Der Dechant von Gottesbüren : Roman by Jakob Schaffner
"Der Dechant von Gottesbüren" by Jakob Schaffner is a novel written in the early 20th century. Set in a Hessian cathedral town during wartime, it follows the Catholic dean Klemenz Ekkard, whose passionate renovation of the Dom entangles him in questions of faith, taste, and community. Around him move his devout niece Linde, the formidable housekeeper Brigitt, and his decorated nephew Heinz, a soldier on leave; a visiting aunt threatens the uneasy
calm. The story appears to explore religion versus aesthetics, duty versus desire, and the stirrings of love under the shadow of war. The opening of the novel places us in a small town where the dean’s zeal for unearthing medieval treasures has turned the cathedral into a rubble-strewn workshop, provoking parishioners and the blunt Brigitt, while the gentle, capable Linde tends his letters, the poor, and the sick—often trailed by the loyal boxer, Bob. Heinz arrives from the front, brings banter and grim candor about war, and his playful, worldly energy both unsettles and attracts Linde; a long-buried matter of a missing, risqué Hohelied print resurfaces between them. As they wander through town and fields, talk shifts from saints and history to battle and conscience, and their childhood closeness ripens into a first, hesitant kiss. Determined to right an old wrong, Linde invites the estranged Aunt Marie Klinger, who turns up early, cool and exacting, and quickly asserts herself—ending the excerpt with a sharp clash over antique beauty versus modern “rational” taste that foreshadows domestic and spiritual conflict. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Schaffner, Jakob, 1875-1944 |
|---|---|
| Title | Der Dechant von Gottesbüren : Roman |
| Original Publication | Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft G. m. b. H., 1917. |
| Credits | The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Language | German |
| LoC Class | PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures |
| Subject | Swiss fiction (German) |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78001 |
| Release Date | Feb 21, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 353 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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