Gustav Meyrink (19 January 1868 – 4 December 1932) was the pseudonym of Gustav Meyer, an Austrian author, novelist, dramatist, translator, and banker, most famous for his novel '' The Golem''. He has been described as the "most respected German language writer in the field of supernatural fiction".

Childhood

Gustav Meyrink was born with the name ''Gustav Meyer'' in

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

Austria-Hungary 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 ...

(now Austria) on 19 January 1868. He was the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

son of Baron Karl von Varnbüler und zu Hemmingen, a Württembergian minister, and actress Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier. Meyrink was not, despite the statements of some of his contemporaries, of Jewish descent – this rumour arose due to a confusion of his mother with a Jewish woman of the same name. Until thirteen years of age Meyrink lived mainly 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 ...

, where he completed elementary school. He then stayed in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

for a brief time, until his mother relocated to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1883.

Prague

Meyrink lived in Prague for twenty years and has depicted it many times in his works. In 1889, together with the nephew of poet

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

, Meyrink established his own banking company, named "Meier & Morgenstern". In Prague an event occurred which played a providential role in Meyrink's life. Meyrink described it in the autobiographical short story "The Pilot". That day, 14 August 1892, on

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

Eve, Meyrink, twenty-four years old, was allegedly standing at his table with a gun at his head, determined to shoot himself. At that moment he heard a strange scratching sound and someone's hand put a tiny booklet under his door. The booklet was called

Afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

. Meyrink was surprised by this dramatic coincidence and started to study the literature of the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

. He studied

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

, Kabbala, Christian

Sophiology Sophiology (russian: Софиология, by detractors also called ''Sophianism'' or ''Sophism'' ) is a controversial school of thought in Russian Orthodoxy which holds that Divine Wisdom (or Sophia) is to be identified with God's essence, ...

and Eastern

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

. Until his death Meyrink practiced yoga and other occult exercises. Results of these studies and practices are found in Meyrink's works, which almost always deal with various occult traditions. In 1902 Meyrink was charged with fraud. He was charged with using

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

in order to benefit from banking operations. Though after two months he was released from jail, his banking career was effectively ended. His jailhouse experiences are depicted in his most famous novel, '' The Golem'' (1913–14).

Early works

During the 1900s Meyrink started publishing satiric

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

in the magazine

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a satire, satirical German language, German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich ...

, signing them with his mother's surname. During spring 1903 Meyrink's first book, '' The Hot Soldier and Other Stories'', was published. Approximately at the same time he relocated to

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

. Almost immediately after his arrival he published another compilation of his short stories, ''The Orchid. Strange stories''. On 8 May 1905 Meyrink married Philomene Bernt, whom he had known since 1896. On 16 July 1906 his daughter Sybille Felizitas was born. On 17 January 1908, two days before Meyrink's fortieth birthday, the second son, Harro Fortunat, was born. Subsequently, the main character of the second Meyrink's novel ''The Green Face'' was given the same name. In 1908 the third compilation of short stories, ''Waxworks'', was published. Being in need of money, Meyrink started working as a translator, and he became a prolific one; during five years he managed to translate into German fifteen volumes of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, as well as work by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

. He continued translating until his death, including various occult works and even the Egyptian ''

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...

''. Meyrink also edited a series of books on the occult. In 1911 Meyrink relocated with his family to the little Bavarian town

Starnberg Starnberg is a German town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the " Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg. Recording a disposable per-capi ...

, and in 1913 the book ''Des deutschen Spießers Wunderhorn'' (''The German Philistine's Magic Horn'') was published in Munich. It was a compilation of short stories from the previous three books and several new ones; the title is a parody of ''

Des Knaben Wunderhorn ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder'' (German language, German; "The boy's magic horn: old German songs") is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Ludwig Achim von Arnim, Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and publi ...

''. Many of these stories had satirical styles, ridiculing institutions such as the army and the church; Austrian writer Karl Kraus would later describe Meyrink's work as combining "

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

with a dislike for the infantry".

Fame

In 1915 the first and most famous of Meyrink's novels, ''The Golem'', was published, though its drafts may be traced back to 1908. The novel is based on the Jewish legend about a Rabbi who made a living being known as a

golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

(גולם) out of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

and animated it with a Kabbalistic spell, although these legends have little to do with the story's plotline. The main character is Athanasius Pernath, a contemporary

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...

from Prague. It is left to the reader to decide whether Pernath is simply writing down his hallucinations or gradually becoming a real golem. Frenschkowski describes ''the Golem'' as both "a deep-footed initiatory tale and an

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which places imaginary and unreal elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with quixotic plot-drivers, unusual character traits, and a platform for cl ...

". The novel was a great commercial success. In 1916 one more compilation of short stories, ''Bats'', and soon a second novel, ''

The Green Face ''The Green Face'' (German language, German: ''Das grüne Gesicht'') is a 1916 novel by Gustav Meyrink. The book is set in Amsterdam and opens with a stranger visiting a peculiar magic shop, host to a number of unusual customers. One has a green ...

'', was published. The next year his third novel, ''Walpurgis Night'', was written. The success of these works caused Meyrink to be ranked as one of the three main German-language supernatural fiction authors (along with

Hanns Heinz Ewers Hanns Heinz Ewers (3 November 1871 – 12 June 1943) was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilo ...

and

Karl Hans Strobl Karl Hans Strobl (18 January 1877, in Jihlava – 10 March 1946, in Perchtoldsdorf) was an Austrian author and editor. Strobl is best known for his horror and fantasy writings. Strobl was a member of the Nazi Party. Life Strobl grew up in Morav ...

). Meyrink was opposed to World War One, which caused him to be denounced by German nationalists; the German " Völkisch" journalist Albert Zimmermann (1873-1933) described Meyrink as "one of the cleverest and most dangerous opponents of the German nationalist ideal. He will influence – and corrupt – thousands upon thousands, just as Heine did". In 1916 ''Des deutschen Spießers Wunderhorn'' was banned in Austria. By 1920 Meyrink's financial affairs improved so that he bought a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

. The villa became known as "The House at the Last Lantern" after the name of the house from '' The Golem''. There he and his family lived for the next eight years and two more works – ''The White Dominican'' and Meyrink's longest novel '' The Angel of the West Window'' – were written. In 1927 Meyrink formally converted to

Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Death

The name "Fortunat" did not bring much luck to Meyrink's son: during the winter of 1931, while skiing, he seriously injured his backbone and for the rest of his life he was confined to his armchair. On 12 July, at the age of 24, he committed suicide – at the same age his father was going to do it. Meyrink survived his son by half a year. He died on 4 December 1932 in

, Bavaria, Germany. He is buried in Starnberg Cemetery.

Reputation

Frenschkowski notes "like those of most other German and Austrian fantastic writers, his books were prohibited during the Nazi era". Later, Meyrink's work enjoyed a revival; Meyrink was discussed in a special edition of the French journal ''L'Herne'' (1976), and his work was translated into French, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and English.

Bibliography

* '' The Hot Soldier and Other Stories'' (''Der heiße Soldat und andere Geschichten''), 1903 * ''Orchideen. Sonderbare Geschichten'', 1904 * ''The Waxworks'', 1907 * “Der Stein der Tiefe,” fragment published in the literary and art journal ''Pan'', 1911 * ''The German Philistine's Horn'' (''Des deutschen Spießers Wunderhorn''), 1909 * ''Der Violette Tod'', 1913 * '' The Golem'' (''Der Golem''), serialized in 1913/1914, published in novel form in 1915 * ''Bats'' (''Fledermäuse''), 1916 * ''

'' (''Das grüne Gesicht''), 1916 * ''Walpurgis Night'' (''Walpurgisnacht''), 1917 * ''Der Mann auf der Flasche'', 1920 * ''The Land of the Time-Leeches'' (''J.H. Obereits Besuch bei den Zeit-Egeln''), 1920 * ''The White Dominican'' (''Der weiße Dominikaner''), 1921 * ''At the Threshold of the Beyond'', 1923 * ''Goldmachergeschichten'', August Scherl Verlag, Berlin 1925 * ''Die Heimtückischen Champagnons und Andere Geschichten'', 1925 * ''Meister Leonhard'', 1925 * '' The Angel of the West Window'' (''Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster''), 1927 * ''Der Uhrmacher'', 1937 (published posthumous)

References

External links

* * *
Photo and bibliography

*
Dedalus Books
publishers of Meyrink in English

English translation of Meyrink short story
Simplicissimus
Complete edition online {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyrink, Gustav 1868 births 1932 deaths Writers from Vienna 20th-century Austrian novelists Austrian male novelists Austrian male short story writers Austrian satirists Austrian pacifists Austrian Buddhists Austrian fantasy writers Austrian horror writers Buddhist pacifists Magic realism writers 20th-century short story writers 20th-century Austrian male writers Weird fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers