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Gustav Seibt
Rainer Maria Rilke is one of the classics of world poetry, which is known in all parts of the world and sometimes even read and loved; alongside names like Charles Baudelaire, TS Eliot, Pablo Neruda and Sylvia Plath. In terms of global impact, he can compete with Franz Kafka or Thomas Mann in German-language literature. He is a textbook and calendar poet whose verses also come into contact with people who otherwise do not read poetry. “The summer was very big”, “You have to change your life”, these are poetry hammers; Catchy tunes, as Robert Gernhardt saw them deeply anchored in the collective linguistic memory. He even created a proverb: “Who talks about victories? Surviving is everything.”