Bertram, Ernst

(1884-1957)

   poet and writer; one-time companion of Stefan George,* best known for his biography of Nietzsche. Born in Elberfeld (now in Wuppertal), he studied literature and art history, taking a doctorate in 1907. While working as a private scholar, he was befriended in Munich by George, becoming part of his circle until the end of World War I. During these years he wrote literary articles, poetry, a few novellas, and essays on German self-awareness. His 1918 work on Nietzsche, for which he shared the Nietzsche Prize with Thomas Mann,* established his reputation. While the book was cel-ebrated by Friedrich Gundolf as a "memorial to the German spirit," it ruptured his relationship with George. Because it served as his Habilitation at Bonn, Bertram gained appointment in 1922 as Professor of German Literature at Co-logne; he held the chair until he was stripped of it in 1946 as part of denazifi-cation.

   Bertram's poetry revealed his debt to George. In 1925 he published Das Nordenbuch (The book of the north), an acclaimed selection exalting Teutonic culture. Meanwhile, his Nietzsche study was followed by solid books on Hein-rich von Kleist and Adalbert Stifter. In 1933 he delivered a lecture at Cologne tracing the roots of Germany's "awakening"—that is, the Nazi awakening—to George's poetry. Although no member of the George-Kreis openly declared himself hostile to the Nazis, Bertram was the only one who joined the NSDAP and found favor with it. Although he prevented the burning of works by Thomas Mann and Gundolf in May 1933, he nevertheless attended the "solemn auto-da-fe." Since 1945 his substantive writings have been largely ignored.

   REFERENCES:Benz and Graml, Biographisches Lexikon; Bithell, Modern German Lit-erature.