Steinberg Verlag, Zurich 1942–1972
Das Kriegsjahr 1941 ging seinem Ende zu, als sich im zürcherischen Enge-Quartier die wuchtige Gestalt des vor anderthalb Jahrzehnten gestorbenen Dramatikers und Übersetzers Werner Johannes Guggenheim in die kleine Buchhandlung der Schwestern Luise und Selma Steinberg schob. Zigarettenqualmend berichtete er, daß kürzlich ein Verlag seine deutschsprachige Fassung des Romans „Samuel Belet“ von Ch. F. Ramuz abgelehnt und damit auf die Option von weiteren Werken des westschweizerischen Erzählers verzichtet habe. „Wie schade!“ bedauerten die literaturbegeisterten Schwestern wie im Chor, denn Ramuz' eigenwillige Persönlichkeit und Begabung war ihnen wohlbekannt. „Bringen Sie meine Übersetzung doch selber heraus!“ schlug Guggenheim vor. – „Ja, womit denn? Zu einem Verlag braucht es doch Geld!“ – „Stimmt. Aber wozu gibt es Kredite? Sprechen Sie mit einem anständigen Drucker, ob er Ihnen keinen Kredit einräumt und den Roman sauber setzt!“ Gesagt, getan. Das Resultat der Unterredung war, daß das ergreifende Meisterwerk „Samuel Belet“ […] als erstes Werk des Steinberg-Verlags am 1. April 1942 ausgeliefert werden konnte.
[The war-torn year of 1941 was just coming to an end when the stocky figure of dramatist and translator Werner Johannes Guggenheim (who died about fifteen years ago) burst into the small bookshop run by sisters Luise and Selma Steinberg in Zurich's Enge quarter. Puffing vigorously on a cigarette, he told them that a publisher had rejected his German-language version of C. F. Ramuz's novel “Samuel Belet”, thus ruling out the possibility of publishing further works by this storyteller from western Switzerland. “What a shame!” chorused the literature-loving sisters regretfully, for Ramuz’s unconventional character and talent were well known to them. “So why not publish my translation yourselves?” suggested Guggenheim. – “Yes, with what? Publishers need money!” – “True. But isn’t that what credit is for? Talk to a decent printer, ask if he’ll give you credit and do a good clean job of typesetting the novel.” No sooner said than done. As a result of this conversation, the gripping masterpiece “Samuel Belet” [...], released on 1 April 1942, became the first work published by Steinberg Verlag. (trans. ed.)]
Carl Seelig explains how Steinberg Verlag was founded
Founded in 1942 in Zollikon, near Zurich, by sisters Selma and Luise (Lili) Steinberg, Steinberg Verlag was one of the few publishers in Switzerland that specialised in German-language exile literature during the Nazi era (the others included Oprecht Verlag and the three publishing companies – Humanitas, Die Liga, and Diana – founded by publisher Simon Menzel, husband of the third Steinberg sister Sophie Menzel). The exile authors published by Steinberg included Klaus Mann, Max Brod, Jo Mihaly, Alexander Moritz Frey, Ferdinand Bruckner, Margarete Susman and the Swiss author Rudolf Jakob Humm, who from 1934 regularly provided accommodation for exiles at his “Rabenhaus”. The publishing company also specialised in translations by English and American authors (Huxley, Hemingway, Maugham, Steinbeck), most of which were compiled by exiles such as Hermynia Zur Mühlen and Hans Flesch. Carl Seelig and authors Kurt Kläber and Kurt Münzer all worked for Steinberg Verlag at various times. The importance of Steinberg Verlag as an exile publisher has yet to be examined.
In their wills, Lili and Selma Steinberg expressed a wish for the establishment of a foundation that would enable writers in need of recuperation to stay at their properties in Zollikon and Ticino (Minusio/Locarno) for a certain period of time. In 1996, the “Sofie Menzel und Schwestern Lili und Selma Steinberg-Stiftung” became part of the Forberg-Stiftung, a foundation which provides studio and working spaces for artists and writers just as the Steinberg sisters would have wished.
Further reading:
Fischer, Erich: Steinberg Verlag, Zürich. In: Ders.: Geschichte des deutschen Buchhandels im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Drittes Reich und Exil. Teil 3: Der Buchhandel im deutschsprachigen Exil 1933–1945. Teilband 1. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2021, S. 345–347.
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