Herman Hesse

Hermann Karl Hesse (pronounced /ˈhɛɐman ˈhɛsə/; Calw, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire; July 2, 1877-Montagnola, canton of Ticino, Switzerland; August 9, 1962) was a German writer, poet, novelist and painter, nationalized Swiss in 1924.

More than 30 million copies of his forty-volume work —including novels, short stories, poems and meditations— have been sold, of which only a fifth correspond to editions in German. In addition, he published author titles, ancient and modern, as well as monographs, anthologies, and various journals. He also edited nearly 3,000 reviews. To this work is added copious correspondence: at least 35,000 responses to letters from readers, and his pictorial activity: hundreds of watercolors with an expressionist bias and intense chromaticism. According to biographer Volker Michels "we are faced with a body of work that, in its copiousness, its personality and its vast influence, has no parallel in the history of twentieth-century culture".

By the centenary of his birth, more than 200 doctoral theses, some 5,000 articles, and 50 books had been written on his life. By that date, he was also the most widely read European in the United States and Japan, with his books translated into more than 40 languages, not counting Hindu dialects.

He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, in recognition of his literary career.

Life

Home where Hesse was born in Calw.

Hermann Karl Hesse was born in Calw, a town located in Wurtemberg, where he spent the first three years of his life (until 1880) and three years of school (1886 to 1889). Descended from Christian missionaries, the family had run a missionary textbook publishing house since 1873, run by Hesse's maternal grandfather, Hermann Gundert. He was the son of Johannes Hesse, born in 1847, the son of a doctor originally from Estonia, and Marie Gundert, born in Thalassery (India) in 1842. Hesse had five siblings, two of whom died prematurely.

For the first few years, his world was permeated by the spirit of Swabian Pietism. In 1881, the family settled in Basel, although he ended up returning to Calw at the age of five. After successfully completing his Latin studies in Göppingen, Hesse entered the Evangelical seminary in Maulbronn in 1891, from which he escaped in March 1892 due to educational rigidity that prevented him, among other things, from studying poetry: «I will be a poet or nothing », he says in his autobiography. In his work Unterm Rad (Under the wheels) he gave a description of the educational system.

Hermann Hesse in 1905. Portrait of Ernst Würtenberger (1868-1934).

Continuous violent conflicts with his parents led him on an odyssey through different institutions and schools. He entered a depressive phase and insinuated, in a letter of March 1892, suicidal ideas: "I would like to leave like the setting sun", and in May he made a suicide attempt, for which he was admitted to the Stetten im mental asylum. Remstal, and later in a children's institution in Basel. In 1892, he entered the Bad Cannstatt Gymnasium, near Stuttgart, and in 1893, despite obtaining the first-year entrance diploma, he dropped out.

First jobs and birth as a writer

He started out as a bookseller's apprentice in Esslingen am Neckar, an apprenticeship he gave up three days later. He then worked as a mechanic for fourteen months at the Perrot watch factory in Calw, but the monotonous work reinforced in him his desire to return to an intellectual activity. In October 1895 he began a new experience as a bookseller, in the Heckenhauer bookstore in Tübingen, to which he devoted himself body and soul. The main part of the literary collection was on theology, philology and law and the task of the apprentice Hesse was to group and file books. At the end of the day, he continued to enrich his culture on his own and the books compensated for the absence of social contacts — "[...] with books he had more and better relationships" -. Hesse read theological writings, then Goethe, and later Lessing, Schiller, and texts on Greek mythology. In 1896, his poem Madonna was published in a Viennese magazine.

In 1898 Hesse became a bookseller's assistant and earned a respectable salary that ensured him financial independence. At this time he was reading mainly the works of the German Romantics, especially Clemens Brentano, Joseph von Eichendorff and Novalis. While still a bookseller, he published in the autumn of 1898 his first book of poems, Romantische Lieder (Romantic Songs), and in the summer of 1899, Eine Stunde hinter Mitternacht (one hour after midnight). Despite the fact that both works failed commercially, the publisher, Eugen Diederichs, was convinced of the literary value of the work and saw these publications from the beginning as a stimulus for the young author, rather than a business.

Beginning in the fall of 1899, Hesse worked in a used bookstore in Basel. His parents had contacts with educated Basilian families, so a most stimulating spiritual and artistic realm opened before him. At the same time, the solitary walker that was Hesse found the opportunity to withdraw into his inner world thanks to the numerous possibilities for trips and walks, which served his personal artistic quest and helped him to develop in him the aptitude for literary transcription of his sensory perceptions. In 1900 he was released from military service because of his lifelong eye problems, as well as his neuralgia and his migraines.

In 1901 Hesse was able to realize one of his great dreams: traveling to Italy. That same year he found a new job, at the Wattenwyl bookstore in Basel. At the same time, the opportunities to publish poems and short literary stories in magazines increased. The publisher Samuel Fischer was immediately interested in Hesse and the novel Peter Camenzind , officially published in 1904, marked the turning point, since Hesse was able to live from his writings from then on.

Literary consecration allowed Hesse to marry Maria Bernoulli in 1904, settle with her in Gaienhofen, on the shores of Lake Constance, and found a family. He then wrote his second novel, Under the wheels , published in 1906, as well as stories and poems. His next novel, Gertrud (1910), caused a crisis of creativity in Hesse. He barely finished the work and later considered it a failure. Problems at home led him to travel in 1911 with Hans Sturzenegger through Ceylon and Indonesia, where he did not find the spiritual and religious inspiration he was looking for, but this trip permeated his later works, beginning with Aus Indien (Notebooks Hindus) (1913). After his return, the family moved to Bern, but despite this their difficulties as a couple were not resolved, as he describes in his novel Rosshalde .

The Great War

After the declaration of World War I in 1914, Hesse volunteered at the German embassy. He was, however, declared useless in combat and posted in Berne to assist prisoners of war in his embassy. In his new position he was responsible for the "Library of German prisoners of war". On November 3, 1914 he published in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung the article “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne”, literally translated as: Oh, friends, not with those accents! and simply, Friends, let's stop our disputes, first verse of the Ode to Joy, by the German poet Friedrich von Schiller in which he called on German intellectuals not to fall into nationalist polemics. The reaction he produced was later described as a turning point in his life: for the first time, he found himself in the middle of a violent political row, the German press attacked him —in the press of my homeland I was declared a traitor—, he received threatening anonymous letters and letters from friends who did not support him. On the other hand, he was supported by his friend Theodor Heuss and the French writer Romain Rolland.

The conflicts with the German public had not dissipated when Hesse suffered a new twist that plunged him into a deeper existential crisis: the death of his father, the serious illness of his son Martin and the schizophrenic crisis of his wife. He had to stop helping prisoners and start psychotherapeutic treatment. Hesse was treated from May 1916 to 1917 by Dr. Joseph Bernhard Lang, a student and disciple of Carl Gustav Jung. The first month he completed twelve sessions and between June 1916 and November 1917 sixteen more sessions. This would start Hesse's great interest in psychoanalysis, through which he would get to know Jung personally, who familiarized him with the world of psychoanalysis. symbols, latent in Hesse since the years of his childhood. Between September and October 1917, Hesse wrote the novel Demian, which came out in 1919 under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair.

Casa Camuzzi

Camuzzi House in Montagnola, where the poet lived for almost four decades.

By the time he was able to return to civilian life, his marriage was ruined. Due to the serious psychosis that affected his wife (and despite her improvement), he could not consider any future with Maria. The house in Bern was sold, and Hesse moved to the town of Montagnola, in the district called Collina D'Oro, in the canton of Ticino, in Switzerland, where he rented a building similar to a small castle: the "Casa Camuzzi». There he not only began to write, but also to paint, which appears in the next great story of his, Klingsors letzter Sommer (Klingsor's Last Summer). In 1922 the novel Siddhartha appeared, in which he expressed his love for Hindu culture and wisdom.

Hesse married Ruth Wenger in 1924, a marriage that was not consummated, and obtained Swiss nationality. The main works that followed, Kurgast (At the Spa) in 1925 and Die Nürnberger Reise (Journey to Nuremberg) in 1927, are autobiographical stories tinged with irony, in which his most famous novel, Der Steppenwolf (1927), is announced. When he was fifty years old, the first biography of him appeared, published by his friend Hugo Ball. Shortly after, with the success of his novel, the writer's life changed when he began a relationship with Ninon Dolbin, who would be his third wife. He published Narziβ und Goldmund (Narcissus and Goldmund) (1930), left the Casa Camuzzi apartment and settled with her in a larger house: Casa Hesse (also called Casa Rossa) on the upper de Montagnola, built to his wishes by his friend Hans C. Bodmer.

The Bead Game

In 1931 he began the project for his last great work, entitled Das Glasperlenspiel (The Bead Game). He published in 1932 a preparatory story, Die Morgenlandfahrt (The Journey to the East). Hesse watched the Nazi takeover of Germany with concern. In 1933, Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann stayed at his home during their trips to exile. Hesse tried, in his own way, to oppose the evolution of Germany: he had been publishing reviews in the German press for a long time, from then on he spoke more energetically in favor of Jewish authors or those persecuted by the Nazis. Unfortunately, since the mid-1930s, no German newspaper has risked publishing his articles. His spiritual refuge against political quarrels and later against the tragic news of World War II was to work on his novel The Bead Game , finally printed in 1943 in Switzerland. In this novel, according to Luis Racionero, "he proposes his ideal of culture: A society that collects and practices the best of all cultures and brings them together in a game of music and mathematics that develops human faculties to unsuspected levels". It was largely for this late work that he was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature.

After World War II he wrote a few shorter stories and poems, but no novels. He died at the age of eighty-five, on August 9, 1962 in Montagnola, as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage while he was sleeping.

Influence

In his day, Hesse was a popular and influential author in the German-speaking world. World fame only came later. Hesse's first great novel, Peter Camenzind, was enthusiastically received by young Germans who wanted a different, more "natural" in this time of great economic and technological progress in the country. Demian had a strong and lasting influence on the generation that returned home after World War I. Similarly, The Bead Game, with its disciplined Castalian intellectual world and the powers of meditation and humanity, captivated the Germans' desire for a new order amidst the chaos of a broken nation after loss in World War II.

In the 1950s, Hesse's popularity began to wane, while literary critics and intellectuals turned their attention to other issues. In 1955, sales of Hesse's books by ella Suhrkamp's publisher hit an all-time low. However, after Hesse's death in 1962, posthumously published writings, including letters and previously unknown pieces of prose, contributed to a new level of understanding and appreciation of her works.

At the time of Hesse's death in 1962, his works were still relatively unread in the United States, despite his status as a Nobel laureate. A memoir published in The New York Times went so far as to assert that Hesse's works were largely "inaccessible" for American readers. The situation changed in the mid-1960s, when Hesse's works became best-selling books in the United States. The revival in popularity of Hesse's works has been credited to his association with some of the popular themes of the 1960s counterculture (or hippie) movement. In particular, the theme of Siddhartha's quest for enlightenment, Journey to the East, and Narcissus and Goldmund resonated with those counter-cultural ideals.. The "magic theater" in Steppenwolf were interpreted by some as drug-induced psychedelia, although there is no evidence that Hesse took psychedelic drugs or recommended their use. In large part, the Hessian boom of the 1960s can be traced to enthusiastic writings by two influential counterculture figures: Colin Wilson and Timothy Leary. From the United States, the Hesse revival spread to other parts of the world and even to Germany: more than 800,000 copies were sold in the German-speaking world from 1972 to 1973. In the space of a few years, Hesse became the author most widely read and translated European of the XX century. Hesse was especially popular with young readers, a trend that continues today.

There is a quote from Demian on the cover of Santana's 1970 album Abraxas, which reveals the source of the album's title.

Siddhartha is one of India's most popular western novels. An authorized translation of Siddhartha was published in the Malayalam language in 1990, the language that surrounded Hesse's grandfather, Hermann Gundert, for most of his life. A Hermann Hesse Society of India has also been formed. Its aim is to carry out authentic translations of Siddhartha in all languages of India and has already prepared Sanskrit, Malaylam and Hindi translations of Siddhartha. An enduring monument to Hesse's enduring popularity in the United States is the Magic Theater in San Francisco. Referring to "The Magic Theater for Madmen Only" in Steppenwolf (a kind of spiritual and somewhat nightmarish cabaret attended by some of the characters, including Harry Haller), the Magic Theater was founded in 1967 to perform works by new playwrights. Founded by John Lion, the Magic Theater has fulfilled that mission for many years, including the world premieres of many works by Sam Shepard.

There is also a theater in Chicago named after the novel, the Steppenwolf Theatre.

Throughout Germany, many schools bear his name. The Hermann-Hesse-Literaturpreis is a literary prize associated with the city of Karlsruhe that has been awarded since 1957. Since 1990, the Calw Hermann Hesse Prize has been awarded every two years alternately to a German-language literary magazine and a translator. of Hesse's work. The Internationale Hermann-Hesse-Gesellschaft was founded in 2002 on Hesse's 125th anniversary and began awarding its Hermann Hesse Prize in 2017.

Works

The tomb of Hermann and Ninon Hesse in Collina d'Oro, Switzerland.

Hesse desk at the Gaienhofen Museum.

Hermann Hesse Sculpture: "Between staying and following." Designed by the sculptor Kurt Tassotti, this royal-sized bronze statue was presented at Calw on the 125th anniversary of the writer's birth. The figure shows him at age 55, during his last visit to Calw in early 1930.

Novels

• Peter Camenzind (1904)
• Under the wheels (1906)
• Gertrudis (1910)
• Rosshalde (1914)
• Three moments of a life (1915)
• Demian (1919)
• Siddhartha (1922)
• The wolf (1927)
• Narcissus and Goldmundo (1930)
• Travel to the East (1932)
• The game of the beads (1943)
• Berthold (unfinished) (1945)

Stories

• Eine Stunde hinter Mitternacht (1899)
• Diesseits (1907)
• Nachbarn (1908)
• Umwege (1912)
• Am Weg (1915)
• Zarathustras Wiederkehr (1919)
• Last summer of Klingsor (1920)
• Weg nach Innen (1931)
• Die Morgenlandfahrt (1932)
• Kleine Welt (1933)
• Fabulierbuch (1935)
• Das Haus der Träume (1937)
• Der Pfirsichbaum (1945)
• Die Traumfährte (1945)

Poems

• Romantische Lieder (1898)
• Hermann Lauscher (1901)
• Neue Gedichte (1902)
• Unterwegs (1911)
• Musik des Einsamen (1925)
• Gedichte des Malers (1920)
• Trost der Nacht (1929)
• Neue Gedichte (1937)

Other prose

• Hermann Lauscher (1900)
• Aus Indien (1913)
• Wanderung (1920)
• Kurgast (1925)
• Nürnberger Reise (1927)
• Betrachtungen (1928)
• Krisis (1928) (diary)
• Gedankenblätter (1937)
• Der Europäer (1946)
• Krieg und Frieden (1946)
• Späte Prosa(1951)
• Engadiner Erlebnisse (1953)
• Beschwörungen (1955)

Translations into Spanish (selection)

• Under the wheelsCome on. Genoveva Dieterich, Alianza, Madrid 1967
• DemianCome on. Genoveva Dieterich, Alianza, Madrid 1968
• Trace of a dreamCome on. Mireia Bofill, Planeta, Barcelona 1976
• Peter CamenzindCome on. Jesús Ruíz, Caralt, Barcelona 1977
• Obstination. Autobiographical writingsCome on. Anton Dieterich, Alliance, Madrid 1977
• The wolfCome on. Manuel Manzanares, Alianza, Madrid 1978
• Hermann LauscherCome on. Victor Scholz, Plaz strangerJanés, Barcelona 1978
• Tales (4 vol.), trad. Feliu Formosa y Manuel Olasagasti Gaztelumendi, Alianza, Madrid 1978
• KnulpCome on. Raúl Sánchez Basurto, Cia. Gral. de Ediciones, Mexico 1979
• Siddhartha. An indian composition.Come on. Juan José del Solar, Bruguera, Barcelona 1981
• The walkerCome on. Pilar Giralt, Bruguera, Barcelona 1981
• Narcissus and GoldmundoHere. Luis Tobio, Seix Barral, Barcelona 1984
• One hour from midnightCome on. Alfredo Cahn, Espasa Calpe, Madrid 1984
• At the spaCome on. Pilar Giralt, Plaza strangerJanés, Barcelona 1987
• GertrudisCome on. Mariano Olasagasti, Planeta, Barcelona 1986
• On war and peaceCome on. Pilar Giralt, Noguer, Barcelona 1999
• Last summer of Klingsor, trad.Ester Berenguer, Seix Barral, Barcelona 1983

Awards

• 1906: Bauernfeld Prize.
• 1928: Mejstrik-Preis der Wiener Schiller-Stiftung
• 1936: Gottfried Keller Award
• 1946: Goethe Prize
• 1946: Nobel Prize in Literature
• 1947: Doctor honoris causa by the University of Bern
• 1950: Wilhelm-Raabe-Preis
• 1954: Order Pour le mérite für Wissenschaft und Künste
• 1955: German Free Trade Peace Prize