Bang, Herman

Herman Joachim Bang, dansk forfatter

Født: 20.4.1857 på Als - faderen var præst

Død: 29.1.1912 i Utah, USA på forelæsningsturne

Biografi i relation til Sæby

Herman Bang kom på Sorø Akademi og blev student i 1875. Samme år døde faderen, og Herman kom i huset hos sin farfar, den ansete læge Ole Bang, der døde i 1877.

Herman Bang, der hurtigt fik formøblet sin arv og havde økonomiske problemer i resten af sit liv, forsøgte sig uden held som skuespiller, med lidt større held som forfatter af et par enaktere og med stort held som journalist.

I skildringen af barndom byggede Herman Bang på sine egne barndomsoplevelser: Utrygheden ved faderen, hvis manio-depressive psykose længst muligt søges skjult for omverdenen, og en desto stærkere binding til moderen, hvis død af tuberkulose giver William (som den gav Bang) et ulægeligt sår.

Hans moderbinding får ham til at falde for meget ældre kvinder; skildringen af et sådant forhold vakte anstød og gav anledning til tiltale og dom for pornografi. Der blev anlagt sag mod Bang, og 23. juli 1881 faldt dommen, der lød på 100 kr. bøde eller 14 dages fængsel, såfremt bøden ikke kunne betales. Bogen blev beslaglagt.

Bang ville nogle år efter udgive sin bog uden de bortdømte scener. Han gik på Det Kongelige Bibliotek for at låne et eksemplar af bogen, som han ikke ejede. På biblioteket fik han at vide, at selv om bogen "nok fandtes de facto, så eksisterede den ikke de jure". Det lykkedes ham dog efter en del forhandlinger af få adgang til bogen på læsesalen, men han måtte højst læse i den 1 time.

I bogen Stoppet i farten – Herman Bang i karikaturens troldspejl (Gyldendal, 2007) giver værket for første gang en samlet indføring i Bangs private og offentlige liv set gennem karikaturens troldspejl. Han var et hyppigt emne i vittighedsbladene, og bogen kommenterer et stort antal karikaturtegninger af Bang fra bladenes humørspalter.

Fra Bangs litterære debut i 1878 til hans død som i januar 1912 omtaltes han stadigt i medierne. ”De er jo så nem! Og Dem kan jeg” svarede en vittighedstegner ham på spørgsmålet: "Hvorfor gør De nar af mig i pressen uge efter uge?"

Herman Bang boede 1863-1872 i Søndergade 41 i Horsens. Der er opsat en mindetavle i porten.

Sæby

Første gang, præstesønnen og forfatteren Herman Bang valgte at forlade København for at rejse til Sæby for at få arbejdsro og inspiration, var i 1891, og han vendte tilbage flere gange de følgende år.

"Jeg er selv jyde, og det bedste, jeg skrev, bærer noksom vidne derom. Jeg er selv fra provinsen, og måske sidder provinsen mig dybest i blodet," siger han i 1904. De første år boede han på Hotel Harmonien på torvet i Sæby, og siden, da Clasens Hotel var etableret, hos ægteparret Clasen. Her sørgede fru Clasen omsorgsfuldt og husmoderligt for ham og bar over med hans udseende og væremåde. 1890'erne var dekadencens og nervelidelsernes årti, og Bang blev opfattet som den mest dekadente og nervøst lidende af alle. Han var homoseksuel, hvilket dengang var kriminelt, han var aparte i påklædning og opførsel og brød jævnligt sammen på grund af følelsesmæssige kriser.

Han var næsten konstant i pengemangel og dulmede indimellem sine op- og nedture med lidt for megen spiritus.

Sommerglæder

Omkring år 1900 var Sæby næsten lige så populært opholds- og inspirationssted som Skagen. Sæby har bare ikke været lige så kvik som Skagen til at markedsføre sig på fortiden, så i dag forbinder de færreste vel Sæby med livlig kunstnerby.

Én bog har dog på ganske særlig måde formået at fastholde Sæby-indtryk for eftertiden. Herman Bangs "Sommerglæder" fra 1902 blev på samme tid bestseller og skandale i sin samtid.

Skandale, fordi skildringen af et hektisk døgn i et sommerpensionat i provinsen hos ægteparret "Brasen" ikke bare udleverede ægteparret "Clasen" fra Clasens Hotel på Algade i Sæby, men store dele af byens persongalleri. Bang havde skarpt blik for folks særheder. "Fru Brasen", eller fru Clasen selv, beskrives som en lidt ulækker og sjusket kone, hvis køkken altid flyder, og som, da fadet "med den svedige bøf" skal ind til gæsterne "fór med sin tommelfinger hen over bøffadskanten og fik den tørret". "Brasen" eller Clasen er doven og vil helst bare lange øl ud i skænkestuen og sørge for, at suppen bliver godt pebret, for så bliver gæsterne mere tørstige.

Om "tjener Christian" hører vi, at "Han svedte altid over hele hovedet, der var stort, som var der vand i det. (....) Når han løb, og han løb altid, jumpede det hele bagparti, som havde han også vandfyldte luftpuder bagtil".

Bang har også sans for tidens forstilthed og klassebevidsthed og for provinsbyens interne uoverstigelige svælg mellem den herskende klasse, konsulen, lægen, præsten og apotekeren, og underklassen, repræsenteret af tjenestefolk, fiskere og småhandlende. Og det hele fortælles, så man klukker af grin, men også gyser ind imellem.

Balladen

"Sommerglæder", som Herman Bang skrev i løbet af få uger, udkom på Det Nordiske Forlag i et oplag på 6000 eksemplarer, illustreret af Hans Tegner og under mottoet: "La vie est bien triste – enfins rions" – livet er trist nok – lad os derfor le. Anmelderne var begejstrede, men én af dem bemærker, at bogens hovedpersoner jo er de velkendte ejere af Clasens Hotel i Sæby, og så bryder uvejret løs!

Da bogen udkommer, er hr. og fru Clasen flyttet til Hjørring, hvor de driver gæstgiveri. Især for fru Clasen er skildringen af hende og hotellet i Sæby et hårdt slag. Hun låser sig grædende inde. Det forlød på et tidspunkt, at Gustav Clasen havde indgivet klage over Bang til Dansk Forfatterforening, fordi forfatteren havde fremstillet ægteparret så uheldigt, at "det kunne skade dem i deres daglige bedrift og i medborgernes dom over dem som mennesker". Men det afviste fru Clasen senere. En klage kunne alligevel ikke "bedre på den fortræd, han har tilføjet os", mente hun.

Andre var lige så forargede, og der blev skrevet debatindlæg til aviserne og breve til Bang om det forsmædelige i, at han havde misbrugt fru Clasens tillid og venlighed. I Nationaltidendes spalter undrede man sig over, at forfatteren ikke bare kunne have givet sin romanfigur et almindeligt navn som Sørensen. Bang forklarede, at personbeskrivelsen ikke var ment som en latterliggørelse af hans "moderlige veninde", fru Clasen, men at han bare "for hele billedets skyld" havde brugt et navn, der lå originalen så nær som mulig.

Det endte med, at Herman Bang skrev et brev til fru Clasen i Hjørring og bad om tilgivelse for den sorg, han åbenbart havde forvoldt hende. Fru Clasen svarede ikke, og det skulle efter sigende have pint forfatteren ganske gevaldigt.

Brasen

For at det ikke skulle være løgn, dukkede en stabsintendant og en ritmester med efternavnet Brasen efterfølgende op hos Dansk Forfatterforening for at klage over Herman Bang. De følte at han i "Sommerglæder" krænkede familienavnet Brasen og bad om, at kendte og respekterede slægtsnavne ikke i fremtiden ikke blev misbrugt. Klagen tages op næste dag til forfatterforeningens generalforsamling og dagen efter bemærker Nationaltidende, at: "Formanden oplæste under forsamlingens munterhed den udførlige klage op", og at bestyrelsen i øvrigt ikke ser så sig i stand til at foretage videre i sagen.

Clasens Gård

Clasens fortsatte deres virke på Kyppers Hotel i Hjørring, indtil Clasen døde i 1906. Herefter flyttede Martine eller "Jansine", som hun hed i "Sommerglæder", tilbage til Sæby, nær sit gamle hotel, hvor hun døde i 1921. Et par år før havde Sæby Byråd besluttet at købe det tidligere Clasens Hotel og indrette det til alderdomshjem og kommunekontor.

Årtier senere, i 1940, filmatiserede Svend Methling "Sommerglæder" med Ellen Gottschalck og Rasmus Christiansen i hovedrollerne som ægteparret Brasen. Filmen, der fik fine anmeldelser, blev optaget i Dragør.

Bangsbo

Efter skandalen i Sæby kom Herman Bang ikke længere på sommerhold i byen. I stedet blev herregården Bangsbo ved Frederikshavn hans foretrukne opholdssted de kommende år.

Biography in relation to Sæby

Herman Bang attended Sorø Akademi and graduated in 1875. The same year his father died, and Herman moved in with his grandfather, the respected doctor Ole Bang, who died in 1877.

Herman Bang, who quickly squandered his inheritance and had financial problems for the rest of his life, tried unsuccessfully as an actor, with a little more success as the author of a few one-act plays and with great success as a journalist.

In depicting his childhood, Herman Bang drew on his own childhood experiences: the insecurity of his father, whose manic-depressive psychosis is hidden from the outside world for as long as possible, and an all the stronger bond with his mother, whose death from tuberculosis leaves William (as it did Bang) with an unsightly wound.

His maternal attachment leads him to fall for much older women; the depiction of such a relationship caused offence and led to his prosecution and conviction for pornography. A case was brought against Bang, and on 23 July 1881 he was sentenced to a fine of DKK 100 or 14 days' imprisonment if the fine could not be paid. The book was seized.

Some years later, Bang wanted to publish his book without the condemned scenes. He went to the Royal Library to borrow a copy of the book, which he did not own. At the library he was told that although the book "may have existed de facto, it did not exist de jure". However, after some negotiations, he managed to get access to the book in the reading room, but he was not allowed to read for more than an hour.

In the book Stoppet i farten - Herman Bang i karikaturens troldspejl (Gyldendal, 2007), the work provides for the first time a comprehensive introduction to Bang's private and public life as seen through the magic mirror of caricature. He was a frequent subject of the joke magazines, and the book comments on a large number of caricature drawings of Bang from the magazine's humour columns.

From Bang's literary debut in 1878 until his death in January 1912, he was constantly mentioned in the media. "They are so easy! And you I can", a joker replied to him: "Why do you make fun of me in the press week after week?"

Herman Bang lived 1863-1872 in Søndergade 41 in Horsens. There is a memorial plaque in the gate.

Sæby

The first time the priest's son and writer Herman Bang chose to leave Copenhagen for Sæby to find peace and inspiration was in 1891, and he returned several times in the following years.

"I am a Jutlander myself, and the best of what I wrote bears witness to that. I am from the provinces myself, and perhaps the provinces are in my blood," he says in 1904. The first years he lived at Hotel Harmonien on the square in Sæby, and later, when Clasens Hotel was established, with the Clasens. Here, Mrs Clasen cared for him and took care of his appearance and manner. The 1890s were the decade of decadence and nervous disorders, and Bang was seen as the most decadent and nervously suffering of all. He was a homosexual, which was a criminal offence at the time, outlandish in dress and behaviour and regularly broke down due to emotional crises.

He was almost constantly short of money and occasionally soothed his ups and downs with a little too much alcohol.

Summer Joy

Around 1900, Sæby was almost as popular a place to stay and find inspiration as Skagen. Sæby was just not as quick as Skagen to market itself in the past, so today few people associate Sæby with a lively artists' town.

One book, however, has managed to retain Sæby's impression for posterity in a very special way. Herman Bang's "Sommerglæder" from 1902 was both a bestseller and a scandal in its time.

Scandalous because the description of a hectic day in a summer boarding house in the province with the couple "Brasen" not only delivered the couple "Clasen" from Clasens Hotel on Algade in Sæby, but large parts of the town's personality. Bang had a keen eye for people's idiosyncrasies. "Mrs Brasen", or Mrs Clasen herself, is described as a somewhat disgusting and slovenly wife, whose kitchen is always flowing, and who, when the dish "with the sweaty steak" is to be brought to the guests, "ran her thumb over the edge of the steak and had it dried". "Brasen" or Clasen is lazy and prefers just to pour out long beers in the sideboard and make sure the soup is well priced, because then the guests will be thirstier.

About "servant Christian" we hear that "He was always sweating all over his head, which was big, as if it had water in it. (....) When he ran, and he always ran, the whole back of his body jumped, as if he had water-filled air pockets at the back too".

Bang also has a sense of the serenity and class consciousness of the times, and of the internal impassable gulfs of the provincial town between the ruling class, the consul, the doctor, the priest and the apothecary, and the underclass, represented by servants, fishermen and petty traders. And it's all told in a way that makes you chuckle with laughter, but also shudders at times.

The Trouble

"Sommerglæder", which Herman Bang wrote in a few weeks, was published by Det Nordiske Forlag in an edition of 6000 copies, illustrated by Hans Tegner and under the motto: "La vie est bien triste - enfins rions" - life is sad enough - let us therefore laugh. The reviewers were enthusiastic, but one of them remarked that the book's main characters were the well-known owners of Clasens Hotel in Sæby, and then the storm broke loose!

When the book is published, Mr and Mrs Clasen have moved to Hjørring, where they run a guesthouse. For Mrs Clasen in particular, the depiction of her and the hotel in Sæby is a heavy blow. She locks herself in, crying. At one point, Gustav Clasen complained to the Danish Writers' Association about Bang, because the author had portrayed the couple so unfavourably that "it could harm them in their daily work and in the public's judgment of them as human beings". But Mrs Clasen later denied this. A complaint could not, she thought, "remedy the harm he has done us".

Others were equally outraged, and letters were written to the newspapers and to Bang about the disgrace of his abuse of Mrs Clasen's trust and kindness. In the columns of the Nationaltides, people wondered why the author could not have simply given his novel character a common name like Sørensen. Bang explained that the characterisation was not intended to ridicule his "motherly friend" Mrs Clasen, but that he had simply used a name as close to the original as possible "for the sake of the whole picture".

In the end, Herman Bang wrote a letter to Mrs Clasen in Hjørring, asking her forgiveness for the grief he had apparently caused her. Mrs Clasen did not reply, and this is said to have pained the author considerably.

Brasen

To make sure this was no lie, a staff superintendent and a master draughtsman surnamed Brasen subsequently turned up at the Danish Authors' Association to complain about Herman Bang. They felt that in "Sommerglæder" he had insulted the Brasen family name and asked that well-known and respected family names not be misused in future. The complaint is taken up the next day at the general meeting of the writers' association, and the following day the Nationaltidende notes that: 'The chairman read out the detailed complaint to the amusement of the assembly', and that the board otherwise saw itself unable to take any further action in the matter.

Clasens Yard

The Clasens continued their work at Kyppers Hotel in Hjørring until Clasen died in 1906. Then Martine or "Jansine", as she was called in "Sommerglæder", moved back to Sæby, near her old hotel, where she died in 1921. A few years before, Sæby City Council had decided to buy the former Clasens Hotel and convert it into a retirement home and municipal office.

Decades later, in 1940, Svend Methling made a film of "Sommerglæder", starring Ellen Gottschalck and Rasmus Christiansen as the Brasens. The film, which received good reviews, was shot in Dragør.

Bangsbo

After the scandal in Sæby, Herman Bang no longer attended summer camps in the town. Instead, Bangsbo Manor near Frederikshavn became his favourite place to stay for the next few years.