History Literature / DerStechlin

* EndOfAnEra: Dubslav's death is treated as this, and the whole novel can bee seen as a study in the changes of German and Prussian society after the death of Emperor Wilhelm I and the dismissal of Chancellor Bismarck.

** [[MultiethnicName Niels Wrschowitz]] dislikes his given name intensely, partly because it is Northern Germanic and does not fit with his Czech surname, but more importantly because his father named him after the 19th century Danish composer Niels Gade, whom he, as a very pronounced [[Music/RichardWagner Wagnerian]], has come to detest. Wrschowitz thus went to the effort of earning a doctorate in music so that he could print "Dr. Wrschowitz" on his calling-cards without the embarrassing first name.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are more than sixty named characters in the novel.

** Some of the noble families appearing in the book are very old, which in that part of Brandenburg often means Slavic in origin. Thus one of Adelheid's associates is a Fräulein von Triglaff, whose name is that of a Slavic god ("three-head") and Adelheid mentions in passing that the maiden name of her own mother was von Radegast, the name of another Slavic god (which also was used by J. R. R. Tolkien for his character [[Literature/LordOfTheRings Radagast the Brown]]). Dubslav on another occasion mentions that in the baptismal registry her first name is listed as "Adelheide", which combines ''Adel'' (nobility) and ''Heide'' (heathen); in the course of the novel it is hinted that Adelheids narrow Protestant orthodox piety is less a matter of true faith than of her insistence on the norms and conventions of her class and its position in the social order.

* Creator/FriedrichNietzsche: At one point Dubslav voices his intense rejection of the concept of the ''Übermensch''.

* UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}: The chapters set in Berlin present an interesting picture of the Prussian and German capital growing into its new role as a European metropolis. The attitudes of the Berliners, especially the middle classes, in contrast still appear more than a little provincial.

* UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat: Is mentioned quite a bit, as Dubslav admires him and because Rheinsberg, where Frederick spent the years before his accession to the throne, is quite near to the Stechlin.

* UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany: By cutting down on plot, ''Der Stechlin'' provides a wide social, political and cultural panorama of Germany in the 1890s. Politics play a significant part e. g. when Dubslav runs in a ''Reichstag'' bye-election and tactical voting by the liberals leads to the victory of the Social Democratic candidate, Torgelow.

* UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck: Dubslav bears a certain resemblance to the Iron Chancellor, as many people have told him. He is half-amused and half-annoyed about this, wondering if they expect him to be grateful to God (or even to Bismarck himself) for this resemblance.

* UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben: Dubslav is a retired major of the Brandenburg Cuirassiers, which was named after Czar Nicholas I, the regiment's former honorary colonel-in-chief. This fits in with Dubslav's conservatism and nostalgia for the old close relationship between Prussia and Russia. His son Woldemar is an active captain (''Rittmeister'') in the 1st Guard Dragoons. Not long before the beginning of the novel, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria of Great Britain and Ireland was appointed honorary colonel-in-chief of this regiment and later Woldemar von Stechlin travels to London as part as a delegation of the regiment to her court. On the insistence of the bride, the Barby-Stechlin wedding is held in the garrison church of Berlin.
** Von Czako is a captain of the Guards Grenadier Regiment "Alexander I of Russia", von Rex is a reserve officer of the 2nd Guard Dragoons. A number of other characters also have a military background: Kluckhuhn, the ''Schulze'' (village magistrate) of Stechlin is a proud veteran of the Danish-German War of 1864, which earned him the nickname Rolf Krake (after a Danish warship). Katzler was awarded an Iron Cross in the [[FrancoPrussianWar Franco-German War]].

* UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben: Dubslav is a retired major of the Brandenburg Cuirassiers, which was named after Czar Nicholas I, the regiment's former honorary colonel-in-chief. This fits in with Dubslav's conservatism and nostalgia for the old close relationship between Prussia and Russia. His son Woldemar is an active captain (''Rittmeister'') in the 1st Guard Dragoons. Not long before the beginning of the novel, QueenVictoria of Great Britain and Ireland was appointed honorary colonel-in-chief of this regiment and later Woldemar von Stechlin travels to London as part as a delegation of the regiment to her court. On the insistence of the bride, the Barby-Stechlin wedding is held in the garrison church of Berlin.

* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Countess Melusine's name is commented on a lot. It comes from a medieval French legend of a knight marrying a woman called Mélusine (sometimes spelled: Merlusigne) and one day, when he came home unexpectedly seeing in her true mermaid form[[note]] In some versions she is more of a snake-woman. [[/note]], causing her to flee from him. According to this legend the powerful Lusignan family was descended from her. Since Mélusine is usually described as a demoness or a water-spirit, it is no surprise that Adelheid von Stechlin deeply disapproves of Countess Melusine.

Dubslav von Stechlin, a widowed retired officer, lives a quiet life on his estate with his valet Engelke, regularly visited by the Protestant pastor Lorenzen and the village schoolmaster Krippenstapel, and a somewhat looser contact to a few of the other noblemen who live in the surroundings. His only son, Woldemar, is an active cavalry officer in the Guards and stationed in UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}. Here he moves in more varied social circles; his two closest friends are two fellow officers, the slightly frivolous Captain von Czako and the serious, pious and pedantic government offical and reserve officer von Rex. Woldemar is introduced to the family of Count von Barby, a retired diplomat, and becomes attracted to his two daughters and ends up having to choose between the witty and mysterious Melusine and the more serious and idealistic Armgard. The Barbys are a more "exotic" family -- the Count's late wife was Swiss, his daughters grew up in London while he served in the embassy there -- and have a very diverse circle of friends and acquaintances, including the Bavarian diplomat Baron Berchtesgaden and his earthy and vivacious wife, the Czech pianist Dr. Wrschowitz, and the excentric painter Cujacius.

''Der Stechlin'' is the last great novel by the German poet and writer [[DichterAndDenker Theodor Fontane]]; it first appeared in serial form from 1895 to 1897 and as a book in 1899. As the title indicates, it is set on the shore of the Stechlin, a (real) lake in northern Brandenburg, in the (fictional) manor and village of the same name. The central character, Dubslav von Stechlin, is an ageing nobleman or "Junker" rooted in the traditions of Prussia and the province of Brandenburg. There isn't much of a plot: as Fontane wrote to a friend, all that happens is that an old man dies and two young people get married, but the important thing is how this story is told. In countless conversations between the major and minor characters -- who come from all walks of life -- a perspicacious portrait of German and Prussian society in the first decade of the rule of Wilhelm II emerges. As a summation of the wisdom of Fontane's old age, the novel never quite achieved the popularity of e. g. ''Literature/EffiBriest'', but it is considered one of the great German novels, especially after Thomas Mann wrote an essay about it. It was filmed for West German television in 1975.

Dubslav von Stechlin, a widowed retired officer, lives a quiet life on his estate with his valet Engelke, regularly visited by the Protestand pastor Lorenzen and the village schoolmaster Krippenstapel, and a somewhat looser contact to a few of the other noblemen who live in the surroundings. His only son, Woldemar, is an active cavalry officer in the Guards and stationed in UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}. Here he moves in more varied social circles; his two closest friends are two fellow officers, the slightly frivolous Captain von Czako and the serious, pious and pedantic government offical and reserve officer von Rex. Woldemar is introduced to the family of Count von Barby, a retired diplomat, and becomes attracted to his two daughters and ends up having to choose between the witty and mysterious Melusine and the more serious and idealistic Armgard. The Barbys are a more "exotic" family -- the Count's late wife was Swiss, his daughters grew up in London while he served in the embassy there -- and have a very diverse circle of friends and acquaintances, including the Bavarian diplomat Baron Berchtesgaden and his earthy and vivacious wife, the Czech pianist Dr. Wrschowitz, and the excentric painter Cujacius.

''Der Stechlin'' is the last great novel by the German poet and writer [[DichterAndDenker Theodor Fontane]]; it first appeared in serial form from 1895 to 1897 and as a book in 1899. As the title indicates, it is set on the shore of the Stechlin, a (real) lake in northern Brandenburg, in the (fictional) manor and village of the same name. The central character, Dubslav von Stechlin, is an ageing nobleman or "Junker" rooted in the traditions of Prussia and the province of Brandenburg. There isn't much of a plot: as Fontane wrote to a friend, all that happens is that an old man dies and two young people get married, but the important thing is how this story is told. In countless conversations between the major and minor characters - who come from all walks of life - a perspicacious portrait of German and Prussian society in the first decade of the rule of Wilhelm II emerges. As a summation of the wisdom of Fontane's old age, the novel never quite achieved the popularity of e. g. ''Literature/EffiBriest'', but it is considered one of the great German novels, especially after Thomas Mann wrote an essay about it. It was filmed for West German television in 1975.

Dubslav von Stechlin, a widowed retired officer, lives a quiet life on his estate with his valet Engelke, regularly visited by the Protestand pastor Lorenzen and the village schoolmaster Krippenstapel, and a somewhat looser contact to a few of the other noblemen who live in the surroundings. His only son, Woldemar, is an active cavalry officer in the Guards and stationed in UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}. Here he moves in more varied social circles; his two closest friends are two fellow officers, the slightly frivolous Captain von Czako and the serious, pious and pedantic government offical and reserve officer von Rex. Woldemar is introduced to the family of Count von Barby, a retired diplomat, and becomes attracted to his two daughters and ends up having to choose between the witty and mysterious Melusine and the more serious and idealistic Armgard. The Barbys are a more "exotic" family - the Count's late wife was Swiss, his daughters grew up in London while he served in the embassy there - and have a very diverse circle of friends and acquaintances, including the Bavarian diplomat Baron Berchtesgaden and his earthy and vivacious wife, the Czech pianist Dr. Wrschowitz, and the excentric painter Cujacius.

* TornFromTheHeadlines: The outcome of the by-election was based on a real-life by-election where tactical voting by liberal and socialist voters defeated the Conservative candidate. In the novel partisans of the ''Fortschrittpartei'' (progressive liberals) help the Social Democrat Torgelow to gain his majority, in real life it had been the other way around.

In the course of the novel Dubslav unsuccessfully becomes the Conservative candidate in a bye-election, which is won by the Social Democratic candidate. This is one of the many illustrations of one of the central themes of the novel, the change from the old to the new. But while Dubslav is politically conservative, he is also very undogmatic and open to new ideas and views that do not agree with his own. This is also made evident in the fact that he appointed the progressive idealist Lorenzen as pastor of the parish church and tutor to his son even though Lorenzen is accused of being a subversive and near-unbeliever by the more conservative and conventional Protestants, not least Dubslav's extremely narrow-minded spinster half-sister Adelheid. But the forces of the new aren't idealized either, and so it is understandable that Lorenzen sums up his position that Lorenzen sums up his aims as "Better with the old as far as possible and with the new as far as necessary."