Eugen Roth was born on 24 January 1895 as the son of the Munich journalist and writer Hermann Roth and grew up in the city’s Schwabing quarter. He was severely wounded in the First World War near Ypres (Belgium) in October 1914. He took up studying history, art history, German linguistics and philosophy in Munich in 1916. He acquired his doctoral degree in 1922. From 1927 to 1933 Eugen Roth worked as an editor at the newspaper Münchner Neueste Nachrichten. In 1935 his first and most widely known poetry volume „Ein Mensch” („A human“) was published. In the subsequent decades, he published numerous poetry volumes and became one of Germany’s most popular and successful lyricists. Eugen Roth received numerous awards, for example the Federal Cross of Merit in 1965. He died in Munich on 28 April 1976.
Ein Mensch schaut in die Zeit zurück
Und sieht: Sein Unglück war sein Glück.
"A man looks back in time.
This makes him realize: What he considered his demise actually was a blessing in disguise."
Even today, almost fifty years after his death, many people still know his poems about “a human“, of which huge print runs were published and many of which have developed into well-known sayings. In addition, Eugen Roth wrote masterful narratives ("Der Weg übers Gebirg" – "The track across the mountains", 1942; “Abenteuer in Banz" – "Adventures in Banz", 1952) and volumes of anecdotes ("Lebenslauf in Anekdoten" – "Curriculum vitae in anecdotes", 1962; "Erinnerungen eines Vergesslichen" – "Memories of a forgetful person", 1972), which bring the old Munich from the time before the war back to life. Moreover, he was a highly sought-after occasional poet at many important official events, such as the 100th anniversary of the Germanic National Museum in 1952 or the speech at the topping-out ceremony of the Munich National Theatre in 1961.
The diversity of his literary work is mirrored by his personal papers. They comprise the complete manuscripts of his printed and unprinted works, among them over 76 volumes bound in leather, as well as the collection of his newspaper and journal articles. His extensive life documents also include awards, diaries and press articles and the documentation of his numerous book tours.
Voluminous correspondence forms part of the personal papers as well. With respect to time, it spans Roth’s entire life, and it includes many letters by well-known personalities of public life – evidencing Roth’s widely branched-out network in the cultural life in Munich and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Director General of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: "We are very proud that the personal papers of Eugen Roth now form part of the collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. The donation is an important asset for our collection of personal papers of Munich authors of the 20th century, such as Georg Britting, Georg von der Vring, Heinz Piontek and Hermann Lenz."
Press images for download
https://syncandshare.lrz.de/getlink/fiX86EumkaLa4QdmR7sbki/
Press release for download
Press release (PDF, 198 KB)
Contact
Dr. Maximilian Schreiber
Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books
Division Personal Papers and Autographs
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Ludwigstrasse 16, 80539 Munich
Phone +49 89 28638-2771
maximilian.schreiber@bsb-muenchen.de
Ulrike Rehusch
Communication
Phone +49 89 28638-2057
presse@bsb-muenchen.de
About the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Founded in 1558 by Duke Albrecht V, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, which holds around 38.5 million media units, is the largest scholarly universal library in Germany and one of the most important heritage institutions worldwide. With about 4.4 million digitized works, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek holds the largest digital data stock of all German libraries. The library offers a broad variety of services in the field of innovative digital use scenarios. In addition, it acts as the technical and editorial operator of the Bavarian state's cultural portal bavarikon and of the Literaturportal Bayern, as well as the technical operator of the official announcement platform of the Free State of Bavaria.