Christiane Zimmer
Christiane Zimmer (born May 14, 1902 as Christiane von Hofmannsthal in Vienna , † January 5, 1987 in New York ) was an Austrian emigrant to the USA and an American social scientist. She was the only daughter of the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal .
Life
Christiane von Hofmannsthal, born Christiane Maria Anna Katharina Pompilia Patronilla Augusta von Hofmannsthal, grew up with her brothers Franz (1903–1929) and Raimund (1906–1974) in Rodaun , a suburb of Vienna. The well-to-do parents had rented a baroque palace there, which became known as the Hofmannsthal-Schlössl . In 1928 the young woman and student married the Indologist Heinrich Zimmer (1890–1943), with whom she lived in Heidelberg . In 1929 her brother Franz shot himself at the age of 26. Two days after his suicide, her father died of a stroke while leaving for his son's funeral. In 1938 the family had to emigrate, and the family assets were confiscated by the National Socialists. Her mother Gertrud (Gerty) von Hofmannsthal (1880-1959) lived in Oxford from July 1939 and later became a British citizen. In the same year Brother Raimund married his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Paget, of the British aristocracy and stayed on the island. In 1940 Zimmer emigrated to the USA with her husband. He had lost his license to teach in Heidelberg due to "Jewish infiltration" and was also persecuted.
She initially worked as a social worker in New York, later studied social sciences at Columbia University , and then became an assistant professor at Fordham Catholic University . Heinrich Zimmer died of pneumonia in 1943. Her house in the New York borough of Greenwich Village remained a popular meeting place for American and European artists and intellectuals even after the untimely death of her husband. Personalities like Hannah Arendt , Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Max Frisch frequented there. She had a long friendship with the intellectual and scientist Werner Vordtriede , and with him she also undertook several research trips. Thanks to Hofmannsthal royalties, Christiane Zimmer achieved late prosperity. She died in New York in 1987 and was buried in the family grave of the Hofmannsthal family in Vienna-Rodaun.
Publications
- A nice little world theater. Letters to Thankmar Freiherr von Munchhausen , S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 978-3-1003-1554-0 .
literature
- Maya Rauch and Gerhard Schuster: Diaries and letters from the father to the daughter , S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 978-3-1006-2907-4 .
- Klaus E. Bohnenkamp: Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rudolf Kassner. Letters and documents including selected letters from Kassner to Gerty and Christiane von Hofmannsthal , Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 2005, ISBN 978-3-7930-9401-2 .
Web links
- Biography of Christiane Zimmer at WHO'S WHO, The People Lexicon
- Letters to and from Christiane Zimmer in the holdings of the German Literature Archive in Marbach
- Literature by and about Christiane Zimmer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Report about Christiane Zimmer in the online archive of the Austrian Media Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ilse Gudden / Katharina Geiser (1990/2010): Zimmer, Heinrich Robert . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)
- ↑ Died. Christiane Zimmer In: Der Spiegel , issue 03/1987 from January 12, 1987, accessed on May 26, 2016
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zimmer, Christiane |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hofmannsthal, Christiane von (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian student and emigrant as well as American social scientist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 14, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th January 1987 |
| Place of death | new York |