Käthe Kollwitz reads Hermann Hesse

But lacked the energy to follow him on his early 'Wanderungen'.

BERLIN (22. July 2024) — A couple of readers have responded to the Käthe Kollwitz drawing I used to illustrate my post about weavers’ strikes in 19th- and 20th-century Germany. Friends also send word that New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) recently presented its first retrospective of Kollwitz’s work, ending this month.

I have a 1960s volume of Kollwitz’s writing — her journal entries between 1908, the year she turned 41, and 1945, the year that she died. Over this time, Kollwitz makes references to people she knew (or had known) including Karl Wittfogel, whose theater works — “Who’s the Dummest?” (Wer ist der Dummste) and “The Cripple” (Der Krüppel) — I’ve described here and there.

In February 1922, Kollwitz (1867-1945) described reading a collection of poetry and reflections (Betrachtungen) by Hermann Hesse (1877-1962). The book was Hesse’s “Wanderings” (Wanderungen), published in 1918 — the last year of the war. Reading critically, Kollwitz didn’t find much to like about this poetic fictional memoir of a man on a walking journey between southern Germany and northern Italy -- essentially in Switzerland, where Hesse would live much of his life.

Perhaps unlike his later character “Siddhartha” or earlier “Knulp,” Hesse’s poet-wanderer offered no peace or solace for Kollwitz, who saw him only as someone who “drones on so much about (life’s) ups and downs.” [Er klagt auch so sehr über das Auf und Ab.]

Reading him in 1922, however, the visual artist could imagine a more disciplined reading of Hesse, who was 45 years old then: Kollwitz instructed herself to note the “beginnings and ends of the Pauses,” how often they return, and their rhythmic quality. In the end, however, she was forced to admit to herself that she probably would never return to Hesse for such a close reading — it was unlikely that she could ever summon the effort required to give his Wanderungen that kind of attention.

“It seems to me that I only have a certain amount of brain power and energy to spend,” she wrote. “If I make ample use of it, then I sometimes have to atone for it later; and make do with the deficit until the reservoir is gradually filled up again.”

More about Hesse and Kollwitz below the paywall….