Hermann+Hesse

Linda and Henry Hermann Hesse was born into a family of Pietist missionaries and religious publishers in the Black Forest town of Calw, in the German state of Württemberg. Johannes Hesse, his father, was born a Russian citizen in Weissenstein, Estonia. Hesse's mother, Marie Gundert, the daughter of the Pietist Indologist Hermann Gundert, spent her early years in Talatscheri, India. Hesse's parents, who had served as missionaries in India, expected him to follow the family tradition in theology. As early as 1881, Hesse's parents were already starting to realize that they had no ordinary child. Johannes and Marie were doubtful as to whether they had the energy to bring up this unusually precocious child. They even considered at one point to send him away. Johannes 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's early childhood and youth was characterized by precociousness, enthusiasm, and rebelliousness. Until approximately 1893, Hesse's life was a series of transfers from school to school, due to "bad behavior" and intractability. //__IN FACT,__// Hesse entered the Protestant seminary at Maulbronn in 1891, but he was expelled from the school. After unhappy experiences at a secular school, Hesse left his studies. Hesse felt he was ready to resume his studies quite quickly after each depression he goes through, however there is a cycle. Being quite well for a short while, then Hesse would become frustrated with his studies, his headaches continued, and again Hesse flirted with suicide. Hesse began to frequent taverns, socialized with some questionable characters, smoked heavily, and began to incur debts. AFTER HE DROPPED OUT FROM SCHOOL He worked as a bookshop clerk, mechanic, and book dealer in Tübingen, where he joined literary circle called Le Petit Cénacle. During this period Hesse read voluminously and determined the become a writer. In 1899 Hesse published his first works, ROMANTISCHE LIEDER and EINE STUNDE HINTER MITTERNACHT. With regards to his religious background, Hesse is quoted as having said: "Christianity... was the strongest of the powers that shaped and molded me." Contrary to what some Westerners believe, the majority of the world's Buddhists actually do believe in God or some form of supreme being. Simply having belief in God does not necessarily mean that a person is not a Buddhist. The subject of Hesse's religious affiliation requires further research. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1946. “Of the Western philosophers, I have been influenced most by Plato, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche as well as the historian Jacob Burckhardt. But they did not influence me as much as Indian and, later, Chinese philosophy”
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[] [] [] [] [] [] [] Henry's Notes: Was born on the 2nd of July in the town of Cawl bordering the Black Forest in Germany. His grandfather had been a missionary in India, which was where his mother was born. His father was an Estonian missionary operating in Cawl, and published many books about his missions, in time even managing to surpass the number Hesse’s grandfather had written about Indian culture and his time there. These vast libraries of books written by his family inspired Hesse to become a poet, against his family’s wishes; they wanted him to become a missionary. At age 14 he was sent to the Maulbronn monastery-school where his parents thought they could tame his rebelliousness. Shortly after the end of the first semester he escaped and was found in a field a day later. Followed by that was a very tumultuous time for the young Hesse as he attempted suicide, became an apprentice in a clock-tower factory and later in a bookshop, and was even admitted in a mental institution at one point.