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赫尔曼·黑塞主要生平及创作
出生于德国西南部的小城卡尔夫的一个牧师家庭。自幼在浓重的宗教气氛中长大，1891年，他通过“邦试”，考入毛尔布隆神学校。由于不堪忍受经院教育的摧残，半年后逃离学校。这期间他游历许多城市，从事过多种职业。
在比较广泛地接受东西方文化熏陶之后，1904年，黑塞发表了长篇小说《彼得·卡门青特》，一举成名，从此成为专业作家。这一年他与玛丽结婚，移居巴登湖畔，埋头写作，1906年发表了长篇小说《在轮下》。这一时期的创作以浪漫主义诗歌、田园诗风格的抒情小说和流浪汉小说为主，作品洋溢着对童年和乡土的思念之情，充满对广大自然和人类的爱，同时也表现了青年人的精神苦闷与追求。
第一次世界大战后，黑塞的创作发生了明显的变化，他醉心于尼采哲学，求助于印度佛教和中国的老庄哲学，并对荣格的精神分析产生了深厚的兴趣。他试图从宗教、哲学和心理学方面探索人类精神解放的途径。这时期的长篇小说有《克努尔普》（1916）、《德米安》（1919）、《席特哈尔塔》（1922）、《荒原狼》（1927）和《纳尔齐斯与歌尔德蒙》（1930）等。这些书深受西方读者的喜爱，得到极高的评价，其中《荒原狼》曾轰动欧美，被托马斯·曼誉为德国的《尤利西斯》。
30年代后，法西斯在德国猖獗，黑塞对社会前途陷入深深的怀疑与绝望之中，但他仍不倦地从东西方宗教与哲学中寻求理想世界，《东方之行》（1932）、《玻璃球游戏》（1943）正是这一时期追求与探索的结晶。
黑塞被雨果·巴尔称为德国浪漫派最后一位骑士，这说明他在艺术上深受浪漫主义诗歌的影响。他热爱大自然，厌倦都市文明，作品多采用象征手法，文笔优美细腻；由于受精神分析影响，他的作品着重在精神领域里进行挖掘探索，无畏而诚实地剖析内心，因此他的小说具有心理的深度。1946年，"由于他的富于灵感的作品具有遒劲的气势和洞察力，也为崇高的人道主义理想和高尚风格提供一个范例"，黑塞获诺贝尔文学奖。
影响及国内译介
1962年黑塞逝世，但他的生命在作品中延续着，影响着世界各地一代又一代人，百年不衰。黑塞的作品迄今已被译成五十三种语言，有七百四十二种译本，仅在印度，《席特哈尔塔》就被译成了十二种方言。
二次大战后，美国文坛霸主一直是海明威。然而自六十年代中起黑塞渐渐取代了海明威，一时成了美国大众的文学拜偶像。特别是《荒原狼》，它在问世差不多半个世纪后在美国掀起一股“狼潮”，甚至有的摇滚队也取名“荒原狼”（今年这个队将在黑塞纪念活动期间去德国演出）。一些离经叛道的年轻人在小说主人公身上找到了自己的影子，哈勒尔成了他们的楷模与偶像。
此外，黑塞也跨出了西方文化圈，在东方同样受到读者的爱戴。黑塞在日本的影响非常大，甚至被某些日本人称“追求真理的英雄与先驱者”，他的作品在那里深受读者欢迎，读者还成立了赫尔曼·黑塞协以系统研究他。一位日本青年在给黑塞的信中告诉他：
“我越是读它们（指黑塞的作品），越是发现自己在这些书中。现在我相信，最了解我的人是瑞士，他总在注视着我。”
黑塞作品在我国的评介始于二、三十年代。赵景深曾在《小说月报》上撰文介绍赫塞（黑塞）的《纳尔西斯与哥尔孟》（今译《纳尔齐斯与歌尔德蒙》）。1936年，上海商务印书馆出版了黑塞作品的单行本--中篇小说集《青春是美好的》。然而遗憾的是黑塞的名字从此销声匿迹，对他作品的翻译评论中断了十年。
1946年黑塞获得诺贝尔文奖后，许多国家都出现了“黑塞热”，然而在中国黑塞却没“热”起来，对他的关注只是个别现象。当时的文学期刊上只发表了为数不多的黑塞作品译文，大多是从世界语转译的。
生平年表
1880年（3岁）
妹玛尔拉出生。1953年他曾写过《为了玛尔拉》一文，以回忆不幸而死的妹妹。
1881年（4岁）
随父母移居瑞士巴塞尔，父亲在此担任教会学校的老师。他曾以《乞丐》这篇文章，叙述在巴塞尔时代的事情。
1882年（5岁）
弟汉斯出生。“美丽的青春的”弟弟，是游戏天才，但不喜欢读书，渐渐对生活失去自信而自杀。《追忆汉斯》中，有详细的记载。这一年，写出像诗的东西，记在母亲的日记里。
1984年（7岁）
进入巴塞尔的密逊小学。
1886年（9岁）
黑塞一家再次回到卡尔夫。到十三岁为止，就读于卡尔夫小学和拉丁语学校。《在轮下》、《德米安》、《童心》、《回忆少年时》，皆以此四年的少年时代为小说的题材。
1890年（13岁）
进格平根拉丁语拉丁文学校学习，准备参加符腾堡州一年一度的“邦试”。拉丁语学校以拉丁语为主，相当于中学乃至高中。描写此类学校生活的作品有《拉丁语学校生》。
1891年（14岁）
7月，以优异成绩考入毛尔布隆神学院，过着不愉快的寄宿生生活。在《车轮下》详细记载从拉丁语学校到神学院这一段生活。此外，关于毛布农神学校的作品有《纳尔齐斯和歌尔德蒙》、《玻璃球游戏》等。
1892年（15岁）
3月逃出神学院。父母悲叹万分，但祖父赫尔曼·根德尔特却欢迎他说：“听说你去天才旅行了。”所谓天才旅行是学生用语，指的是学生的反抗行动。其后，他被带到牧师布鲁姆哈鲁特的身边，因神经衰弱自杀未遂。在哥宾根的巴奥教育、谢尔牧师的指导下逐渐恢复。
1893年（16岁）
同年进巴特坎施塔特高等学校。从高等学校退学。
在埃斯林根当书店店员，三日后又逃出。担任父亲的助手，借读书消磨忧郁的日子。
祖父赫尔曼·根德尔特去世。他受到祖父极大的精神感化，以《祖父》为题写了一篇文章。
1894年（17岁）
6月在卡尔夫的佩罗特钟楼大钟工场当学徒工，其工作是磨钟塔时钟的齿轮。
1895年（18岁）
跟姐姐学英语。
10月在图宾根的赫肯豪尔书店当学徒，开始埋头研究十八、十九世纪的文学。
读书、写诗。
结识医学生、诗人世间路德维希·芬克（1876—1964），终生保持友好。
1899年（22岁）
《浪漫之歌》(Romantische Lieder)由德累斯顿的毕尔森书店印行（自费出版），这部处女诗集收载诗人18岁至21岁之间的诗作。接着又由来莱比锡的第底利西斯书店出版《午夜后一小时》(Stunde nach Mitternacht)，包括图宾根时代的九篇散文习作，仅获得里尔克的好评。 7月末离开赫肯豪尔书店。 秋天在巴塞尔的莱希书店工作，起先在贩卖部其后转任旧书部。
1901年（24岁）
2月，记问故乡卡尔夫，可参考《美丽的青春》一文。 第一次意大利旅行（佛罗伦萨、拉文纳、威尼斯）。
小说《赫尔曼·劳歇尔》（Hermann Lauscher）由莱希书店出版。起先以黑塞编“赫尔曼·劳谢的遗稿文和诗”(Hinterlassene Schriften und Gedichte von Hermann Lauscher)为题出版，增补新版时，改为上述的书名。一般评论都很好，卖得也不错。
1902年（25岁）
4月24日母逝世，《给母亲》一诗献给她。
《诗集》出版，收录在卡尔鲁·布塞编的丛书《新德意志抒情诗人》的第三卷，由古鲁提出版。其后以单行本问世，1950年改名为《青春诗集》。《越过原野》、《在雾之中》、《白云》即为此诗集中的作品。
1903年（26岁）
辞掉来希书店的工作。第二次到意大利旅行。因瑞士作家鲍鲁·伊克的介绍，认识柏林出版者费歇尔，鼓励他创作新作品。
1904年（27岁）
小说《彼得·卡门青特》(Peter Kamenzind)由柏林费歇尔书店出版，一举成名。获包恩费尔德奖金。
8月，跟肖邦演奏家玛丽·贝尔奴依（1868—1963）结婚，她比黑塞大9岁，是巴塞尔有名的数学家之女。 9月，隐居于博登湖与莱茵河之间的渔村加恩贺芬。《乡愁》由费歇尔出版社出版，从1901起写了三年，1903年在费歇尔出版社《新评论》杂志上发表。就像黑塞自己所写的《我成功了》一样，大获好评，一跃而奠定新进作家的地位。黑塞以后的作品，大部分都是由该社出版。由柏林的休斯塔·温特·雷夫拉社出版两篇传记性小品《薄伽邱》、《圣芳济》。
1905年（28岁）
长子布鲁诺（Bruno）出生，长大成为画家。《在轮下》在新苏黎世报连载。
其后还执笔写了许多中篇、短篇、随想，被整理在《寓言集》、《小世界》中。
《乡愁》获得包耶伦费特奖。
1906年（29岁）
小说《在轮下》（Unterm Rad）由费歇尔出版社出版，获得很大的成功。
1907年（30岁）
中篇小说《此岸》，由费歇尔出版社发行。收入录《从幼年时代起》、大理石材工厂》、《枯草之月》、《拉丁语学校生》、《秋的徒步旅行》五篇。发表短篇小说集《今生今世》。自本年起至1913年，和讽刺作家鲁特维希·脱玛、新闻编辑库特·阿拉姆、出版家阿尔贝特·兰根，共同编辑了每月两次的《三月》杂志，由阿尔贝特·兰根社出版。《美丽的青春》在此年发表于该杂志.在凯思赫芬另筑新家。此事详细记载于《回忆草》中的《迁移新居之际》。
1908年（31岁）
中篇小说集《邻人》由费歇尔出版社出版，收录了《婚约》、《加利巴尔第》、《瓦尔塔·肯布》、《在以前的太阳轩》、《爱哲南》五篇。《克诺尔普》第一个故事《早春》，由诺耶·伦多夏社发表。
1909年（32岁）
次子哈伊纳出生，以后成为室内装饰家。
在布拉温休维克拜访维尔赫姆·拉别，《回忆草》（1937年）中《访问某诗人》一文，即指此事。
在布莱门演讲《浮士德与查拉图斯特拉》。
1910年（33岁）
音乐家小说《盖特露德》（Gertrude）由阿尔贝特·兰根社出版，是以音乐家为主角的小说。此时和音乐家们，尤其是瑞士作曲家奥图曼·谢克缔结深交。
1911年（34岁）
诗集《途中》(Unter Wegs) 由格欧尔克·休拉社出版。第三子马丁出生，以后成为摄影家。夏天与画家汉斯·休脱尔沈耶格鲁为伴去亚洲旅行。经红海至锡兰、新加坡、南苏门答腊旅行，年底回。旅行的动机是想逃避欧洲、对东方的憧憬、打开家庭生活的僵局等。此次旅行有“苏伊士运河之夜”等二十一篇短的游记、十一篇诗，小说《罗巴特·阿几翁》，记录在《印度纪行》（1913年）中。
1912年（35岁）
在瑞士伯尔尼郊外，租住已故画家维尔提的别墅。中篇小说集《弯路》由Ｓ•费歇尔出版社出版，收录了《拉第格鲁》、《归乡》、《世界改良者》、《耶密尔•哥尔夫》、《马提阿斯神父》五篇。
1913年（36岁）
散文、诗歌集《印度之旅》(Aus Indien) 由费歇尔出版社出版。虽也有印度，但二十一篇短的游记，大部分是马来亚、新加坡及南苏门答腊的游记。
1914年（37岁）
描写艺术家的家庭生活悲剧的小说《罗斯哈尔德》(又译:骏马山庄)(Rosshalde) 由费歇尔出版社出版。 7月，第一次世界大战爆发. 在伯尔尼编辑慰问德国战俘的报纸和图书。9月在新苏黎世报上发表反对德国军国主义分子的《朋友们，别唱这种调子！》，反对极端的爱国主义，受到德国文坛和出版界攻击。
1915年（38岁）
小说《克诺尔普》(Knulp)由Ｓ·费歇尔出版社出版。散文集《路傍》由查尔扎社出版。收录了《六月之夜》、《狼》、《美尔亨》等九篇。诗集《孤独者的音乐》(Musik des Einsamen)由罗伊斯·温特·伊塔社出版。
8月，罗曼·罗兰访问黑塞，两人间开始了多年的友谊。
1916年（39岁）
小说《青春是美好的》由费歇尔出版社出版，包括《旋风》一文，全都是在凯思赫芬时写的.参加德意志扣留者新闻的编辑。3月，父亲逝世。办理烦杂的手续，越过国界参加葬礼。追忆父亲收录在《小庭院》中（1919年）。末子马丁患重病。
妻子精神病恶化，入院。 深受神经衰弱症之苦。在卢塞恩郊外宗玛特温泉疗养所接受精神分析名医容格弟子朗克的治疗。
研究弗洛依德。
1917年（40岁）
发表了《给国务大臣的信》、《如果战争再继续两年》、《会达到和平吗？》等评论、随想。
执笔写小说《德米安》（Demian）。
1918年（41岁）
发表了《如果战争再继续五年》、《欧洲人》、《战争与和平》、《世界史》、《国家》、《爱之道》等评论、随想。全部收录在《观察》（1928）中。
1919年（42岁）
以辛克莱的笔名发表小说《德米安》，引起战后人心热烈的反应，获得新作家方达内奖。但很少人知道是黑塞的作品，所以辞奖不受。次年从第九版起，改为黑塞所作。小说《克莱因和瓦格纳》，《童话》，《查拉图斯特拉的复归》(Zarathustras Wiederkehr) 、《给德国青年的话》(ein Wort an die Deuthsche Jugend)和《因为一个德国人》由伯恩的休帖姆布利社出版，次年第二版改名为黑塞所作。《美乐亨》由费歇尔出版社出版，收录《奥古斯特斯》、《诗人》、《别的星球来的不可思议的信息》、《爱丽丝》等七篇小品。随笔《小庭院》由维也纳的塔尔社出版。
与妻子分手，孩子由寄于他处。在梭连哥停留一阵子之后，移居到南瑞士鲁卡诺·梦塔诺拉的卡查·卡姆芝，专心创作《克莱因和瓦格纳》、《克林格梭的最后夏天》等。开始作画。为了新德意志精神，和瓦尔帖雷克共同编以青年人为对象的月刊杂志《我向活人召唤》(VIVOS VOCO)出版工作，直到1923年为止。
1920年（43岁）
诗、文、水彩画集《漂泊集》，由费歇尔出版社出版，收录了游记随想、诗和水彩画。
诗与画集《画家之诗》出版，收录了诗和水彩画。 小说《克林梭尔的最后夏天》(Klingsors letzter Sommer)。由Ｓ·费歇尔出版社出版，收录了小说集《童心》、《克莱因和瓦格纳》。 《混沌中之透视》由杰鲁特维拉社出版。收录一篇论托斯妥耶夫斯基。
1921年（44岁）
《诗选》由费歇尔出版社出版，选收初期至《漂泊集》中的诗。《帖欣的十一张水彩画》出版。
1922年（45岁）
印度故事小说《悉达多》（Siddhartha）由费歇尔出版社出版，这是年轻时代开始对印度的关心集大成之作。
《古怪的故事》系列中，编辑了日本的故事出版。
1923年（46岁）
9月，和分居的太太玛丽亚正式离婚。
从本年起，因治疗坐骨神经痛及风湿病常去苏黎世附近的巴登温泉度过晚秋。在那城的维莱纳贺夫旅馆写出很多作品。
放弃德国国籍,加入瑞士国籍。《辛克莱的备忘录》由拉夏社出版，收录了《欧洲人》、《任性》等从1917年以后的评论。
1924年（47岁）
1月11日，和女作家利查·维恩佳的女儿鲁特·维恩佳结婚。三年后离婚。
1925年（48岁）
小说《漫泉疗养者》(Kurgast)。由费歇尔出版社出版，这是巴登温泉的随想记录，前年曾以《温泉场心理学、巴登温泉场的讽刺》为书名自费出版。 童话《匹克托鲁的化身》由谢姆尼芝社出版。从1922年起，用自己绘的插图，分发给希望得到的人。编辑了赫尔达林和诺瓦丽思的生活记录出版。
秋，到南德演讲旅行。在慕尼黑访问托马斯·曼。到1931年为止的冬天都住在狄里希。
出版荷尔德林及诺瓦利斯的《生活记录》各一册。
1926年（49岁）
《画卷》。 《风物帖》由费歇尔出版社出版，是《波登湖》、《意大利》、《印度》、《帖欣》、《杂》五篇结集而成的简短印象记。进普鲁士艺术科学院。
1927年（50岁）
自传体作品《纽伦堡旅行》(Die Nurnberger Reise) 由费歇尔出版社出版。
小说《荒原狼》(Steppenwolf) 由费歇尔出版社出版。胡果·巴尔（即雨果·巴尔）作《黑塞传》出版，纪念其50岁诞辰。巴尔于本年逝世，黑塞撰文《悼胡果·巴尔》。
跟第二个妻子离婚。
1928年（51岁）
在慕尼黑访问托马斯·曼。
杂文集《观察》由费歇尔出版社出版收录了一九○四年以后的评论感想四十多篇。
诗集《危机》(Krisis)，由Ｓ·费歇尔出版社当作限定版出版。
1929年（52岁）
诗集《夜的安慰》由Ｓ·费歇尔出版社出版，收载1915年以后的诗作。
《世界文学文库》在雷克拉姆文库刊行，是阅读世界文学的入门书。
1930年（53岁）
小说《纳尔齐斯和歌尔德蒙》(Narziss und Goldmund) 由费歇尔出版社出版，出版前已登在新评论杂志上，加了“友情的历史”这个副题。书中增加1907年出版的《此岸》中“美丽的青春”、“旋风”、“昔日的太阳轩”三篇的改稿，以决定版出版。退出普鲁士艺术科学院。
1931年（54岁）
8月，婚姻破裂独居多年后,与犹太裔的艺术史家妮侬·多宾结婚。妮侬出生于罗马尼亚，国籍为奥地利，主修美术史。
迁入蒙塔纽拉近郊的新居。
与长姐合作《纪念我们的父亲》出版。
构思长篇著作《玻璃球游戏》。
1932年（55岁）
小说《东方朝圣》(Die Morgenland Fahrt)由费歇尔出版社出版。
关于歌德的两篇评论，发表在《神学片断》。前年发表《我的信仰》。
1933年（56岁）
小说集《小世界》由费歇尔出版社出版。以《邻人》、《迂回路》为书名，出版初期小说集的决定版。
希特勒政权成立。纳粹开始焚书、迫害犹太人。尽力于帮助逃亡者和筹措救济资金。
1934年（57岁）
诗选《选自生命树》在因杰尔文库出版。
被要求把《世界文学文库》中的犹太作家剔除掉，重出改订版，但黑塞宁可希望它绝版。
小说《玻璃球游戏》的开头一部《祈雨师》在《新评论》上发表。
黑塞之姐阿黛勒发刊母亲的日记和书信。
1935年（58岁）
《寓言集》由费歇尔出版社出版。
在新评论杂志上发表牧歌《庭孤寡老人中的时间》。
11月，弟弟汉斯自杀，写长诗“埋葬之后”悼念弟弟。
1936年（59岁）
《院中的时间》，由维也纳的贝尔曼·费歇尔出版社出版，献给姊姊阿德蕾作为六十岁的纪念。贝尔曼·费歇尔是费歇尔的女婿，受到纳粹政权的压迫，到国外继续其事业。
写《追忆汉斯》一文记念弟弟汉斯。
从1914年起，开始写未完成的《梦之家》由欧尔丁社出版。
获得瑞士最高文学奖歌特弗利特·凯勒奖。
1937年（60岁）
《纪念册页》献给姐妹兄弟。
《新诗集》由伯恩的费歇尔出版社出版。，收载1929年以后的诗作。
牧歌《佝偻病的少年》由弗雷芝社出版，作为他六十岁的纪念。
1938年（61岁）
只发表了短文《回忆克林格梭的夏天》。
1939年（62岁）
纳粹德国发动闪电站，吞并捷克，侵入波兰。到1945年为止，被列入德国不受欢迎的作家名单，断了出版作品用纸的配给。自费出版《十行诗》。
1941年（64岁）
黑塞的作品在德国已经不可能出版，取得了费歇尔出版社在德国的继承人佩塔·兹尔坎普的谅解，由荻里希的弗雷兹出版，第一本作品是《午夜后一小时》。
1942年（65岁）
《诗集》在瑞士弗雷兹社出版，几乎收集了所有的诗。
4月29日，完成《玻璃球游戏》的创作。
1943年（66岁）
小说《玻璃球游戏》二卷本（作于1931年至1942年）由弗雷兹社出版，是最后的一篇长篇小说。
1945年（68岁）
诗集《花枝》，献给长姐阿黛勒。
小说《贝尔托尔特》、《梦痕》均由弗雷兹社出版。《对歌德的感谢》附《歌德诗抄》。
1946年（69岁）
收录1914年以后战争和政治的评论集《战争与和平》(Krieg und Frieden) 由弗雷兹社出版，献给1944年逝世的罗曼·罗兰。8月，获法兰克福的歌德奖。秋，获诺贝尔文学奖，但因病而未亲临颁奖会场。 第二次世界大战结束，黑塞的作品再次由费歇尔出版社的后身祖尔康普社重新出版。
《感谢歌德》由克拉森社出版，合歌德论和歌德诗抄而成。
《晚年之诗》自费出版。
1947年（70岁）
伯尔尼大学授予名誉博士称号。
安德鲁·纪德来访。
发表了《给日本青年同业的信》。
1948年（71岁）
整理了《午夜一点钟》、《诺瓦丽思》、《赫尔曼·劳歇尔》三篇，以《初期的散文》为书名，由弗雷兹社出版。
1949年（72岁）
姐阿黛勒逝世。
编辑了与故乡卡尔夫有关的小说两卷，以《格尔巴斯奥》为书名，由温达利希社出版。
1950年（73岁）
在布朗休外克市获威廉·拉贝奖。
庆祝托马斯·曼七十五岁的生日。
1951年（74岁）
《晚年散文集》。 从费歇尔出版社出来自立门户的祖尔康普社，开始出版黑塞全集。《后期的散文》由祖尔康普社出版，收录了《被偷的皮箱》、《乞丐》、《幸福论》等。 收集了1927年—1959年的书集而成《书简集》，由祖尔康普社出版。
1952年（75岁）
祖尔康普社出版了六卷全集。在德国和瑞士银行举行了盛大的七十五岁庆祝会。在休图特卡尔特举行的庆典中，黑塞所做的演讲整理成《感谢黑塞》一书。 《两首牧歌》（已出版的《佝偻病的少年》和《庭院中的时间》）纪念出版。
1953年（76岁）
妹妹玛尔拉去世，写追悼文《为了玛尔拉》。
1954年（77岁）
《黑塞与罗曼·罗兰通信集》由弗雷兹社出版，是1915年—1940年书信的往来。黑塞之友、西德总统豪伊斯授予德国文化功勋勋章。
1955年（78岁）
获法兰克福德国书籍业的和平奖。
晚年的散文续刊《唤回过去》，由祖尔康普社出版。
以《帖欣的水彩画》（注：即Tessin，一译：堤契诺）为书名的水彩画及水彩画论，由克来田社出版。
1956年（79岁）
卡尔斯尔耶设立了赫尔曼·黑塞奖。
1957年（80岁）
庆祝第八十次的生日。祖尔康普社的全集（六卷）增补观察书简等合为七卷。
1959年（82岁）
出《书简集》的增补版。
1960年（83岁）
《黑塞纪念册》由祖尔康普社出版，是搜集了黑塞所有照片而成的照片集。
1961年（84岁）
新诗选《阶段》由祖尔康普社发行。
1962年（85岁）
8月8日，脑溢血逝世于蒙塔纽拉。
8月9日，出版诗集《一根断枝的呻吟》。
Youth
Hesse was born in the Black Forest town of Calw in Württemberg, Germany to a Christian missionary family. Both of his parents served with a Basel Mission to India, where Hesse's mother Marie Gundert was born in 1842. Hesse's father, Johannes Hesse, was born in 1847 in Estonia, the son of a doctor. The Hesse family had lived in Calw since 1873, where they operated a missionary publishing house under the direction of Hesse's grandfather, Hermann Gundert.
Hesse spent his first years of life surrounded by the spirit of Swabian piety. In 1880 the family moved to Basel, Switzerland, for six years, then returned to Calw. After successful attendance at the Latin School in Göppingen, Hesse began to attend the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Maulbronn in 1891. Here in March 1892, Hesse showed his rebellious character and in one instance he fled from the Seminary and was found in a field a day later.
During this time, Hesse began a journey through various institutions and schools, and experienced intense conflicts with his parents. In May, after an attempt at suicide, he spent time at an institution in Bad Boll under the care of theologian and minister Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt. Later he was placed in a mental institution in Stetten im Remstal, and then a boys' institution in Basel.
Hesse's birthplace in Calw, 1977
Hesse's birthplace, 2007At the end of 1892, he attended the Gymnasium in Cannstatt. In 1893, he passed the One Year Examination, which concluded his schooling.
After this, Hesse began a bookshop apprenticeship in Esslingen am Neckar, but after three days he left. Then in the early summer of 1894, he began a fourteen month mechanic apprenticeship at a clock tower factory in Calw. The monotony of soldering and filing work made him resolve to turn himself toward more spiritual activities. In October 1895, he was ready to begin wholeheartedly a new apprenticeship with a bookseller in Tübingen. This experience from his youth he returns to later in his novel, Beneath the Wheel.
Becoming a writer
On October 17, 1895, Hesse began working in the bookshop Heckenhauer in Tübingen, which had a specialized collection in theology, philology, and law. Hesse's assignment there consisted of organizing, packing, and archiving the books. After the end of each twelve hour workday, Hesse pursued his own work further, and he spent his long, idle Sundays with books rather than friends. Hesse studied theological writings, and later Goethe, Lessing, Schiller, and several texts on Greek mythology. In 1896, his poem 'Madonna' appeared in a Viennese periodical.
By 1898, Hesse had a respectable income that enabled his financial independence from his parents. During this time, he concentrated on the works of the German Romantics, including much of the work from Clemens Brentano, Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, Friedrich Holderlin and Novalis. In letters to his parents, he expressed a belief that "the morality of artists is replaced by aesthetics."
In the fall, Hesse released his first small volume of poetry, Romantic Songs and in the summer of 1899, a collection of prose, entitled One Hour After Midnight. Both works were a business failure. In two years, only 54 of the 600 printed copies of Romantic Songs were sold, and One Hour After Midnight received only one printing and sold sluggishly. Nevertheless, the Leipzig publisher Eugen Diederichs was convinced of the literary quality of the work and from the beginning regarded the publications more as encouragement of a young author than as profitable business.
Beginning in the fall of 1899, Hesse worked in a distinguished antique book shop in Basel. There through family contacts he stayed with the intellectual families of Basel. In this environment with rich stimuli for his pursuits, he further developed spiritually and artistically. At the same time, Basel offered the solitary Hesse many opportunities for withdrawal into a private life of artistic self-exploration through journeys and wanderings. In 1900, Hesse was exempted from compulsory military service due to an eye condition. This, along with nerve disorders and persistent headaches, affected him his entire life.
"Modern Book Printing" from the Walk of Ideas in Berlin, Germany - built in 2006 to commemorate Johannes Gutenberg's invention, c. 1445, of movable printing type.In 1901, Hesse undertook to fulfill a grand dream and travelled for the first time to Italy. In the same year, Hesse changed jobs and began working at the antiquarium Wattenwyl in Basel. Hesse had more opportunities to release poems and small literary texts to journals. These publications now provided honorariums. Shortly the publisher Samuel Fischer became interested in Hesse, and with the novel Peter Camenzind, which appeared first as a pre-publication in 1903 and then as a regular printing by Fischer in 1904, came a breakthrough: From now on, Hesse could live as a free author.
Between Lake Constance and India
With the literary fame, Hesse married Maria Bernoulli (of the famous family of mathematicians) in 1904, settled down with her in Gaienhofen on Lake Constance, and began a family, eventually having three sons. In Gaienhofen, he wrote his second novel Beneath the Wheel, which was published in 1906. In the following time he composed primarily short stories and poems. His next novel, Gertrude, published in 1910, revealed a production crisis—he had to struggle through writing it, and he later would describe it as "a miscarriage."
Hesse's writing desk, pictured at the Museum GaienhofenGaienhofen was also the place where Hesse's interest in Buddhism was resparked. After a letter to Kapff in 1895 entitled Nirvana, Hesse's Buddhist references were no longer alluded to in his works. This was rekindled, however, in 1904 when Arthur Schopenhauer and his philosophical ideas started receiving attention again, and Hesse discovered theosophy. Schopenhauer and theosophy are what renewed Hesse's interest in India. Although 1904 was many years before the publication of Hesse's Siddhartha (1922), this masterpiece was derived from these new influences.
During this time, there also was increased dissonance between him and Maria, and in 1911, Hesse left alone for a long trip to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Any spiritual or religious inspiration that he was looking for eluded him, but the journey made a strong impression on his literary work. Following Hesse's return, the family moved to Bern in 1912, but the change of environment could not solve the marriage problems, as he himself confessed in his novel Rosshalde from 1914.
The First World War
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Hesse registered himself as a volunteer with the Imperial army, saying that he could not sit inactively by a warm fireplace while other young authors were dying on the front. He was found unfit for combat duty, but was assigned to service involving the care of war prisoners.
On November 3, 1914, in the Neuen Züricher Zeitung, Hesse's essay O Friends, Not These Tones (O Freunde, nicht diese Töne[]) appeared, in which he appealed to German intellectuals not to fall for nationalism. What followed from this, Hesse later indicated, was a great turning point in his life: For the first time he found himself in the middle of a serious political conflict, attacked by the German press, the recipient of hate mail, and distanced from old friends. He did receive continued support from his friend Theodor Heuss, and the French writer Romain Rolland, whom Hesse visited in August 1915.
This public controversy was not yet resolved, when a deeper life crisis befell Hesse with the death of his father on March 8, 1916, the difficult sickness of his son Martin, and his wife's schizophrenia. He was forced to leave his military service and begin receiving psychotherapy. This began for Hesse a long preoccupation with psychoanalysis, through which he came to know Carl Jung personally, and was challenged to new creative heights: During a three-week period during September and October 1917, Hesse penned his novel Demian, which would be published following the armistice in 1919 under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair. (Emil Sinclair was a friend of the German Romantic poet Novalis, who was an influence on Hesse).
Casa Camuzzi
Hermann Hesse in 1925When Hesse returned to civilian life in 1919, his marriage was shattered. His wife had a severe outbreak of psychosis, but even after her recovery, Hesse saw no possible future with her. Their home in Bern was divided, and Hesse resettled alone in the middle of April in Ticino, where he occupied a small farm house near Minusio bei Locarno, and later lived from April 25 to May 11 in Sorengo. On May 11, he moved to the town Montagnola and rented four small rooms in a strange castle-like building, the 'Casa Camuzzi'.
Here he explored his writing projects further; he began to paint, an activity which is reflected in his next major story Klingsor's Last Summer, published in 1920. In 1922, Hesse's novel Siddhartha appeared, which showed the love for Indian culture and Buddhist philosophy, which had already developed at his parents' house. In 1924, Hesse married the singer Ruth Wenger, the daughter of the Swiss writer Lisa Wenger and aunt of Meret Oppenheim. This marriage never attained any true stability, however.
In 1923, Hesse received Swiss citizenship. His next major works, Kurgast (1925) and The Nuremberg Trip (1927), were autobiographical narratives with ironic undertones, and foreshadowed Hesse's following novel, Steppenwolf, which was published in 1927. In the year of his 50th birthday, the first biography of Hesse appeared, written by his friend Hugo Ball. Shortly after his new successful novel, he turned away from the solitude of Steppenwolf and married art historian Ninon Dolbin, née Ausländer. This change to companionship was reflected in the novel Narcissus and Goldmund, appearing in 1930.
In 1931, Hesse left the Casa Camuzzi and moved with Ninon to a large house (Casa Hesse) near Montagnola, which was built according to his wishes.
The Glass Bead Game
Main article: The Glass Bead Game
In 1931, Hesse began planning what would become his last major work, The Glass Bead Game (aka Magister Ludi). In 1932 as a preliminary study, he released the novella, Journey to the East. The Glass Bead Game was printed in 1943 in Switzerland. For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.
Later life
Hesse observed the rise to power of Nazism in Germany with concern. In 1933, Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann made their travels into exile, and in both cases, were aided by Hesse. In this way, Hesse attempted to work against Hitler's suppression of art and literature that protested Nazi ideology.
Hesse, who had long published pieces in German journals and newspapers, spoke publicly in support of Jewish artists and others pursued by the Nazis. However, when he wrote for the Frankfurter Zeitung, he was accused of supporting the Nazis, whom Hesse did not openly oppose.
From the end of the 1930s, German journals stopped publishing Hesse's work, and his work was eventually banned by the Nazis.
The Glass Bead Game was Hesse's last novel. During the last twenty years of his life Hesse wrote many short stories (chiefly recollections of his childhood) and poems (frequently with nature as their theme). Hesse wrote ironic essays about his alienation from writing (for instance, the mock autobiographies: Life Story Briefly Told and Aus den Briefwechseln eines Dichters) and spent much time pursuing his interest in watercolors.
Hesse also occupied himself with the steady stream of letters he received as a result of the prize and as a new generation of German readers explored his work. In one essay, Hesse reflected wryly on his lifelong failure to acquire a talent for idleness and speculated that his average daily correspondence was in excess of 150 pages. He died on August 9, 1962 and was buried in the cemetery at San Abbondio in Montagnola, where Hugo Ball is also buried.
Popularity outside the German speaking countries
A few years after Hesse's death in 1962, his novels enjoyed a revival of popularity due to their association with some of the themes of the 1960s counterculture (or "hippie") movement. In particular, the quest-for-enlightenment theme of Siddhartha, Journey to the East, and Narcissus and Goldmund resonated with countercultural ideals. Also, the "magic theater" sequences in Steppenwolf were interpreted by some as drug-induced psychedelia. These and other Hesse novels were republished in paperback editions and were widely read by university students and young people in the United States and elsewhere.
Selected works
For a more complete list, see Hermann Hesse (German Wikipedia) and Sämtliche Werke (Complete works, ed. 2001-2007). The most important works are marked with asterisk.
1904–Peter Camenzind
1906–Beneath the Wheel
1910–Gertrude
1914–Rosshalde
1915–Knulp
1919 –*Demian (published under the pen name Emil Sinclair)
1919–Klein and Wagner
1920–Klingsor's Last Summer
1922 –* Siddhartha
1927 –* Steppenwolf
1930 –*Narcissus and Goldmund
1932–Journey to the East
1943 –*The Glass Bead Game (also published under the title Magister Ludi)
Awards
Statue in Calw1906 - Bauernfeld-Preis
1928 - Mejstrik-Preis der Wiener Schiller-Stiftung
1936 - Gottfried-Keller-Preis
1946 - Goethepreis der Stadt Frankfurt
1946 - Nobel Prize in Literature
1947 - Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bern
1950 - Wilhelm-Raabe-Preis
1954 - Orden Pour le mérite für Wissenschaft und Künste
1955 - Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
Hesse received honorary citizenship from his home city of Calw, and additionally, throughout Germany many schools are named after him. In 1964, the Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Preis was founded, which is awarded every two years, alternately to a German-language literary journal or to the translator of Hesse's work to a foreign language. There is also a Hermann-Hesse-Preis that is associated with the city of Karlsruhe.
Hermann Hesse in popular culture
In the summer of 1948, the composer Richard Strauss set three short poems by Hesse to music to become all but one of his valedictory Four Last Songs, the final works completed by Strauss prior to his death in 1949.
In 1967, the rock band Steppenwolf named themselves after Hesse's novel, partly due to lead singer John Kay having been born and grown up in Germany. Along with other bands also inspired by Hesse, like Anyone's Daughter with their 40 minute version of "Piktors Verwandlungen", Steppenwolf played in 2002 on Calw's market square as part of the International Hermann-Hesse-Festival 2002.
The Volvos singer Heynes Arms wrote a song entitled "I Think I'm Herman Hesse". Like Hesse, Arms had German parentage and was born on July 2.
A portion of Herman Hesse's quote, "In each individual the spirit is made flesh, in each one the whole of creation suffers, in each one a savior is crucified," excerpted from his work Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth was included in the eighth episode of NBC's television drama, The Black Donnellys entitled "In Each One a Savior".
The British progressive rock band Yes was also influenced by the works of Hermann Hesse, especially on their 1972 album, Close to the Edge, considered by most critics and fans to be their masterpiece.
Seattle, Washington based World Champion Slam Poet Buddy Wakefield titled the first track of his 2006 album (Run On Anything) Healing Hermann Hesse.
Washington DC based electronic duo Thievery Corporation has a song on their album Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi (1997) titled "The Glass Bead Game".
The UK Indie-Rock band James makes reference to Hermann Hesse with their lyrics in the song "Crash" on the album Millionaires: "Cut the Hermann free from the Hesse".
A song by the English rock band Blur, "Strange News from Another Star", from their 1997 album Blur, takes its name from the title of Hesse's 1919 anthology of short stories, Strange News from Another Star.
The New York band Suncrown recorded the song Helen, which contains the lyric "I am Goldmouth lost deep in the forest", referring to the character from Narcissus and Goldmund.
The Slovenian rock band Siddharta is named after Hesse's novel Siddhartha.
The American performance artist Laurie Anderson mentions Herman Hesse and his grave in her spoken piece "Maria Teresa Teresa Maria" on the live album The Ugly One With The Jewels. In it she mentions the disparity between his gravestone and that of his wife, Nina.
Comedian Patton Oswalt mentioned Hesse on his album, Feelin' Kinda Patton.
References
^ Hermann Hesse autobiography. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ Gustav Emil Müller, Philosophy of Literature, Ayer Publishing, 1976.
^ Hermann Hesse Schriftsteller (German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved on 15 January 2008.