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Hermann Hesse

Nobel Prize winning German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter (1877-1962) · Switzerland · Writers · Died at 85 · also Germany · also Russia

Hermann Hesse is read about 3,864 times a day, in 115 languages.

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He wrote novels about seekers - young men peeling back the world's surfaces to find something true underneath - and for a generation that felt the same vertigo in the 1960s, decades after the books were published, his name became a password.

WritersWriter / AuthorFictionPoetryPaintingPhilosophyLiteratureGermany

A life in dates

1962Died9 August 19621955Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' AssociationAward1950Wilhelm Raabe PrizeAward1946Goethe Prize of the City of FrankfurtAwardNobel Prize in LiteratureAward1936Gottfried-Keller-PreisAward1910“At about the age of six or seven, I realized that of all the invisible powers the one I was destined to be most strongly affected and dominated by was music.”In their wordsp. 4

“That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged - to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony.”In their wordsAs translated by Hilda Rosner

“If a man does not think too much, he rejoices at rising in the morning, and at eating and drinking. He finds satisfaction in them and does not want them to be otherwise.”In their wordsAs translated by Hilda Rosner

1905“Once my world was full of friends”In their wordsIn the Fog (1905)

Bauernfeld prizeAward1904“In the beginning was the myth.”In their wordsVariant translation: In the beginning was the myth. Just as the great god composed and struggled for expression in the souls of the

“That's the way it is when you love. It makes you suffer, and I have suffered much in the years since.”In their wordsPeter Camenzind (1904)

1877Born2 July 1877

Also in Deutsch

Photos 11

Hesse's birthplace in Calw, 2007Hesse's birthplace in Calw, 2007St. Nicholas-Bridge (Nikolausbrücke), one of Hesse's favourite childhood places. Click to see an enlarged image, in which the statue of Hesse can be seen near the centre.St. Nicholas-Bridge (Nikolausbrücke), one of Hesse's favourite childhood places. Click to see an enlarged image, in which the statue of Hesse can be seen near the centre.The Swiss city of Basel, which became an important point of reference throughout Hesse's life and played an important role during the author's educationThe Swiss city of Basel, which became an important point of reference throughout Hesse's life and played an important role during the author's educationModern Book Printing from the Walk of Ideas in Berlin, GermanyModern Book Printing from the Walk of Ideas in Berlin, Germany1905 portrait by Ernst Würtenberger (1868-1934)1905 portrait by Ernst Würtenberger (1868-1934)Hesse's writing desk, pictured at the Museum GaienhofenHesse's writing desk, pictured at the Museum Gaienhofen

In their own words 10

,
Hermann Hesse
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. When I take a long look at my life, as though from outside, it does not appear particularly happy. Yet I am even less justified in calling it unhappy, despite all its mistakes.

    1910, p. 3, Own words

  2. At about the age of six or seven, I realized that of all the invisible powers the one I was destined to be most strongly affected and dominated by was music.

    1910, p. 4, Own words

  3. That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged - to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony.

    1910, As translated by Hilda Rosner, Own words

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Awards

Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association1955
Wilhelm Raabe Prize1950
Nobel Prize in Literature1946
Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt1946
Gottfried-Keller-Preis1936
Bauernfeld prize1905
Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order
Pour le Mérite

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Hermann Hesse

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About this person

Hermann Karl Hesse was born 2 July 1877, a German-Swiss poet and novelist whose interest in Eastern religious and philosophical traditions, woven with Jungian analysis, shaped everything he wrote. Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, The Glass Bead Game - each book followed someone hunting for authenticity, self-knowledge, a way to live that didn't feel like a lie. He was widely read in German-speaking countries while alive and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, but the real surge came years after his death on 9 August 1962: the mid-1960s, when post-war readers in the United States and Europe found in his old pages exactly the questions they were asking.

Country
Switzerland
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1877 to 1962 · aged 85

In common with Hermann

Arthur SchnitzlerBoth received Bauernfeld prizeMax FrischBoth received Wilhelm Raabe PrizeUwe JohnsonBoth received Wilhelm Raabe PrizeErwin Guido KolbenheyerBoth received Bauernfeld prizeSiegfried LenzBoth received Wilhelm Raabe PrizeErnst LotharBoth received Bauernfeld prize

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