Mia Hesse-Bernoulli

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Maria «Mia» Hesse-Bernoulli , born as Maria Bernoulli (born August 7, 1868 in Basel ; † May 13, 1963 in Bern ), was one of the first professional photographers in Switzerland to have her own studio in Basel. From 1904 to 1923 she was the first wife of the German writer Hermann Hesse .

Live and act

Mia Bernoulli came from the extensive family of scholars in Basel, Bernoulli . Her father was the notary Friedrich "Fritz" Bernoulli (1824–1913), a direct descendant of the mathematician Johann II. Bernoulli ; her mother was Emilia Barbara Gengenbach (1831-1911). Mia was the fourth of the couple's eight children. The family made it possible for their children to have a high school education. Mia Bernoulli loved music and was a gifted and enthusiastic pianist and mountaineer .

Completely unusual for her time, she made it possible for her parents to allow her to do professional training as a photographer as a woman. Even though Franziska Möllinger was already working as a commercial photographer or daguerreotypist between 1843 and 1845 , Mia Bernoulli became the first professional photographer with formal training in Switzerland and worked as a master photographer together with her sister Tuccia at Bäumleingasse 18 in the old town of Basel own studio. There she also devoted herself to experimental art photography , which made her way ahead of her time.

Her photo studio developed into a popular meeting place for young artists. It was there in 1902 that she met Hermann Hesse, nine years her junior, who was still working as a bookseller in Basel at the time . Against the wishes of Mia Bernoulli's parents, the two became a couple, and she accompanied Hesse on his second trip to Italy. After Hesse's first great success as a writer and the financial independence he gained with it, the two married on August 2, 1904.

The "Hermann Hesse House" in Gaienhofen , since August 2019 it has been called "Mia and Hermann Hesse House"

Mia Hesse-Bernoulli gave up her professional activity after her marriage and settled with her husband in Gaienhofen on Lake Constance . There they first lived in an old farmhouse, three years later, in 1907, they moved into a stately home they had designed themselves on a hill west of the village. In this building, which can be viewed today as the “Mia-und-Hermann-Hesse-Haus”, Mia Hesse-Bernoulli furnished her own room with unusual colors and furnishings (“the woman's room”), furnished according to her taste and needs.

His marriage to Hermann Hesse had three sons: the painter Bruno Hesse (1905–1999), the decorator Hans Heinrich (Heiner) Hesse (1909–2003) and the photographer Martin Hesse (1911–1968). While her husband went on longer trips abroad more and more often, Mia Hesse-Bernoulli got lonely in her new rural home, where she always remained an outsider as the noble Frau vu Basel (“noble woman from Basel”). She missed her previous career and also the usual cultural offerings of the big city of Basel. She was often unable to cope with the upbringing of her three sons, and her mental state worsened.

After Hesse's return from India in 1912, the family moved to Ostermundigen near Bern in Switzerland . There they lived in the country house of the late painter Albert Welti , whom Hermann Hesse had met in Munich in 1907 and then visited frequently in Ostermundigen. Even this new beginning could no longer save the marriage. The couple separated in 1918 after Hesse's return from the First World War , and they divorced in 1923. At that time Mia Hesse-Bernoulli suffered from a nervous disease and spent a long time in a sanatorium. The three sons were therefore temporarily placed in foster families; they later lived with their mother again at times.

After her recovery, Mia Hesse-Bernoulli moved to Ascona in the canton of Ticino . There she ran the "Casa Cedro", a wooden chalet in Via Collinetta , as a guesthouse until 1942 . In old age Mia Hesse-Bernoulli moved to Bern, where she initially lived with her youngest son Martin. She died in 1963 at the age of 95 in a retirement home in Bern. Her grave in the Schosshaldenfriedhof in Bern was dissolved in 1988 after 25 years.

Appreciation after her death

Mia Hesse-Bernoulli's photographic work was unknown to the public for a long time. It was only half a century after her death that her person and her work were brought out of the shadow of her famous husband and appreciated in public.

book

In 2013 a book about Mia Bernoulli-Hesse was published with the title Lichtwerke. Mia Bernoulli as a photographer. Attempt a close-up . It was published by Eva Eberwein-Schnell, the owner of the “Hesse-Haus” in Gaienhofen, in collaboration with the art historian Monika Leister and the Hegau history association.

Actions in the Hermann-Hesse-Haus

As part of the “Hermann Hesse Days 2013” ​​- on the 50th anniversary of Mia Hesse-Bernoulli's death - rare recordings from her studio time in Basel were made public for the first time in a special exhibition exclusively dedicated to her work in the “Hesse House” in Gaienhofen, shown. Their special recording technique was also explained there. The owners of the “Hesse-Haus” founded a “Mia Hesse Working Group” that researches and reports on her life and artistic work.
In Gaienhofen there are guided circular hikes in the footsteps of Mia Hesse-Bernoulli.

Exhibitions in other places

Further exhibitions have followed since 2013, especially in Switzerland, for example in 2015 in the “Women's Library and Fonothek Wyborada” in St. Gallen .

Honors

  • Hermann Hesse dedicated the art fairy tale Iris to his wife Mia Bernoulli in 1916 .
  • The jointly built house in Gaienhofen has been called "Mia-und-Hermann-Hesse-Haus" since 2019.

literature

  • Bärbel Reetz: Hesse's women . Insel, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-458-35824-4 .
  • Eva Eberwein, Monika Leister: light works. Mia Hesse née Bernoulli as a photographer. Attempt a close-up . Ed .: Hegau History Association. tape 159 . Singing 2013, ISBN 978-3-942058-05-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Genealogical data on vorster-genealogie.com, accessed June 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ First professional photographer. In: St. Galler Tagblatt . June 24, 2013, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c On the Basel footsteps of the Steppenwolf. In: TagesWoche . August 3, 2012, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c Hermann Hesse House. Gaienhofen community, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  5. ^ Maria Bernoulli. geneall.net, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b But that's a noble woman from Basel. In: St. Galler Tagblatt. June 24, 2013, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b The Hesses are not like us. In: St. Galler Tagblatt. June 24, 2013, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  8. ^ Mia Hesse Bernoulli. ticinarte.ch, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  9. ^ Alfred Wüger: The life of an artist's wife on the Höri (SN from February 19, 2016). In: steinamrhein.ch. February 19, 2016, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Elke Baliarda: Lichtwerke - special exhibition by photographer Mia Hesse-Bernoulli. In: ostschweizerinnen.ch. September 27, 2015, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  11. ↑ www.mia-und-hermann-hesse-haus.de
personal data
SURNAME Hesse-Bernoulli, Mia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hesse-Bernoulli, Maria; Bernoulli, Maria (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first professional photographer in Switzerland and wife of Hermann Hesse
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH May 13, 1963
Place of death Bern