ZWEIG, Stefan

PUBLICATIONS

Collection

Gesammelte Werke in Einzelbände (10 vols.). 1981.

Novels

Brennendes Geheimnis: Eine Erzahlung (novella). 1911; as The Burning Secret, 1919.

Angst (novella). 1920.

Der Zwang (novella). 1920.

Die Augen des Ewigen Bruders (novella). 1922.

Der begrabene Leuchter (novella). 1936; as The Buried Candelabrum, 1937.

Ungeduld des Herzens. 1939; as Beware of Pity, 1939.

Schachnovelle (novella). 1942; as The Royal Game, 1944.

Memoir

Welt von gestern. 1941; as The World of Yesterday: An Autobiography, 1943.

Short Stories

Die Liebe der Erika Ewald (novellas). 1904.

Erstes Erlebnis. 1911.

Amok (novellas). 1922; translated as Amok, 1931.

Passion and Pain (selections in English). 1924.

Verwirrung der Gefühle (novellas). 1927; as Conflicts, 1927.

Kaleidoscope (translation of Kaleidoskop ). 1934.

The Old Book Peddlar, and Other Tales for Bibliophiles (selections in English). 1937.

Legenden. 1945; as Jewish Legends, 1987.

Ausgewählte Novellen. 1946.

Stories and Legends (selections in English). 1955.

Plays

Tersites: Ein Traurspiel (produced Dresden and Kassel, 1908). 1907.

Der verwandelte Komödiant: Ein Spiel aus dem deutschen Rokoko. 1912.

Das Haus am Meer (produced Vienna, 1912). 1912.

Der verwandelte Komodant. 1913.

Jeremias (produced Switzerland, 1917). 1917; translated as Jeremiah, 1922.

Legende eines Lebens. 1919.

Volpone, adaptation of a play by Ben Jonson. 1926; translated as Ben Jonson's Volpone: A Loveless Comedy in Three Acts, 1926.

Die Flucht zu Gott. 1927.

Das Lamm des Armen. 1929.

Die schweigsame Frau, adaptation of a play by Ben Jonson (opera libretto), music by Richard Strauss. 1935.

Poetry

Silbern Saiten [Silver Strings]. 1901.

Die frühen Kränze. 1906.

Die gesammelten Gedichte. 1924.

Other

Verlaine (biography). 1905; translated as Paul Verlaine, 1913.

Emile Verhaeren (biography). 1910; translated as Emile Verhaeren, 1914.

Das Herz Europas: Ein Besuch im Genfer Roten Kreuz. 1918.

Fahrten: Landschaften und Städte. 1919.

Drei Meister: Balzac, Dickens, Dostojewski (biography). 1920; translated as Three Masters: Balzac, Dickens, Dostoeffsky, 1930.

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore: Das Lebensbild einer Dichterin (biography). 1920.

Romain Rolland (biography). 1921; translated as Romain Rolland, 1921.

Sainte-Beuve. 1923.

Der Kampf mit dem Damon: Holerin, Kleist, Nietzsche (biography). 1925; as The Struggle with the Demon, 1929.

Abschied von Rilke (essay). 1927; as Farewell to Rilke, 1975.

Sternstunden der Menschheit: Fünf historische Miniaturen. 1927; as The Tide of Fortune: Twelve Historical Miniatures, 1940.

Drei Dichter ihres Lebens: Casanova, Stendhal, Tolstoi (biography). 1928; as Adepts in Self-Portraiture: Casanova, Stendhal, Tolstoy, 1928.

Joseph Fouche (biography). 1929; translated as Joseph Fouche, 1930.

Die Heilung durch den Geist: Franz Anton Mesmer, Mary Baker Eddy, Sigmund Freud (biography). 1931; as Mental Healers, 1932.

Marie Antoinette (biography). 1932; translated as Marie Antoinette, 1933.

Triumph und Tragik des Erasmus von Rotterdam (biography). 1934; as Triumph and Tragedy of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1934.

Maria Stuart (biography). 1935; as Mary, the Queen of Scotland and the Isles, 1935.

Castellio gegen Calvin; oder, Ein Gewissen gegen die Gewalt (biography). 1936; as The Right to Heresy: Castellio against Calvin, 1936.

Begegnungen mit Menschen, Buchern, Stadten (essays and criticism). 1937.

Magellan (biography). 1938; as Conqueror of the Seas, 1938.

Brazilien: Ein Land der Zukunft (travel). 1941; as Brazil, Land of the Future, 1941.

Amerigo: A Comedy of Errors in History (biography; translation of Amerigo; die geschichte eines historischen Irrtums ). 1942.

Zeit und Welt: Gesammelte Aufsätze und Vorträge, 1904-1940 , edited by Richard Friedenthal. 1943.

Balzac, edited by Richard Friedenthal (biography). 1946; translated as Balzac, 1946.

Briefwechsel: Stefan Zweig-Friderike Maria Zweig, 1912-42 (correspondence). 1951; as Stefan Zweig and Friderike Maria Zweig: Their Correspondence, 1954. Briefwechsel zwischen Richard Strauss und Stefan Zweig, edited by Willi Schuh. 1957; as A Confidential Matter: The Letters of Richard Strauss and Stefan Zweig, 1931-35, 1977.

Fragment einer Novelle, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1961.

Durch Zeiten und Welten, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1961.

Im Schnee, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1963.

Der Turm zu Babel, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1964.

Unbekannte Briefe aus der Emigration an eine Freundin, edited by Gisella Selden-Goth (correspondence). 1964.

Frühlingsfahrt durch die Provence: Ein Essay, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1965.

Die Monotonisierung der Welt: Aufsätze und Vorträge, edited by Volker Michels. 1976.

Brief an Freunde (correspondence). 1978.

Die Hochzeit von Lyon, edited by Erich Fitzbauer. 1980.

Das Stefan Zweig Buch, edited by Knut Beck (selections). 1981.

Das Geheimnis des künstlerischen Schaffens, edited by Knut Beck. 1981.

The Correspondence of Stefan Zweig with Raoul Auernheimer and with Richard Beer-Hofmann, edited by Donald G. Daviau, Jorun B. Johns, and Jeffrey B. Berlin. 1983.

Stefan Zweig/Paul Zech: Briefe 1910-1942, edited by Donald G. Daviau (correspondence). 1984.

Briefweschsel mit Hermann Bahr, Sigmund Freud, Ranier Maria Rilke und Arthur Schnitzler, edited by Jeffrey B. Berlin, Hans-Ulrich Lindken, and Donald A. Prater (correspondence). 1987.

Rainer Maria Rilke und Stefan Zweig in Briefen und Dokumenten, edited by Donald A. Prater (correspondence). 1987.

Editor, Eine Anthologie der besten Übersetzungen, by Paul Verlaine. 1902.

Editor, Gesammelte Werke, by Paul Verlaine (2 vols.). 1922.

Edtior, Literarische Portraits aus dem Frankreich des XVII.-XIX. Jahrhunderts, by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (2 vols.). 1923.

Editor, Romantische Erzählungen, by Francois René Auguste and Vicomte de Chateaubriand. 1924.

Editor, Goethes Gedichte: Eine Auswahl, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 1927.

Translator, Ausgewählte Gedichte, by Emile Verhaeren. 1904.

Translator, Die visionäre Kunstphilosophie des William Blake, by Archibald B.H. Russell. 1906.

Translator, Drei Dramen: Helenas Heimkehr; Phillipp II; Das Kloster , by Emile Verhaeren. 1910.

Translator, Hymnen an das Leben, by Emile Verhaeren. 1911.

Translator, Rembrandt, by Emile Verhaeren. 1912.

Translator, Rubens, by Emile Verhaeren. 1913.

Translator, Den hingerichteten Völkern, by Romain Rolland. 1918.

Translator, Die Zeit wird kommen, by Romain Rolland. 1919.

Translator, Weib: Roman, by Madeline Marx. 1920.

Translator, with Erwin Rieger, Cressida, by André Suarés. 1920.

Translator, Clérambault: Geschichte eines freien Gewissens im Kriege, by Romain Rolland. 1922.

Translator, Man weiss nicht wie, by Luigi Pirandello. 1935.

Translator, with Richard Friedenthal, Ein Schimmerlicht im Dunkel, by Irwin Edman. 1940.

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Film Adaptations:

Beware of Pity, 1946; Letter from an Unknown Woman, 1948, from the novella; Fear, 1954, from the novella Angst; Brainwashed, 1960, from the novella The Royal Game.

Bibliography:

Stefan Zweig: A Bibliography, 1965, Stefan Zweig: An International Bibliography, 1991, and Stefan Zweig: An International Bibliography, Addendum I, 1999, all by Randolph J. Klawiter.

Manuscript Collection:

Daniel Reed Library, State University of New York College, Fredonia.

Critical Studies:

Stefan Zweig, Great European by Jules Romains, translated by James Whitall, 1941; Stefan Zweig by Friderike Maria Burger Winternitz Zweig, translated by Erna McArthur, 1946; Stefan Zweig; A Tribute to His Life and Work by Hanns Arens, translated by Christobel Fowler, 1951; "Jewish Themes in Stefan Zweig" by Harry Zohn, in Journal of the International Arthur Schnitzler Research Association, 6(2), 1967, pp. 32-38; European of Yesterday: A Biography of Stefan Zweig by Donald A. Prater, 1972; Stefan Zweig: A Critical Biography by Elizabeth Allday, 1972; Stefan Zweig issue of Modern Austrian Literature, 14(3-4), 1981; Stefan Zweig: The World of Yesterday's Humanist Today: Proceedings of the Stefan Zweig Symposium, edited by Marion Sonnenfeld, 1983; Moral Values and the Human Zoo: The Novellen of Stefan Zweig by David Turner, 1988; "Stefan Zweig and Franz Werfel: Humanism and Mysticism as Responses to Antisemitism and the Holocaust" by Lionel B. Steiman, in Holocaust Studies Annual, edited by Sanford Pinsker and Jack Fischel, 1990.

* * *

Arthur Schnitzler, a contemporary of Stefan Zweig, once remarked that many people have to hear a shot in order to realize that a murder has been committed. This observation may be applied to Stefan Zweig, who escaped the Nazis, was not overtly deprived of his freedom, and was not killed in a concentration camp but who, nevertheless, can be considered a victim of the Holocaust. He was driven from Austria and especially from Vienna, a city that supplied him the psychological energy to write. Without cultural roots, he became more and more melancholic and depressed. He could not envision an end to the barbarism of the Nazis, and he, together with his wife, took his own life.

Zweig, the author of The Royal Game and The World of Yesterday, was born in Vienna, Austria, to the son of a well-todo Jewish industrialist on 28 November 1881. Although an Austrian by birth, he can be considered a truly European writer since he transcends national borders. His essays, novels, short stories, and biographies are characterized by elements of psychological realism, testifying to Zweig's interest in psychology, especially in Sigmund Freud. His publications, including his translations (he was fluent in French), embrace the life and era of many well-known figures in various walks of life, artists as well as diplomats. A lifelong friendship connected him with the pacifist Romain Rolland and the Belgian Émile Verhaeren. Having studied at the University of Vienna, the University of Berlin, and the Sorbonne, Zweig settled in Salzburg in 1919. Since political events endangered his personal safety (his books were openly burned by the fascists in Berlin on 10 May 1933, and his home in Salzburg was searched by the Austrian police for weapons in 1934), he left for England in 1934. His first marriage to Friderike, with whom he continued to stay in contact until the end of his life, ended in divorce; in 1939 he moved to Bath and married for the second time, to German immigrant Elisabeth Charlotte Altmann. After becoming a British citizen in 1940, he left with his wife for South America in the same year by way of New York. On 22 February 1942 he and his wife committed suicide in Petrópolis, near Rio de Janeiro.

Zweig set down his humanistic credo and also the personal justification for his political noninvolvement in his Triumph and Tragedy of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1934). In Erasmus, a figure with whom he strongly identified and whose aims he shared, Zweig showed the strength and weakness of liberal-humanistic thinking, the strength being that humanism is not tied to national boundaries but is a force of the spirit and mind uniting all Western nations. This kind of humanism can "never be revolutionary," he stated in Erasmus ; "[a] man of intellect had, such was Erasmus's conviction, nothing other to do in this world than to determine and elucidate truths; his was not to march forth and fight for these truths." Erasmus did not attempt to translate his theories into action, in his case against the "fanatic" Martin Luther, just as Zweig, and other Austrian intellectuals, did not take the dangers of the rising Nazi movement seriously. Erasmus, as well as Zweig, neglected to include the masses in his elitist humanistic circle, and in this exclusion lay also the tragedy of the humanistic movement. The masses, the moving force of social change, were excluded from realizing this noble goal: "[Erasmus] considered the masses … unworthy the attention of a refined and educated man, and it would be beneath his dignity to woo the favours of 'barbarians."' Zweig considered this attitude to be the tragic flaw of this optimistic utopian worldview; the "armchair philosophies" created an ideology that did not take into account the irrational elements of the people as well as human weaknesses and national wars; this humanistic world order proved ineffective when confronted with actual reality. Zweig pointed to the dichotomy between the introverted humanistic thinker and the extroverted man of action also in his biographical novel The Right to Heresy: Castellio against Calvin when he remarked that humanists are not activists and vice versa. Zweig was on the side of Erasmus, the cosmopolitan thinker; an intellectual "cannot afford to take sides, his realm is the realm of equable justice; he must stand above the heat and fury of the contest."

Zweig's belief in the victory of the spirit over war and aggression was shattered during and after World War I. For him the world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in which he felt at home, became a world of yesterday. Disillusioned, he left his native land, but in exile Zweig did not have the psychological security and cultural environment that he needed for his productivity, and he ended his life. If there was a shortcoming in his life, then it can be seen in his decision to be apolitical in a time when political involvement was necessary for physical and cultural survival. This political passivity, however, also characterized some other intellectuals living in the waning days of the Austrian fin de siécle of the 1900s.

—Gerd K. Schneider

See the essays on The Royal Game and The World of Yesterday: An Autobiography.