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Conceptual aspects of the Project

"The Calender-Stories from our book in English Translation"


* Johann Peter Hebel, teacher, headmaster, and eventually Lutheran Prelate, contributed a handful of pieces each year to the Baden Rural Calendar from 1803 to 1807. The first edition was in 1803, and the fourth reprint came out in 1808, the same year in which he was also appointed Headmaster of Karlsruhe Grammar School. In 1806, Baden became a Dukedom, with the former Margrave, and then Elector, Karl Friedrich, being elevated to the position of Grand Duke under the auspices of the French occupation. During this intense, fast-moving period of history, Karl Friedrich, a benevolent autocrat, instigated many social changes, including freeing his serfs in 1783 and emancipating his Jewish subjects in 1809. In 1807, he appointed Hebel as the sole editor and author of an almanac to replace the loss-making, ineffective Baden Rural Calendar. The Grand Duke’s aim was to raise the literacy level of his subjects, particularly those landworkers and servants who had little, if any, schooling. Since the Bible and the almanac were the only two books in many people’s houses, Hebel was given a project with vast potential. His replacement almanac, The Rhineland Family Friend, or the New Calendar, which he edited and wrote from 1808 to 1815, and once more in 1819, gained an immense readership, not only fulfilling his brief, but going beyond it. *

* A skilled communicator, Hebel successfully wrote for a wide audience with varying reading skills. His reinvigorated almanac, The Rhineland Family Friend, which he urged the Baden church authorities to undertake, demonstrates awareness of the readership. Innovatively, Hebel insisted that more narrative pieces be included, and carefully arranged the text and illustrations to best engage his readers. His persona, the Rhineland Family Friend, who narrates the stories, provides an overarching framework, addressing the reader directly. Despite offering moral interpretations, this Friend does not sermonise. Hebel’s use of multi-voiced dialogue, refracted through this persona, gives the almanac narratives a strong oral quality. He stipulated that these narratives should range from “jokes to executions, and from murderous deeds to something meaningful, something outlandish, something strange or something puzzling.” His almanac narratives exceed this list, to include parables; retellings of fables and fairy tales; stories with journalistic, topical or historical interest; and stories which invert the socially accepted status quo. Several stories feature the pranks of rogues and tricksters, told through engaging, lively dialogue and absurd humour. Their protagonists are types drawn from folkloric tradition, who escape punishment as they outwit the establishment and the rule of law. Given Hebel’s status as Prelate, this comedic, carnivalesque subversion appears unexpected, particularly because these folkloric stories omit moral guidance. However, his omission of moral guidance is intentional. It not only appeals to and entertains his readers, but frees them to form their own interpretation and allows him to mock the shortcomings of authority. In stark contrast, in The Rhineland Family Friend, is the anecdote, “A Secret Beheading”, an account of an execution made even more horrific by the absence of explanations. The poignant, highly acclaimed “Unexpected Meeting” fulfils Hebel’s stipulation for “something meaningful” in the almanac; the many misunderstandings of “Kannitverstan” render it “outlandish” and “strange”, while “The Two Postilions” is so concise as to be “puzzling”. *

The calendar stories presented here, translated into English, follow the chronological order of the stories mentioned in the book and thus offer English-speaking readers the opportunity to read these stories in full in their own language, as I assume that not all of these “Hebel enthusiasts” are sufficiently proficient in German.
The translations were created using the free version of the translation software “DeepL,” manually reviewed, and corrected where necessary, and should adequately capture the “Hebel tone” of the stories in English as much as possible.

I would like to address a few specific points here:

1. The calendar stories contain specific terms—particularly character names—for which I have chosen the translations
    selected by the authors Val Scullion and Marion Treby for our book; but these differ in some cases from those used
    in earlier translated scripts and books:
    Zundelfrieder = Freddy Tinder; Zundelheiner = Henry Tinder; Roter Dieter = Dodgy Dieter; Hausfreund = Family Friend;

2. In some cases, terms were not translated but left in their original form:
    Adjunkt (= assistant); Groschen (penny/cent);

3. Some translations have been adapted to reflect earlier language usage, even though the term may not exist in English
    as such; for example: “Strickreuter” > ‘Strickreiter’ = “Roperider” (i.e. riders, who bind captured criminals with ropes
    and escort them to prison);

4. The large number of town and village names used by Hebel have also been retained, regardless of whether they refer
    to real or fictional locations.

5. The calendar stories were written in standard German, specifically in the style and spirit of the period between 1800
    and 1820; however, there are words and phrases—both in general and particularly in Hebel’s work—for which there are
    no direct equivalents in English. Here, an effort has been made to stay as close to the original as possible.

*...*  Zitate aus dem Buch:

Val Scullion PhD, Marion Treby PhD,
& Hansjürg Baumgartner, Webmaster J. P. Hebel

Johann Peter Hebel: Unoriginal Innovator
and Sophisticated German Man of Letters
(1760-1826)