Contemporaries Shortly after Wallenstein's assassination, several plays, poems and newspapers appeared, as well as a large number of pamphlets describing his life and death. Most of these early adaptations are completely unknown today and have often been lost.
Literature Schiller's Wallenstein Schiller first commemorated Wallenstein as a historian in his extensive history of the Thirty Years' War. In his
play trilogy, completed in 1788, he concentrated mostly on the last period of Wallenstein's life (Pilsen and Eger). The literary depiction largely corresponds to the historical facts with the only exception being the lovers – Ottavio Piccolomini's fictional son Max and Wallenstein's daughter Thekla. Although Wallenstein had a daughter, Maria Elisabeth, she was only ten years old when he died, and Piccolomini's adopted son Joseph Silvio Max Piccolomini was only one year older.
Alfred Döblin's novel Wallenstein is also a main figure in
Alfred Döblin's
eponymous novel. The title of the novel, published in 1920, is misleading, as it does not focus on Wallenstein, but rather on
Emperor Ferdinand II, whom Döblin consistently calls Ferdinand the Other (German:
Ferdinand der Andere). The sections of the book are also often misleadingly named. For example, the first book is called Maximilian of Bavaria, although it is almost exclusively about the emperor and his actions that are described. The supposed protagonist of this part is only mentioned in passing. In the second book of the novel, Wallenstein is introduced rather marginally. He only becomes present with the events during his work within the Bohemian coin consortium. This corresponds to Döblin's interpretation of Wallenstein in the novel as a whole. For Döblin, Wallenstein's economic genius predominates; battles are only fought when they cannot be avoided, as Döblin mainly portrays Wallenstein as a modern manager of long-term war planning. Wallenstein is indifferent to religious questions, forcing his partners and opponents to admit to a lie of which they were not even aware. Just like Wallenstein, they strive for power and wealth but hide this pursuit behind their religious convictions and assurances of peace. Döblin's Wallenstein has no political vision, and even less does he want to reform the empire. All that matters to him is wealth and power. Döblin's judgment of Wallenstein is thus close to Marxist historiography, which sees all action as the result of economic motives.
Biographies by Hellmut Diwald and Golo Mann Hellmut Diwald first began to write a biography of Wallenstein in 1967 with the publication of
Leopold von Ranke's Geschichte Wallensteins (English:
History of Wallenstein), to which he added a hundred-page introduction. Two years later, his portrayal of Wallenstein appeared, which was soon regarded as a new standard reference. Golo Mann must have realized this two years before the publication of his biography
Wallenstein. Sein Leben erzählt von Golo Mann. "He was downright disgusted by the apologetic Hellmut Diwald" (Klaus-Dietmar Henke). The editor of the magazine
Der Spiegel, Rudolf Augstein, judged Mann's work to be "a highly subjective representation that pretends to be objective".
El Prodigio de Alemania He is also the subject of
Calderón de la Barca's play
El Prodigio de Alemania.
Festivals In
Memmingen, the Wallenstein Festival ('''') is held every four years to commemorate Wallenstein's stay in the town in 1630. In
Altdorf bei Nürnberg, the Wallenstein Festival (
Wallenstein-Festspiele) has been held every three years since 1894. The plays '''' and an adaptation of
Schiller's Wallenstein trilogy are performed. In the city of
Stralsund, the Wallenstein Days (''''), the largest historical festival in northern Germany, takes place every year and commemorates the liberation of the city from the
siege by Wallenstein in 1628.
Museums By imperial decree of
Franz Joseph I on 28 February 1863, Wallenstein was included in the list of "Austria's most famous warlords and generals worthy of eternal admiration" and a life-size statue was erected in the Feldherrenhalle of the then newly built
Imperial-Royal Court Weapons Museum, now the
Museum of Military History in
Vienna. The statue was created in 1877 by the sculptor Ludwig Schimek (1837–1886) from Carrara marble. in Prague The
Cheb Regional Museum has a permanent exhibition dedicated to Wallenstein. In addition to portraits and paintings, his stuffed horse, the room where he was murdered and his
murder weapon, are on display. In the museum of
Lützen Castle, Wallenstein is portrayed as a general in the
Thirty Years' War and in the
Battle of Lützen. A visit to the
Wallestein Palace, which the general had built between 1623 and 1630 in Prague's district of
Malá Strana, offers an insight into the life of the Generalissimo. The
Czech National Museum produced a large exhibition about Wallenstein at the same palace from 15 November 2007 to 15 February 2008.
Music Composer
Bedřich Smetana honored Wallenstein in his 1859 symphonic poem ''
Wallenstein's Camp'', which was originally intended as an overture to a play by
Schiller.
Josef Rheinberger composed a symphonic tone painting
Wallenstein in 1866. The work in four movements is also called a symphony. It was premiered in
Munich on 26 November 1866. Composer
Vincent d'Indy honored Wallenstein in his 1871 symphonic triptych
Wallenstein.
Other Wallenstein is examined by economist
Arthur Salz in his book
Wallenstein als Merkantilist (
Wallenstein as Mercantilist). A Czech television film
Popel a hvězdy (
The Ashes and The Stars) about Albrecht von Wallenstein was produced in 1990 by
Czech Television.
Jiří Adamíra stars as Wallenstein. A German documentary
Die Deutschen (
The Germans) dramatized Albrecht von Wallenstein in season 1, episode 5
Wallenstein und der Krieg (
Wallenstein and the War), it was produced in 2008. ==Notes==