Hermann Hesse, a Swiss German novelist and poet, is hailed as one of the great German writers of the 20th century. Hesse was born in Calw, Wüttenberg, Germany on July 2nd, 1877 from parents of a middle-class Swabian, French-Swiss, Baltic background.
His Childhood
He knew he wanted to be a writer since the age of twelve. However, though smart, Hesse was known as a troublesome boy and was transferred from school to school. Hesse also suffered from depression. His first bouts of depression started when he was just a school boy and they continued to plague him for the rest of his life.
Hermann Hesse never went to university, instead soon after graduating from grammar and seminary school, he began working as a mechanic apprentice. This type of work did not appeal to him, it served only to fuel his desire to take his quest as a writer more seriously. After this apprenticeship, Hesse secured a job at a bookshop in Tübingen, Germany where after hours he could immerse himself in literature greats such as Goethe, Schiller, Nietsche.
His Rise To Fame
Hesse’s first published work was a compilation of poems which appeared in 1886. Unfortunately, it went mostly unnoticed and was followed two years later by another unsuccessful book. His third book Posthumous Writings and Poems of Hermann Lauscher, published by theBasel book store he now worked at, did achieve enough success to catch the eye of the publisher Samuel Fischer, ready to launch his next work. At this time, Hesse’s mother died from a long-term illness. Hesse did not attend her funeral, out of fear that it would spiral him into a depression.
It was Hesse’s fourth book Peter Camenzind (1904) .that finally achieved high literary acclaim and because of its popularity in Germany, Hesse was able to leave his day job and devote himself completely to his writing.
His Non-Writing Life
During his lifetime, Hesse married three times. His first wife of fifteen years, Maria Bernoulli, a descendant of the well known mathematician family, suffered from schizophrenia. He had three sons with her. His second marriage to singer Ruth Wenger, whom he married in 1924, quickly dissolved in divorce. It was in his third marriage to Ninon Ausländer, an art historian of Jewish descent, that Hesse finally found the love and stability he so desired.
Hesse also lived through two World Wars in which he tried to voice his concerns. Denied in the First World War to go into combat due to an eye disorder and other health problems, he was given the responsibility to guard war prisoners. While under military service, Hesse wrote an essay entitled O Freunde, nicht diese Töne (O Friends, Not These Tones) which appeared in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1914. In it he petitioned the Germans to beware of zealous nationalism. This essay caused an immense backlash towards Hesse from many political and intellectual groups. Weary of German nationalism, Hesse gave up his Geman citizenship in 1923 to become a Swiss citizen instead. Later in the 1930’s during the upbuild to the second World War, Hesse helped fellow writers Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann go into exile. Hesse remained safe in Montagnola, Switzerland where he had been living since 1919. The Nazis however, banned his work.
Influences in His Work
In most of Hesse’s work runs several important influences. First, his works are heavily marked with the psycho-duality of his characters. This interest was probably due to his own need to cope with his depression. At one point of his life, Hesse received highly effective psychotherapy sessions from none other than Carl Jung, to help him deal with his personal trials. From that experience, Hesse was able to channel his new-found writing energy into a highly succesful novel, Damian, which he wrote in three weeks time.
Hesse also identified with theosophy and the philosophies of Schopenhauer which influenced especially his later work. As well, Hesse had a great interest in Indian philosophy and way of life, as manifested in his great masterpiece Siddhartha.
Among many other literary prizes, Hesse received the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. After Hesse’s last major work Das Glasperlenspiel in 1943, he produced mostly short stories and essays dealing with his childhood. His wife’s role as editor and typist for his work became important to Hesse, due to increasing eye problems the last twenty years of his life.
Hesse died on August 9th in 1962, at the age of 85 in Montagnola, Switzerland.
Herman Hesse’s major works include:
Hermann Lauscher (1900)Peter Camenzind (1904)
Unterm Rad (1906)
Freunde (1908)
Roßhalde (1914)
Knulp (1915)
Schön ist die Jugend (1916)
Demian (1919)
Klein und Wagner (1919)
Klingsors letzter Sommer (1920)
Siddhartha (1922)
Der Steppenwolf (1927)
Narziß und Goldmund (1930)
Die Morgenlandfahrt (1932)
Das Glasperlenspiel (1943)
Note: All of these works have been translated into several languages.
