Hermann Grab (6 May 1903 – 2 August 1949) was a Bohemian German-language writer.

Early years

Hermann was born into a wealthy aristocratic family of Jewish origin in Prague,

Bohemian Kingdom The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

(an old name of today's Czech Republic). Although his parents were formally Jewish, Hermann and his brother were educated as Catholics. Hermann studied at the German Gymnasium Na Prikopech (Prague) and then entered German Charles-Ferdinand University. Later he studied at

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

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

. In 1927, he received a PhD in philosophy in Heidelberg and in 1928 a PhD in law in his home-town Prague.

Life in Prague and writer work

After short juridical praxis, Grab became a music teacher and music-critic of Prager Montagsblatt. In 1934, he published the first of his short stories in Prague magazines and in 1935 his first book, ''Der Stadtpark'', a Prague novel, for he was said to be 'Prague

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...

' (Joseph Strelka).

Exile in the United States and death

After the occupation of his country by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

between 1938 and 1939, Grab escaped to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. When Hitler's armies defeated France, he escaped (and lost all his manuscripts) through France, Spain, Portugal, and finally to the USA. Hermann settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and established a small music school, married a Belgian exile and wrote his second book, ''Hochzeit in Brooklyn''. Serious illness prevented him from returning to Prague after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He died fully invalid in 1949 in New York and was buried at

Flushing Cemetery Flushing Cemetery is a cemetery in Flushing in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. History Flushing Cemetery has several predecessors. In the year 1789 (64 years before the cemetery was founded), George Washington had crosse ...

in Flushing,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Works of Hermann Grab

*''Der Stadtpark'' (Town Park), novel published in Prague 1935. Prague's pre-World War I life seen by a teenager. *''Hochzeit in Brooklyn'' (Marriage in Brooklyn), a book of excellent short stories, written in 1940s, published posthumously in Vienna 1957. Some of them with a Prague theme, others with New York and Lisbon theme.

Secondary Literature

* "Das neue Weihnachtsbuch. Thomas Mann über ein neues Prager Buch". In: ''Prager Montagsblatt'' 57 (1934), No.50 (10. 12. 1934), p. 8. * Haas, Willy: "Pražský Němec 1935". German of Prague 1935. In: ''Literární noviny'' iterary Review7 (1935), No. 4, p. 3. * Mann, Klaus: "Hermann Grab, Der Stadtpark". In: ''Die Sammlung'' 2 (1935), No. 7, p. 387 – 389. * C. S. .i. Carl Seelig "Der Stadtpark von Hermann Grab". In: ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' 156 (1935), No. 770, Beilage * Politzer, Heinz: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: ''das silberboot'' 1 (1935/1936), fasc. 1, p. 46 – 47. * Strelka, Joseph P.: "Ein österreichischer Proust". In: ''Strelka: Brücke zu vielen Ufern.'' Wien, Frankfurt, Zürich 1966, p. 119. * Härtling, Peter: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: Härtling: ''Vergessene Bücher.'' Stuttgart 1966, p. 143 – 150. (2nd ed. Munich 1986, p. 197 – 205.) * Becher, Peter: "Schreiben am Abgrund. Hermann Grab – ein Erzähler aus dem Prager Kreis". In: ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' 41 (1985), Nr. 117 (22. 5. 1985), S. 13. * Bonsen, Peter: "Zweifelhaftes Glück. Der Exilautor Hermann Grab – eine Wiederentdeckung". In: ''Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. Heidelberger Nachrichten'' 41 (1985), No. 183. * Weinzierl, Ulrich: "Der kunstvoll gedämpfte Schrecken". In: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' 1985, No. 98 (27. 4. 1985). Beilage Bilder und Zeiten – Literatur, p. 5. * Unger, Karl: "Planvoll beschädigte Novellen. Der Stadtpark, Erzählungen von Hermann Grab". In: ''Deutsche Volkszeitung'' 1985, Nr.31 (2. 8. 1985), S. 12. * Adler, Jeremy: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: ''Times Literary Supplement'' 84 (1985), No. 4306 (11. 10. 1985), p. 1146. * Adler, H. G.: Der Stadtpark und andere Erzählungen. In: Literatur und Kritik 21 (1986), fasc. 205 – 206, p. 273 – 275. * Theodor W. Adorno: "Hermann Grab". In: Theodor Adorno, ''Gesammelte Schriften'', Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M. * Theodor Adorno: ''Vermischte Schriften'', 1986, S. 465 f. * Karl Hobi: ''Hermann Grab. Leben und Werk'', PhD Thesis, Fribourg (Switzerland) 1969. * Ernst Schönwiese: "Hermann Grab" In: ''Wort in der Zeit'' 4 (1958), S. 257 ff. * ''Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert''. Band 1. Hrsg. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien. Redaktion: Susanne Blumesberger. Saur, München 2002, S. 452, . * Lucy Topol’ská: ''Hermann Grab. Biographie'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grab, Hermann Czechoslovak short story writers Writers from Prague Jewish Czech writers Burials at Flushing Cemetery 1903 births 1949 deaths Czechoslovak novelists Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States