Annotated Edition of the Correspondence between Gottfried Benn and F.W. Oelze (1932-1956)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Stephan Kraft
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2010 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 167100765

The objective of the project is to make available the correspondence between Gottfried Benn and Friedrich Wilhelm Oelze from 1932 to 1956 in a complete annotated edition, after Benn's letters to Oelze had already been issued separately between in 1977 and 1980. For the first time, Benn's undoubtedly most significant correspondence that became his central forum for literary and poetological as well as for political and personal reflections particularly after the ban on publication under National Socialism and during the early postwar years thus will be accessible to the public in its entirety. In our first application from 2010, we initially asked for support only for a separate edition of Oelze's letters to Benn. Since the above mentioned possibility to publish the letters in the form of a complete edition has opened meanwhile, we are applying for a one-year extension of support so that we can accommodate the additional efforts required by this reconceptualization.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Harald Steinhagen