplined seems unsurprising. However, Kleist elevates the conflict to an almost uncanny intensity, not only by making the penalty shockingly severe, but also by framing the hero's ordeal in the strangeness of dream.

A little practical joke set for the prince by the Elector as he strolls in the liminal space of a garden unexpectedly robs him of his sense of reality, and triggers a mythic consciousness. As with the mania of Alonso Quijana, Homburg finds himself in a chivalric dream. A dream of being an idealistic hero. In effect, he wins the battle in a heat of passion in which he is not truly himself. Kleist was trained as a lawyer, which he puts to great service here, as in Michael Kohlhaas, as Homburg will ultimately be exonerated on the technicality that he lacked the requisite intent and his crime was induced by a mistake of fact.

Or does Homburg's dream transform him into a better self? Does a great man find himself by losing himself? The play raises this question, and it is never fully dispelled despite the fact that the superior claim of the state prevails unequivocally. Homburg is a dream warrior, like Hamlet or Sigismundo. However, he is also a monster of patriotic duty who insists on his own death because it is required by the State. What is ultimately most unsettling about the play is that it leaves us with an uncomfortable uncertainty as to whether a deluded dream or a self-annihilating reality is more insane.

[Hadrian · Rating 1 out of 5]

5/10
Jeśli mam oceniać całą twórczość Kleista przez jedno tylko dzieło, to po "Księciu Homburga" rozumiem dlaczego ten poeta uległ zapomnieniu i stał w cieniu wielkich figur Goethego i Schillera.

Wszystko w tym dramacie jest dość płaskie, a dialogi są niezwykle ciężkie. Z tym ostatnim może przesadzam, ale dotychczasowe doświadczenia z tragediami Goethego i Schillera nauczyły mnie, że ci niemieccy romantycy potrafili stworzyć nie tylko autentycznie brzmiące dialogi, ale za jedynie ich pomocą zbudować nastrój wybranego momentu w dziejach Europy. Kleist tego nie potrafi, bo tła historycznego w "Księciu Homburgu" równie dobrze mogłoby nie być (co wcale nie świadczy o uniwersalności dzieła). Co prawda, jest tu całkiem niezłe zarysowany typowy konflikt tragiczny pomiędzy czuciem i wiarą (tytułowy Książę) a ład i praworządność (Elektor brandenburski). Drugą opcję można utożsamiać z pruskim militaryzmem, który Kleist zdaje się w "Księciu Homburgu" krytykować. Jednakże akcja dramatu jest tak bardzo nieciekawa, a przy tym oparta na dość dziwacznych sytuacjach (m.in. Homburg zupełnie bez powodu jawę bierze za sen), że wszelki potencjał wyparowuje.

Pozostaje mi mieć nadzieję, że przynajmniej nowele Kleista będą bardziej interesujące.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like Sophocles but two millennia later. The reason this should be compared with Sophocles and not just Goethe is that it is timeless in its civilizational and psychological juxtaposition. If Sophocles is narcissism then Kleist is borderline. A push and pull of love and war. An eclipse of essence and representation.

Prince of Homburg is also like the sequel to Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children. These are the conflicts of interest between those who rule and those who love. Power must be held accountable like anyone else, but also can’t be, without abandoning the last things still maintaining power’s humanity. Love challenges sanity itself. How do you love oneself or others in essence, without maintaining order and consistency in representation?

Finally, death changes its meaning for the prince throughout the entirety of the story. But the borderline juxtaposition always leads to this death drive situation where sanity is sacrificed for some momentary paroxysm. The glory of battle. Some form of powerful representation.

[مهرداد جنابی · Rating 5 out of 5]

یک نمایشنامه کلاسیک نوشته هاینریش فون کلایست که مهمترین اثر نمایشی از اوست.
ماجرای نمایش در مورد یک شاهزاده ی آلمانی است که در هنگام جنگ از فرمان فرمانده اش سرپیچی کرده و به مواضع دشمن حمله کرده و پیروز می شود. با اینکه شاهزاده در جنگ پیروز می شود اما به خاطر سرپیچی از فرمان فرمانده محکوم به اعدام می شود. ماجرا بسیار جذاب است و به تعبیر مترجم مسیری فلسفی در پیش می گیرد. من از ترجمه راضی بودم، با خواندن نمایشنامه یاد محاکمه ی سقراط افتادم که برای زنده ماندن تلاش نمی کرد و بیشتر به پرسش و زیر سوال بردن اساس آنچه که فکر می کنیم درست است می پرداخت. کتاب ضمائم فوق العاده ای دارد. از جمله مقاله ای نوشته ی خود مترجم که بسیار خواندنی است و همچنین فهرست هایی که برای خواندن نمایشنامه، کمک خوبی است و پیش از این برای کارهای شکسپیر به زبان انگلیسی دیده بودم. در هر صورت به نظرم هر علاقه مندی به فلسفه، تئاتر، نمایشنامه و نمایشنامه نویسی باید این کتاب را بخواند.

[Mia Strauß · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erst dachte ich mir, wie unverständlich, wie undurchsichtig! Aber dann ging’s mir langsam auf, das Licht. Als Leser wurde man völlig hineingerissen, in das Dilemma: Soll der Prinz für seine Untat, die doch so viel geholfen hat, sterben? Erst war man ganz dagegen, dann geriet man in Zweifel und schließlich hat man den Prinzen verehrt, wie alle im Stück. Und so wird er zum Schluss erlöst von seiner Schuld. Wie aber der Kurfürst umgestimmt werden konnte, hab ich noch nicht ganz verstanden. Jedenfalls war das Lesen im Endeffekt spannender als erwartet. Dennoch war es ein Buch über Krieg und mehr als das Dilemma gab es eigentlich auch nicht. Vieles ist mir noch offen, dennoch bin ich irgendwie fasziniert vom Stück, irgendwie mag ich es.

[Ava Jax · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shit ass play, pardon my German. I got so bored reading Acts III and IV that it took multiple attempts to read all the way through. Here’s the link to my essay comparing it to A Personal Matter, I think this is the most interesting I could make The Prince of Homburg sound. Would a bootleg have helped? Yes. Would analyzing it in any other way than close reading (and not getting assigned 150 pages of *extra* material) help? Yes. Personally, I don’t think this play is worth the time in a Classics of World Literature class but that’s just how the cookie crumbles.

[h · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

haven't read any other kleist's works or much of german romanticisim yet and i read this one for class. overall i have mixed feelings.

prince of homburg can be a fun play, it was a fast and enjoyable read but the only deep thing was the cirticism of prussian militarism, discipline and generally the whole ideology represented by elector. i rather recommend it as a fun play that doesn't require much from a reader (although there's quite a few characters so you might want to pay attention) and not some grand commentary on anything.

[kleinerpanda_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dieses Buch haben wir damals im Abi bearbeitet und ich habe es nicht sonderlich ernst genommen. Dies wollte ich nun, nach all den Jahren, mal nachholen. Es gibt viel zu lernen. Leider muss ich trotzdem sagen, dass es mir nicht allzu viel Freude bereitet hat. Dennoch bin ich froh, es endlich gelesen zu haben.

Da es so kurz ist, sollte jeder, der darüber nachdenkt, diesem Stück eine Chance geben und sich eine eigene Meinung bilden.

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

No primeiro ato eu não tava entendo nada com tanto personagem em cena, no segundo e terceiro durante a estratégia de batalha e o pós conflito aí ficou claro, mas chegou no quarto e principalmente final do quinto os devaneios do protagonista são tamanhos que não dá pra saber se o que acontece é o real ou as loucuras da mente do príncipe de Homburgo.

Esse pode ser um caso bem claro de como o roteiro de uma peça de teatro não encaixa tão bem como literatura.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

sadly the weakest of the kleist plays in my collection, it feels too much like boilerplate romanticism without any of his bleak feverishness, i will be charitable and chalk it up to an imperfect translation

[Chiaraditaranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

ho deciso di aggiungere a Goodreads i libri che ho letto/leggo per l'università perché ho realizzato che non arriverò mai a 25 libri letti per piacere alla fine dell'anno perché i libri per l'università mi consumano l'anima bye

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Perhaps it was not my favorite read, due to the historical nature of the text and the style of the translation. The language often look a little longer to process and on occasion another reading of the page. But I enjoyed the story for the most part.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still has some impact- of the Prussian sort. I read it after seeing the Henze opera.

[Leylamaría]

Prince of Homburg ur a legend tbh

[Hans]

SBB 105

[Monthana Dias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não esperava o tom onírico da narrativa, mas gostei. Não sei se entendi o final.

[Ulrike Bungert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh well.... Ich sehe nicht ganz den Unterschied zwischen dieser edlen Literatur und einem Groschenroman..

[Zweifel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zwar, eine Sonne, sagt man, scheint dort auch
Und über buntre Felder noch, als hier:
Ich glaub’s; nur Schade, dass das Auge modert,
Das diese Herrlichkeit erblicken soll.

[Susanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/6 points, play-script, Stück hat für mich nicht viel Beziehung zur heutigen Zeit, recht langweilig