http://www.artsci.uc.edu/german/lessing

Fall 2004

The Lessingjahr 2004 -- a year commemorating his 275th birthday - has been marked by signal events. Wolfgang Albrecht, Stiftung Weimarer Klassik und Kunstsammlungen, was voted in as president of the Society with a two-year term of office (until January 2006), and Steve Martinson (University of Arizona) as vice president. In keeping with recent practice, the offices have been filled by a European and a North American. - In January, Richard E. Schade (University of Cincinnati) and Wolfgang Albrecht, among others, participated in the meeting of the Museumsbeirat in Kamenz, an event scheduled to coincide with the opening of the 43rd Lessingtage. The President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse, held the keynote address of the annual commemoration. As a Germanist he graciously accepted a copy of the Lessing Yearbook. During the comparable time-frame, Johannes Rau, Germany's President, honored Lessing in Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig.

Associated with the varied program of the Lessingtage in Kamenz was the conference >>Mit Lessing zur Moderne. Soziokulturelle Wirkungen des Aufklärers um 1900<<, 3-5 March, a Tagung funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft and the Freistaat Sachsen. The events took place in Kamenz and Weimar and members of the Lessing Society spoke - Albrecht, Wilfried Barner (Göttingen), Fritz Breithaupt (Indiana University), Dieter Fratzke (Lessing-Museum Kamenz), Wulf Koepke (Boston), Martinson, Monika Nenon (University of Memphis), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University) and Schade. A ceremonial highpoint was a reception with Hellmuth Seemann, President of the Weimarer Stiftung, a man on whose shoulders have since fallen the many responsibilities attendant to the tragic conflagration at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. A conference proceedings volume is forthcoming during the current autumn.

>>Lessings Grenzen<<, a conference held under the auspices of the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel during late April, opened with a keynote address by Lilianne Weissberg (University of Pennsylvania) on Hannah Arendts Lessing-Preisrede (1959). A review in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented on Weissberg's paper at length, while also discussing Schade's paper on the first American Lessing performance in Charleston, SC, in 1795, and on the 2002 production of Nathan der Weise on the Off-Broadway stage. Especially noteworthy was a tour of the newly installed exhibit in the Wolfenbüttel Lessinghaus. A conference proceedings volume is planned.

All in all, then, the anniversary year was appropriately celebrated by the involvement of members of the Lessing Society in Kamenz, Weimar and Wolfenbüttel. Cincinnati's contribution was, of course, volume XXXV of the Lessing Yearbook / Jahrbuch, an edition marking the formal commencement of the cooperation between the Society and the Lessing Akademie in Wolfenbüttel. Beyond that, the papers presented at the annual convention of the Modern Language Association, late December in Philadelphia, will ring out the Lessingjahr 2004.

You will note that dues for the Lessing Society have not increased in several years. In a concerted effort to hold down costs to the membership, the administrative officers of the Society continually seek additional subvention support from agencies and benefactors, here and abroad. Kindly do your part as members by submitting your dues payment by early November. Encourage your students and colleagues to join the Society. Vielen Dank. -- Any questions you might have may be directed to >>Richard.Schade@uc.edu<<.

Submissions to the Lessing Yearbook

The editorial team of the Lessing Yearbook annually processes some fifty article-length submissions (contact >>Richard.Schade@uc.edu<<), not to mention numerous book reviews (contact >>Hrowland@purdue.edu<<). While there is no absolute deadline on submission, the manuscript for the next yearbook volume is usually assembled in March / April of any given year. Reviews and articles may be submitted electronically as attachments.