Wilhelm Bölsche

Bölsche was born in Cologne on 2 January 1861, son of journalist Carl Bölsche (16 March 1813 – 14 April 1891) long-time editor of the Kölnische Zeitung. As a secondary school student, Bölsche wrote essays on natural history for magazines such as "Die Gefiederte Welt" or "Isis". He studied from 1883 to 1885 philosophy, art history and archaeology at the University of Bonn. He did not complete studies of classical philology in Bonn, but in their course he traveled to Rome and Florence, then to Paris. Deciding that he could make writing his career, he moved to Berlin in the fall of 1886, financially supported by his parents. In Berlin-Friedrichshagen he became a central figure in the "Friedrichshagener Dichterkreis", which was an association of writers of naturalism, holding their first meetings in 1888/89 in the houses of Wilhelm Bölsche and Bruno Wille in Friedrichshagen am Müggelsee (now in the Berlin district of Treptow-Köpenick). This circle of friends would visit Erkner, where they sought the tranquility of the Brandenburg landscape near the cosmopolitan city of Berlin. The group became known enough for several Scandinavians to join it. The goal of this group of literati and intellectuals who settled around 1890 in Friedrichshagen, like of may other groups of that type sprouting up at that time, was social reform (German: Lebensreform) that promoted a bohemian, "natural" way of life as a response to industrialization and urbanization, a world view of life reform basically containing a secularized Gnostic-eschatological salvation doctrine (salvation through a "natural way of life"). Through Rudolf Lenz (1863–1938) and Bruno Wille Bölsche came into contact with the literary association "Durch!". Although most of his work covers natural history topics, Bölsche was not a trained naturalist, but an enthusiastic popularizer of the natural sciences. He was a friend of the biologist Ernst Haeckel and was an early conservationist. His publication of Das Liebesleben in der Natur ("The Love Life in Nature") in 1898 was the key for creating modern fact books in Germany. Boelsche also initiated with Wilhelm Schwaner (1863–1944) a prequel of the first German folk high school, the "Freie Hochschule Berlin" in 1902 and was an important instigator for the "Lebensreformbewegung" (Humanistic naturalism – key note: "Back to Nature") in Germany. In 1890 he and Bruno Wille founded the "Freie Volksbühne", which was intended as a workers' theater promoting the naturalist plays of the day. He also edited the most important cultural history review of the day, "Freie Bühne" (Free Stage) and popularized his free-thinking monism knowledge, based on the thoughts of Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel, in dozens of self-edited books and series released by Kosmos-Verlag in Stuttgart collaborating with the Berlin artist Heinrich Harder. His friendship with the Hauptmann brothers, Gerhart Hauptmann and Carl, brought Bölsche to Schreiberhau in the Giant Mountains, where he would spend the summer regularly, starting in 1901, making his permanent residence there in 1918. He continued to devote himself to his literary work and his extensive correspondence until old age.

Wilhelm Bölsche was first married in Berlin in 1892 to Adele Bertelt (1860–1942), but they divorced in 1895. He remarried in 1897 in Cologne to Johanna Walther (1863–1923), a childhood friend (sister of architect Julius Wilhelm Walther, daughter of civil engineer and later factory manager Wilhelm Heinrich Walther and Augusta Alwina te Kloot). The couple had three children: Ernst Wilhelm Julius (1898–1899), Karl Erich Bruno (1899–1977) and Johanna Alwine Elisabeth (1900–35). Wilhelm Bölsche died in Schreiberhau (now southern Poland) on 31 August 1939 and was interred at the evangelical cemetery of Nieder-Schreiberhau in Dept. F 3 next to his wife Johanna.

Paulus. Roman aus der Zeit des Kaisers Marcus Aurelius, 2 Bde., 1885 Der Zauber des Königs Arpus, Roman, 1887 Die naturwissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der Poesie. Prolegomena einer realistischen Ästhetik, 1887 Heinrich Heine. Versuch einer ästhetisch-kritischen Analyse seiner Werke und seiner Weltanschauung, 1888 Die Poesie der Großstadt, 1890 Die Mittagsgöttin, 3 Bde., Roman, 1891 Freireligiöse Neujahrsgedanken. Festvortrag, gehalten am 1. Januar 1893 in der Freireligiösen Gemeinde zu Berlin, 1893 Entwicklungsgeschichte der Natur, 2 Bde., 1894-1896 Das Liebesleben in der Natur, 1898 - 1902 Ernst Haeckel. Ein Lebensbild, 1900 Die Entwicklungslehre (Darwinismus), 1900 Vom Bazillus zum Affenmenschen. Naturwissenschaftliche Plaudereien, 1900 Goethe im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert. Ein Vortrag, 1900 Hinter der Weltstadt. Friedrichshagener Gedanken zur ästhetischen Kultur, 1901 Die Eroberung des Menschen, 1901 Die Entwicklungslehre im 19. Jahrhundert, 1901 Von Sonnen und Sonnenstäubchen. Kosmische Wanderungen, 1903 Aus der Schneegrube. Gedanken zur Naturforschung, 1903 Het Menschenraadsel, 1904 Die Abstammung des Menschen 1904 Weltblick. Gedanken zu Natur und Kunst, 1904 Naturgeheimnis, 1905 Der Sieg des Lebens, 1905 Die Schöpfungstage. Umrisse zu einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Natur, 1906 Im Steinkohlenwald, 1906 Was ist die Natur?, 1907 (Illustration: Marie Gey-Heinze) Auf den Spuren der tropischen Eiszeit, 1907 Tierbuch (Illustration: Heinrich Harder) Bd. 1: 1908 Bd. 2: Das Pferd und seine Geschichte, 1909 Bd. 3: Der Hirsch und seine Geschichte, 1911 Darwin, seine Bedeutung im Ringen um Weltanschauung und Lebenswert. 6 Aufsätze, 1909 Der Mensch in der Tertiärzeit und im Diluvium, 1909 Auf dem Menschenstern. Gedanken zu Natur und Kunst, 1909 Tiere der Urwelt, 1910 (Illustration: Heinrich Harder) Komet und Weltuntergang, 1910 Stunden im All, 1910 Festländer und Meere im Wechsel der Zeiten, 1913 Stirb und Werde! Naturwissenschaftliche und kulturelle Plaudereien, 1913 Tierwanderungen in der Urwelt, 1914 (Illustration: Heinrich Harder) Von Wundern und Tieren. Neue naturwiss. Plaudereien, 1915 Der Stammbaum der Insekten, 1916 Schutz- und Trutzbündnisse in der Natur, 1917 Eiszeit und Klimawechsel, 1919 Naturphilosophische Plaudereien, 1920 Tierseele und Menschenseele, 1924 Erwanderte deutsche Geologie. Die Sächsische Schweiz, 1925 Von Drachen und Zauberküsten. Abenteuer aus dem Kampf mit dem Unbekannten in der Natur, 1925 Die Abstammung der Kunst, 1926 Im Bernsteinwald, 1927 Drachen. Sage und Naturwissenschaft. Eine volkstümliche Darstellung, 1929 Der Termitenstaat. Schilderung eines geheimnisvollen Volkes, 1931 Das Leben der Urwelt: Aus den Tagen der großen Saurier, 1932 Was muß der neue deutsche Mensch von Naturwissenschaft und Religion fordern. Vortrag, 1934

Christoph Martin Wielands ausgewählte Werke, 4 Bde., 1902 Novalis. Ausgewählte Werke, 3 Bde., 1903 Des Angelus Silesius Cherubinischer Wandersmann, 1905