Correspondence

Hermann Hesse exchanged regular letters with his family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues, among which Thomas Mann, Kurt Tucholsky, Martin Buber and many others. In his lifetime, Hermann Hesse answered approximately 35.000 letters, only a fraction of which was published. In these letters, he takes positions on personal subjects, expresses opinions on the politics of his time, explains his works and chats about visits and friends.

In the last 15 years of his life, after he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, he had to cope with a daily deluge of letters arriving from all over the world. He often complained about the burden of this correspondence, but with the help of his wife Ninon, he remained true to his principle of answering all letters. He occasionally sent circular letters, answering several correspondents at once.

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