Germany poetry class (27/01/03)

Our lecturer on poetry was Ursual Kimpel. She based her teaching on two poets from Tübingen named Uwe Kolbe and Friedrich Hölderlin. The poets lived on the banks of the famous Neckar river. Ursula chose a lovely poem from Hölderlin that was called “Hälfte des Lebens”, it was about how things changed, people interpreted the poem in many ways. I for one interpreted it as how Hölderlin describes how life changes as when you are young, you are beautiful and vibrant, as you get old like the winter you are gloomy. This lecture about Hölderlin was helpful to us all as we all have walked towards the Neckar bridge and we all know the “Hölderlinstraße”.
The second poem was by Uwe Kolbe, it was mainly describing how Germany was destroyed in the war and Tübingen remained undamaged. The poet said Tübingen was a red apple on a broken trunk of a tree. This symbolises the division of Germany between East and West. Ursula also said that it really happened in real life, that when he came to Tübingen on his walk he really found an apple tree with just one apple left. It was a rewarding experience to know that Tübingen is home to two such prominent pets. The lecture was truly enjoyable.

(Mpumelelo Ntshangase, University of Natal, Durban)