Rilke und die Ukraine. Karl XII. von Schweden reitet in der Ukraine
Rilke and the Ukraine. Karl XII of Sweden rides in Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: The Prague poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) travelled to Russia in the summer of 1900, which also took him to what is now part of ‚Ukraine‘. Together with the writer Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861 – 1937), he visited Kiev, Kharkov and also Poltava, where an important battle in the Great Northern War took place in 1709. Two poems were written in connection with this journey, during which Rilke hoped in vain to find Ukrainian singers (Kobsar) of heroic songs of the past. The long poem Karl XII von Schweden reitet in der Ukraine is in ballad form, while the poem Sturm, which describes the fate of Hetman Mazepa, is considerably shorter. Both texts are analysed, whereby Russian painting at the turn of the century also comes into focus, as well as the author's perception of „Ukraine”.

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