Hildegard Wohlgemuth: industrial city on Sunday evenings

Hildegard Wohlgemuth and her sense of melancholy in the Ruhr area

The writer Hildegard Wohlgemuth, who died in 1994, came from the town of Wanne-Eickel, which has meanwhile been incorporated into Herne. Anyone who has ever been to Wanne or Eickel knows that the Ruhr area is one of its most typical there Page shows: Gray streets, in every direction you can see the chimneys of the surrounding ones Industry. In the seventies, all of these features were even more present, as heavy industry played a far greater role in the "coal pot" at that time. In 1971 Hildegard Wohlgemuth wrote the poem "Industrial City on Sundays Evenings" and thus set a monument to her homeland. This can be seen particularly well if you analyze the poem line by line.

Industrial city on Sunday evenings - an analysis

Before you start with the

interpretation you should note that the poem does not rhyme or follow a clear meter. It is true that beginnings of anapaest and iambus can be recognized, but there is no rhythm, no clear form. This alone perfectly underlines the natural chaos in the Ruhr area cities that have grown wild around industry.

• Then you will quickly see that each line creates a new picture, a new impression of the industrial city. Wohlgemuth does not proceed in a systematic manner, she describes things that take place in heaven, and then again very earthly things.
• Already in the first line it is noticeable that the city is personified even by Wohlgemuth. There she "brushes the smoke hair up" and you immediately see the image of rising smoke.
• This is how it continues: In the second and third lines it is described how the city moves, in the following lines how it "dresses" in neon jerseys and green belts.


Recognize and interpret line skip in the poem - instructions

Which pupil or student does not come at least once during their training ...

• The second stanza is about the "face" of the city, wrinkled with worries, but then more positive images follow: Longing under the floodlights of the soccer fields and the hope of winning the lottery at the kiosk create a feeling of Homeliness.
• Through these small snapshots, which the author uses strong and creative nouns like "Schlothals" and describes "hour of peace", a consistent vision of life in the large, dusty emerges Industrial city.
• It seems to be happening quietly and melancholy, and although the city is filthy and sorrowful, there are moments of peace and hope on a small scale.
• Last but not least, the title is also interesting, because most people associate free time with Sunday evening. In this poem, however, the chimneys are smoking - an allusion to the industriousness of the workers in the "Pott".

Conclusion: Look at a description of the life of the working class in the Ruhr area, in the middle of the last century - and you will understand what the author said in "Industriestadt Sunday Evenings" describes. She does this so aptly that every citizen of the Ruhr area has to recognize his hometown and its mood right away.