Friends (narration)
Friends is a story by Hermann Hesse from the years 1907/08.
action
Hans Calwer, Erwin Mühletal and Heinrich Wirth study philology in Heidelberg. The three young men are looking for their destiny. The farmer's son Heinrich Wirth goes the way that Buddha went. “Independence from lust and stimulation of external life” is a necessary precondition for him for “serious spiritual life”. Heinrich is a vegetarian and lives on milk, bread and fruit. Erwin therefore mocks him as a "kohlrabi eater". His peasant clothes are reminiscent of Tolstoy, he has withdrawn to the country, is a dropout and a hermit who studies the scriptures of the Indians. The jealous Erwin calls them a "nerd", "forest people" and "sleazy saint". In Heinrich Wirth, Calwer found "a new, very differently loved friend", a "leader and comrade". Yes, a "discipleship" is developing. His student friend Erwin, who remains behind, consoles himself with a Berliner, wants to become engaged to her and perhaps study medicine in Leipzig. Hans, on the other hand, lives abstinently like his four years older role model Heinrich. He wants to walk the path that leads to nirvana and is marked with the names Jesus and Buddha. Its aim is a religious one. However, he does not hold out, he cannot make the sacrifice of himself. Calwer misses his cigarettes, wine, and piano. Heinrich Wirth has to realize that Calwer is different from him, "weaker, but also finer", an artist who has different needs than himself, who seeks nothing other than to overcome death and fear.
The long-standing friendship of the two students Hans and Erwin, which has lasted since school, crumbles badly when Hans Calwer, disgusted by the sociable student life, tosses the Kommersbuch down without a sound and cuts off the connection . Erwin doesn't want to run after Hans. After the scandal he worries about meeting Hans. When Calwer turns more and more away from Erwin, his ideal world falls completely apart. Erwin meets renegade students and Miss Elvira, the landlady's daughter , in the notorious Blue Hussar . Over time, he comes under Elvira's power. His dependency culminates in considerable billing debts. Thanks to his brother-in-law, a staid businessman, Erwin was able to break his grip, turned back to his boys' convention and rose to the rank of manhood. During the semester break, he changes his clothes and finds his future fiancée at home. It is much more difficult for Hans. He dares to approach Schopenhauer's philosophy, plays the piano again, forgets Erwin completely, finally leaves the Heidelberg booth, settles in the village, in Blaubachhausen, near Heinrich, and leads a celibate life. In the end he leaves the “outdated, badly organized school”, namely the university. He also separates from Heinrich Wirth - outwardly - and yet remains connected to him in his heart as his friend and brother.
Autobiographical background
In the story, Hesse processes his experiences with the nature prophet, hiker and hermit Gustav Gräser and his inner separation from Ludwig Finckh. In the spring of 1917 he had spent a few days or weeks with his friend in Gräser's rock grotto in the Arcegno forest near Ascona . "Blaubachhausen", Heinrich Wirth's place of residence, can be read as "Ascona". The retreats in the great outdoors that Hesse undertook at that time were later described in the notes of a natural man . Hesse tried to adopt Gusto Gräser's way of life, but failed in this attempt and withdrew into bourgeois life. The ridicule of his Gaienhofen friend and colleague Ludwig Finckh , who called him a "kohlrabi apostle", led to growing alienation. In spite of a temporary aversion, however, Hesse's admiration for Gusto Gräser continued over the years. In his life crisis of 1916 he found his way back to his “friend and guide”, Gusto Gräser. The story also testifies that Hesse was introduced to the wisdom of the East by Gräser-Wirth. To become like Jesus or Buddha and to find the peace of nirvana was the goal and ideal for the two friends at the time.
Book editions
The story was first published in the magazine Velhagen & Klasings MONTHLYhefte vol. 23, 3rd volume (1909), pp. 49-83. In January 1949 it appeared as a sequel in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) . In 1957 a bibliophile edition was printed for Hesse's 80th birthday, in an edition of 750 numbered copies. In 1965 it was included by Ninon Hesse in the anthology Prose from the estate . It was not until 1986 that a single edition was released as a paperback by Suhrkamp Verlag .
- Friends. A story. Zurich 1949 (separate print from the NZZ).
- Friends. Narrative. Olten Book Friends Association, Olten 1957.
- Friends. Narrative. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-518-37784-1 (st 1284).