Gustav Meyrink facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gustav Meyrink
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Meyrink around 1886
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Gustav Meyer
19 January 1868 Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)
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| Died | 4 December 1932 (aged 64) Starnberg, Bavaria, Weimar Republic
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| Resting place | Starnberg Cemetery |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Citizenship | Austria |
| Known for | The Golem |
| Children | Sibylle Felizitas Böhler (1906), Harro Fortunat Meyrink (1908) |
| Parent(s) | Karl von Varnbüler and Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier. |
Gustav Meyrink (born Gustav Meyer; January 19, 1868 – December 4, 1932) was an Austrian writer. He wrote novels, plays, and short stories. He also worked as a translator and a banker. Meyrink is best known for his novel The Golem. Many people consider him one of the most important German-language writers of stories about the supernatural.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Gustav Meyrink was born in Vienna, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. His birthday was January 19, 1868. His birth name was Gustav Meyer. His father was Baron Karl von Varnbüler und zu Hemmingen, a minister from Württemberg. His mother was an actress named Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier. Some people thought Meyrink was Jewish, but this was a mistake. The rumor started because his mother had the same name as a Jewish woman.
Until he was thirteen, Meyrink mostly lived in Munich. There, he finished elementary school. He then spent a short time in Hamburg. In 1883, his mother moved to Prague, and he went with her.
Life in Prague
Meyrink lived in Prague for twenty years. This city appears many times in his books. In 1889, he started his own banking company called "Meier & Morgenstern." He did this with the nephew of a poet named Christian Morgenstern.
An important event happened to Meyrink in Prague. He wrote about it in his short story "The Pilot." On August 14, 1892, Meyrink was 24 years old. He was feeling very sad and was thinking about ending his life. At that moment, he heard a strange scratching sound. Someone slid a small book under his door. The book was called Afterlife. Meyrink was very surprised by this timing. He decided to start studying mysterious and hidden knowledge.
He learned about theosophy, Kabbala, Christian Sophiology, and Eastern mysticism. Until he died, Meyrink practiced yoga and other spiritual exercises. The things he learned and practiced are often found in his stories. His works usually deal with different kinds of hidden traditions and spiritual ideas.
In 1902, Meyrink faced legal trouble. He was accused of using spiritualism to help his banking business. He was held in jail for two months but was then released. However, his banking career was over. His experiences in jail inspired parts of his most famous novel, The Golem (written in 1913–1914).
First Books and Family Life
In the early 1900s, Meyrink began writing funny short stories. He published them in a magazine called Simplicissimus. He used his mother's last name, Meyrink, as his pen name. In the spring of 1903, his first book came out. It was called The Hot Soldier and Other Stories. Around the same time, he moved to Vienna. Soon after arriving, he published another collection of his short stories, The Orchid. Strange stories.
On May 8, 1905, Meyrink married Philomene Bernt. He had known her since 1896. Their daughter, Sybille Felizitas, was born on July 16, 1906. On January 17, 1908, two days before Meyrink's 40th birthday, their second child, Harro Fortunat, was born. Later, the main character in Meyrink's second novel, The Green Face, was given the same name. In 1908, his third collection of short stories, Waxworks, was published.
Meyrink needed money, so he started working as a translator. He was very good at it and translated many books. In five years, he translated fifteen books by Charles Dickens into German. He also translated works by Rudyard Kipling and Lafcadio Hearn. He continued translating until he died. He even translated various books about the occult and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Meyrink also helped edit a series of books on hidden knowledge.
In 1911, Meyrink and his family moved to a small town in Bavaria called Starnberg. In 1913, his book Des deutschen Spießers Wunderhorn (The German Philistine's Magic Horn) was published. This book was a collection of short stories from his earlier books and some new ones. Many of these stories made fun of things like the army and the church. An Austrian writer named Karl Kraus said Meyrink's work mixed "Buddhism with a dislike for the infantry."
Rise to Fame
In 1915, Meyrink's first and most famous novel, The Golem, was published. He had been working on ideas for it since 1908. The story is based on an old Jewish legend. This legend is about a rabbi who created a living being called a golem out of clay using a special spell. However, Meyrink's story is quite different from the original legends. The main character is Athanasius Pernath, a gem cutter in Prague. Readers are left to wonder if Pernath is just imagining things or if he is slowly turning into a real golem. Experts describe The Golem as both a deep story about spiritual journeys and an urban fantasy. The novel was a huge success.
In 1916, another collection of short stories, Bats, was published. Soon after, his second novel, The Green Face, came out. The next year, his third novel, Walpurgis Night, was written. Because of how popular these books were, Meyrink became known as one of the top three German-language writers of supernatural fiction. The other two were Hanns Heinz Ewers and Karl Hans Strobl.
Meyrink did not support World War I. This caused German nationalists to criticize him. A German journalist named Albert Zimmermann said Meyrink was "one of the cleverest and most dangerous opponents of the German nationalist ideal." He believed Meyrink would "influence – and corrupt – thousands upon thousands, just as Heine did." In 1916, his book Des deutschen Spießers Wunderhorn was banned in Austria.
By 1920, Meyrink's money situation improved. He bought a villa in Starnberg. This house became known as "The House at the Last Lantern." This was the name of a house from his novel The Golem. He and his family lived there for eight years. During this time, he wrote two more books: The White Dominican and his longest novel, The Angel of the West Window.
In 1927, Meyrink officially became a follower of Mahayana Buddhism.
Later Years and Legacy
Sadly, the name "Fortunat" (meaning fortunate) did not bring much luck to Meyrink's son, Harro. In the winter of 1931, while skiing, Harro seriously hurt his back. He had to stay in an armchair for the rest of his life. Gustav Meyrink passed away six months after his son. He died on December 4, 1932, in Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. He is buried in Starnberg Cemetery.
Like many other German and Austrian fantasy writers, Meyrink's books were banned during the Nazi era. Later, Meyrink's work became popular again. His work was discussed in a special edition of the French journal L'Herne in 1976. His books have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
See also
In Spanish: Gustav Meyrink para niños
