bavarikon4USources on the “Krokodile”
As every association, the "crocodiles" developed certain forms of organisation as well as rankings, which provide information about their structure and setup. They were documented by protocol, accounting and library books. Paul Heyse (1830-1914) and Moritz Carrière (1817-1895) acted as the constantly re-elected president and vice-president respectively, while Emanuel Geibel (1815-1884) was recognised as the spiritual head of the poets' association.
The office of registrar and accounting officer alternated between the members Julius Grosse (1828-1902), Sigmund Lichtenstein (1822-1881), Karl von Lützow (1832-1897), Max Beilhack (1835-1885), Ludwig Nohl (1831-1885), Oskar Horn (1841-1908) and Heinrich von Reder (1824-1909). Reports were to be prepared for all meetings. Grosse initially merely wrote his minutes on loose sheets, the so-called "lotus sheets", while Lichtenstein documented the process of the sessions in sonnets and ghazals.
From 1859 to 1869, a librarian was in charge of the administration of the library, which was mainly financed by Geibel, Heyse and Carrière. Presumably in order to demonstrate artistic solidarity in concrete terms, the "Oberkrokodile" (chief crocodiles) were committed to the preservation and expansion of the library. After Geibel’s departure in 1869, however, the library was dissolved due to lack of interest.
Documents on the history of the association
In addition to the documents on the history of the "crocodiles", other sources on the society include above all their individual writings. These include in particular the two publications of the "(Neues) Münchner Dichterbuch" by Emanuel Geibel (1862) and Paul Heyse (1882), but also programmatic writings such as "Das Wesen und die Formen der Poesie" by Moritz Carrière (1854), correspondence by Heyse, Oskar Horn (1841-1908) and Julius Grosse, memory literature such as Felix Dahn's (1834-1912) "Erinnerungen" (1892), poems to Otto Braun (1824-1900) or the "Sammlung von Schriftstücken aus dem Kreise der Krokodile" edited by Friedrich Bodenstedt (1819-1892), Wilhelm Hertz (1835-1902) and Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826-1886).
