Bilsee, Fritz Oswald

Fritz Oswald Bilze was born March 31, 1878 in Kearn.

In 1896 he entered the service of the German imperial army . Since 1900 he served in the 16th battalion in Forbach .

In 1903, Bilze, under the pseudonym Fritz von derburg, published the novel “ Aus einer kleiner Garnison ” (in the Russian translation “ From the Life of a Small Garrison ” or “ In the Border Garrison ”, various publications in St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1904-1905) describing the negative aspects in the life of the German army of that time. The novel gained scandalous fame, was translated into several languages. In Russia, the later novel “ The Duel ” by Kuprin was compared with Bilze's book.

The publication was confiscated by German authorities, and the author was put on trial. The court sentenced Bilza to expulsion from the service and imprisonment for 6 months. The verdict is motivated by the following grounds and official comments: 1) the novel contains information, characteristics and reviews that are offensive to officers of the convoy battalion; 2) contrary to the law, the accused did not ask the authorities for permission to print the novel, and 3) the accusation that the author with his book tried to cause general displeasure of the officers with their life and service in small garrisons was recognized as unproven. It was recognized that the circumstances reinforcing the guilty that Bilze had sinned against discipline, since he had removed his boss and 2-3 senior officers in the novel, mitigating, that Bilze’s novel is not a pamphlet, but, on the contrary, depicts the everyday life and service of officers in small garrisons, he concludes many solid judgments about the duel among officers, exposes the observant person in the author and makes it necessary to draw attention to many aspects of the life of small garrisons ^[1] .

After the trial, Bilsee continued to engage in literary activities.

Fritz Oswald Bilze died in 1951 in Eberswald.

• Aus einer kleinen garnison. Ein militärisches Zeitbild (novel, 1903)
• Zwei Militär-Humoresken. Der Alarm. Ein glücklicher Reinfall (1903)
• Das blaue Schloß. Roman in einem Vorkapitel und zwei Büchern (1904)
• Wahrheit (play, 1904)
• Fallobst (play, 1905)
• Lieb 'Vaterland. Roman aus dem Soldatenleben (1905)
• Die große Schlacht (play, 1906)
• Stille Wege (novel, 1907)
• Verklärung (novel, 1909)
• Die Technik des Romans (1909)
• Gottes Mühlen. Roman aus einer großen Nation (1924)
• Die schwarze Welle. Ein Negerroman von Afim Assanga, bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Fritz Oswald Bilse (1925)
• Wie kann der Bauer die jetzigen und kommenden schweren Zeiten überstehen und ohne besondere Mehrkosten seine Erträge verdoppeln? : Praktische Ratschläge für den Bauernstand (1928)

• Literary Encyclopedia (unavailable link) (unavailable link from 06/14/2016 [1169 days])
• From the life of a small garrison . Translation of students of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. SPb., 1904
• A little garrison; a realistic novel of German Army life of to-day (1904)