Eduard von Keyserling

Patrick Fortmann (Harvard University)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 15 May 1855
Died 28 Sep 1918
Activity 1887-1918

Places

Born in Estonia
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Novelist
Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Keyserling's Works

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Despite a recent renaissance, manifest in various reprints, Eduard von Keyserling yet largely remains “the most unknown of the great German writers” (J.M. Fischer) of the early twentieth century. By the time of his death, on 28 September 1918, which coincided with the downfall of his narrative universe – the manor houses of the German-speaking aristocracy of the Baltic region – Keyserling had created a literary oeuvre that encompassed more than a dozen longer stories and shorter novels, five plays, and a series of smaller pieces. Commissioned by the esteemed

Frankfurter Zeitung

, his Munich acquaintance Thomas Mann wrote the count's obituary. Mann's influential yet ill-informed article puts Keyserling on par with Theodor Fontane for his portrait of the gentry and with Herman Bang…

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1508 words

Citation: Fortmann, Patrick. "Eduard von Keyserling". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 February 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12015, accessed 21 November 2024.]