RODENBERG

RODENBERG (Levy ), JULIUS (1831–1914), German author and editor. Born into a well-to-do family in Rodenberg, Hessen (a town that inspired his later change of name), he sought complete integration into German life. Rodenberg was educated at several German universities, and after spending a number of years in Paris, London, and Italy, settled in Berlin in 1862. In 1874, he founded the Deutsche Rundschau and succeeded in attracting to this literary monthly many distinguished writers. He wrote verse collections, novels, short stories, feuilletons and travel sketches.

A keen observer of city life, Rodenberg described Europe's great capitals in Pariser Bilderbuch (1856), Alltagsleben in London (1860), Wiener Sommertage (1875) and, above all, in the three volumes of Bilder aus dem Berliner Leben (1885–88). This last work reflects the early years he spent in Berlin, the disappearance of old landmarks, and Berlin's transformation into a noisy dynamic capital. His autobiographical works include Erinnerungen aus der Jugendzeit (2 vols., 1899–1901) and Aus der Kindh (1907). For his biblical drama, Sulamit (1899), based on the Song of Songs, Anton *Rubinstein wrote a musical setting. His correspondence with Conrad Ferdinand Meyer appeared in 1918, edited by A. Langmesser. His correspondence with Georg Brandes, edited by K. Bohnen, appeared in 1980.

bibliography:

H. Spiero, Julius Rodenberg (Ger., 1921); H. Maync, Julius Rodenberg (Ger., 1925). add. bibliography: W. Haacke, Julius Rodenberg und die Deutsche Rundschau (1950); S. Neuhaus, "'Poesie der Sünde' – 'Triumph der Moral': Großbritannien in den Reiseberichten und Romanen des frühen Rodenberg," in: P. Alter and R. Muhs (eds.), Exilanten und andere Deutsche in Fontanes London (1996), 254–69; R. Berbig and J. Kitzbichler (eds.), Die Rundschau-Debatte 1877. Paul Lindaus Zeitschrift "Nord und Süd" und Julius Rodenbergs "Deutsche Rundschau." Dokumentation (1998); M. Günter, "'Dank und Dank: – ich wiederhole mich immer, nicht wahr?' Zum Briefwechsel zwischen Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach und Julius Rodenberg," in: R. Baasner, Briefkultur im 19. Jahrhundert (1999), 55–71; W. Hettche, "Nach alter Melodie, Die Gedichte von Julius Rodenberg, Wilhelm Jensen und Paul Heyse zum 70. Geburtstag Wilhelm Raabes," in: Jahrbuch der Raabe-Gesellschaft (1999), 144–56; P. Sprengel, "Zwischen Aesthetizismus und Volkstümlichkeit. Conrad Ferdinand Meyers Gedichte fuer Rodenbergs 'Deutsche Rundschau,'" in: M. Ritzer (ed.), Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (2001), 191–203.

[Sol Liptzin]