Felix Braun (4 November 1885,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 29 November 1973,

Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg (; frequently abbreviated as Kloburg by locals) is a town in Tulln District in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has a population of about 27,500. The Klosterneuburg Monastery, which was established in 1114 and soon after give ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Life

Braun was born in Vienna, then capital of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. His mother died in 1888 during the birth of his sister, Käthe, who would also become a famous writer. In 1904, he enrolled in

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

, as well as

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, and took his doctorate four years later. His literary publications began to appear in 1905 in the ''

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ...

'', the '' Österreichische Rundschau'', and in '' Die neue Rundschau''. He was appointed arts editor of the Berliner ''

National-Zeitung The ''National-Zeitung'' (NZ, ''National Newspaper'') was a weekly, extreme right newspaper, published by Gerhard Frey, who also founded the far right Deutsche Volksunion (German People's Union) as an association in 1971, turning it into a politi ...

'' in 1910. In 1912, Braun married Hedwig Freund, but the couple would divorce in 1915. While working as an editor at Verlag Georg Müller in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, he made the acquaintance of a number of important writers, among whom were

Hans Carossa Hans Carossa (15 December 1878 in Bad Tölz, Kingdom of Bavaria – 12 September 1956 in Rittsteig near Passau) was a German novelist and poet, known mostly for his autobiographical novels, and his "innere Emigration" ( inner emigration) during ...

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

, and

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

. From 1928 to 1938, he was a

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy a ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. He converted from

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1935. To escape persecution by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, who banned his work, he immigrated in 1939 to the United Kingdom and remained there until 1951, teaching literature and art history. After returning to Austria, Braun lectured at the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Lehr ...

and the

University of Applied Arts Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...

. Braun died in 1973 and was honored with a burial in the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

of Vienna. In 1977, a lane in Vienna was named after him.

Writing

At the beginning of the 20th century, Braun belonged to the movement known as

Young Vienna Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

, where he found the company of such innovative writers as Stefan Zweig,

Anton Wildgans Anton Wildgans (17 April 1881 – 3 May 1932) was an Austrian poet and playwright. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Life Born in Vienna, Wildgans studied law at the University of Vienna, from 1900 ...

, and

Max Brod Max Brod ( he, מקס ברוד; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a German-speaking Bohemian, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is best remembered as the friend and biog ...

. Braun was a Neo-Romantic, who wrote refined, cultivated poetry in multiple

forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

. His work centered around the themes of

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, and his Austrian homeland. Braun also served as secretary to the great Austrian writer

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

and formed a close friendship with his employer. Braun edited and published a highly respected

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of German

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

, called ''Der Tausendjährige Rosenstrauch'' (''The Thousand-Year Rose Bush''), in 1937. It has been reissued in numerous editions and remains one of the most popular collections of its kind. He also

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

the work of

Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of ''The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the N ...

and

John of the Cross John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figu ...

Awards and honors

* 1947 Literary Prize of the City of Vienna * 1951

Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature The Grand Austrian State Prize () is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria. It was originally created in 1950 by then education mi ...

* 1955 Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna * 1955 Founder Medal of the Federal Ministry for Education * 1965 Grillparzer Prize * 1966

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1977 Naming of Felix-Braun-Gasse in Vienna-Döbling

Publications

* ''Gedichte'', poems, 1909 * ''Novellen und Legenden'', 1910 * ''Der Schatten des Todes'', novel, 1910 * ''Till Eulenspiegels Kaisertum'', comedy, 1911 * ''Neues Leben'', poems, 1912 * ''Verklärungen'', 1916 * ''Tantalos'', tragedy, 1917 * ''Die Träume des Vineta'', legends, 1919 * ''Hyazinth und Ismene'', dramatic lyrics, 1919 * ''Das Haar der Berenike'', poems, 1919 * ''Attila'', legend, 1920 * ''Aktaion'', tragedy, 1921 * ''Die Taten des Herakles'', novel, 1921 * ''Wunderstunden'', short stories 1923 * ''Der unsichtbare Gast'', novel, 1924, rev. 1928 * ''Der Schneeregenbogen'', 1925 * ''Das innere Leben'', poems, 1926 * ''Deutsche Geister'', essay, 1925 * ''Die vergessene Mutter'', short stories, 1925 * ''Esther'', play, 1926 * ''Der Sohn des Himmels'', mystery play, 1926 * ''Agnes Altkirchner'', novel, 1927, rev. 1965 * ''Zwei Erzählungen von Kindern'', 1928 * ''Die Heilung der Kinder'', short stories, 1929 * ''Laterna magica'', short stories and legends, 1932 * ''Ein indisches Märchenspiel'', 1935 * ''Ausgewählte Gedichte'', 1936 * ''Kaiser Karl V.'', tragedy, 1936 * ''Der Stachel in der Seele'', novel, 1948 * ''Das Licht der Welt'', autobiography, 1949, rev. 1962 * ''Die Tochter des Jairus'', drama, 1950 * ''Briefe in das Jenseits'', short stories, 1952 * ''Aischylos'', dialogue, 1953 * ''Viola d`Amore'', selected poems from 1903 to 1953, 1953 * ''Das musische Land'', essays, 1952, rev. 1970 * ''Die Eisblume'', essays, 1955 * ''Rudolf der Stifter'', drama, 1955 * ''Joseph und Maria'', drama, 1956 * ''Irina und der Zar'', drama, 1956 * ''Orpheus'', tragedy, 1956 * ''Unerbittbar bleibt Vergangenheit'', selected works, 1957 * ''Gespräch über Stifters Mappe meines Urgroßvaters'', 1958 * ''Der Liebeshimmel'', 1959 * ''Palermo und Monreale'', 1960 * ''Imaginäre Gespräche'', 1960 * ''Rede auf Max Mell'', 1960 * ''Zeitgefährten, Begegnungen'', 1963 * ''Die vier Winde'', Christmas stories, 1964 * ''Schönes in Süditalien - Palermo'', essays, 1965 * ''Anrufe des Geistes'', essays, 1965 * ''Aufruf zur Tafel'', mystery, 1965 * ''Das weltliche Kloster'', short stories, 1965 * ''Das Nelkenbeet'', poems from 1914 to 1965, 1965 * ''Frühe und späte Dramen 1909-1967'', 1971

References

Biography from the Österreichisches Literaturarchiv (in German)

Life

Writing

Awards and honors

Publications

References

Further reading