Biography of Herman Hesse

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Biography of Herman Hesse

Hermann Karl Hesse was born on July 2nd, 1877, in the Black Forest town of Calw in Württemberg, German Empire. His father served in India at a mission under a Protestant Christian church society, and later went to work for the Calwer Verlagsverein publishing house which specialized in theological texts and schoolbooks. Hesse’s mother also worked as a former missionary, and purused extensive intellectual interests. His family seemed to contain an interesting mix of Pietism and scholarly achievements. This unusual background seemed to influence Hesse’s later career as a literary author and his legacy as one of the greatest German artists.

Although Hesse was an intelligent student who effortlessly remained at the top of his class, his dislike of formal education showed itself in the form of rebellion and resulted in a series of transfers from school to school until 1893. Hesse’s childhood and youth were spent with a enthusiastic, precocious, and often rebellious nature. Hesse’s first formal schooling was spent at Maulbronn seminary due to his parent’s religious wishes. However, he soon began to suffer from headaches and insomnia, and left the seminary after three months. He was then sent to Pastor Christoph Blumhardt to help him with his ailments. Instead of a cure, Hesse began having suicidal thoughts and other symptoms of depression after experiencing unrequited feelings for the priest’s daughter. On June 20th, he disappeared after buying a revolver and leaving a suicide note, he returned the same day, depressed. Not too soon after, he was sent to a school for mentally retarded and emotionally unstable children. After his behavior became manageable, he was allowed to return to Calw. However, once Hesse felt he was ready to resume his studies, the cycle began again and his suicidal thoughts and headaches returned. By then, Hesse’s parents realized that they were not raising an ordinary child. Hesse’s headstrong personality proved many environments to be disagreeable, similarly, his unusual precociousness often proved to be too difficult for his parents to handle. At one point, they even considered to send him away, Johannes (Hesse’s father) wrote in 1893, “Humiliating though it would be to us, I am nevertheless seriously wondering if we should not put him into an institution or farm him out to strangers. We are too nervous and too weak for him ... He seems to have a gift for everything: he observes the moon and the clouds, improvises on the harmonium, makes quite amazing pencil and pen drawings, sings very ably when he has a mind to, and he is never at a loss for rhymes." Hesse was deeply hurt by his parent’s withdrawal toward him, and he soon began to reject adult authority and religion. His formal education ended at a secondary school in Cannstadt. He then spent his free time gardening, reading in his grandfather’s library, and assisting his father in the Calw publishing house. His rebellious streak seemed to subside after he began working as an apprentice in the Heckenhauer bookshop in October 17, 1895, marking the start of his literary career.

After each twelve-hour workday in the bookshop, he pursued his own work, spending his days reading German Romantic literature, theological writings, and greek literature, by authors such as Goethe, Lessing, Schiller, Brentano, Eichendorff, Holderlin, and Novalis. During 1898, Hesse became involved in the idea of aestheticism, or an exaggerated devotion to literature, poetry, or art. His newfound love for aestheticism shaped the background of his first poems, An Hour Behind Midnight, and Herman Lauscher. Due to the good feedback he received from Lauscher, a publisher named Samuel Fischer became interested in Hesse. His first novel Peter Camenzind was a regular printing by Fischer in 1904 and became popular in Germany. This gave Hesse the breakthrough he needed to make a living as a writer. He wrote his second novel, Beneath the Wheel, in 1906 after marrying Maria Bernoulli and having three sons. Beneath the Wheel contained reflections of his childhood experiences and early education. His next novel two novels Gertrude (1910), and Rosshalde (1914) reveal his marriage struggles. They were published around the time of Hesse’s trip to India, which is reflected in one of his later masterpieces, Siddartha. Two years before the start of World War I, Hesse had moved to switzerland and remained there for the rest of his life. During the war, Hesse had registered as a volunteer for the imperial army. However, he was found unfit for combat duty and instead was assigned to work for the Prisoner of War Welfare Organization. During this time, he published an essay titled “O Friends, Not These Tones”, which expressed his pacifist views and warned people to not follow nationalistic madness