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Werfel, Franz (1890-1945)
Copyright: IMAGNO/Austrian Archives
Franz Werfel was born on 10 September 1890 in Prague where he went to school and did his military service. Among his friends are noted intellectuals and artists including Franz Kafka and Max Brod, in later years Karl Kraus and Rainer Maria Rilke.
In 1912 Werfel moved to Leipzig where he worked at a publishing company. Werfel's first verse collection “Der Weltfreund (1911)” was an ecstatic celebration of human brotherhood and became a landmark in the history of expressionist writing. Other celebrated works from that time include "Der Weltfreund" (1911), "Wir sind" (1913) and "Einander" (1915) whereas his dramas "Spiegelmensch" (1921) and "Bocksgesang" (1922) were less enthusiastically received by the public.
During WW I the young poet served at the front in Galicia, then, from 1917, he worked at the War Press Bureau in Vienna. After the end of the war, Werfel stayed in Vienna where he met Alma Mahler, widow of the composer Gustav Mahler and ex-wife of the painter Walter Gropius. From 1920 Werfel worked as a full-time writer, and turned more and more to drama and the novel making Catholic faith. History and humankind were the themes of most of his books. His novel "Verdi" (1924) is about the famous Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi and deals with artist's crisis when his creative powers fail. In "Die vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh" (1933, tr. The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, 1934) Werfel recounts the struggle of the Armenians against the Turks in World War I.
Werfel’s most successful novel is "Das Lied der Bernadette" (1941, tr. The Song of Bernadette, 1942), which was adapted for screen in 1943. In 1938 Werfel fled from the Nazis and emigrated first to France, then to the USA. Werfel settled in Beverly Hills and became a naturalized American in 1941. In 1943 Werfel fell severely ill with angina; he died from a heart attack on 26 August 1945 in Beverly Hills. In 1975 his body was exhumed and returned to Vienna for reburial in the Zentralfriedhof.
Franz Werfel wrote 15 dramas, nine novels, two novel fragments, and numerous poems, novellas and essays.
In 1912 Werfel moved to Leipzig where he worked at a publishing company. Werfel's first verse collection “Der Weltfreund (1911)” was an ecstatic celebration of human brotherhood and became a landmark in the history of expressionist writing. Other celebrated works from that time include "Der Weltfreund" (1911), "Wir sind" (1913) and "Einander" (1915) whereas his dramas "Spiegelmensch" (1921) and "Bocksgesang" (1922) were less enthusiastically received by the public.
During WW I the young poet served at the front in Galicia, then, from 1917, he worked at the War Press Bureau in Vienna. After the end of the war, Werfel stayed in Vienna where he met Alma Mahler, widow of the composer Gustav Mahler and ex-wife of the painter Walter Gropius. From 1920 Werfel worked as a full-time writer, and turned more and more to drama and the novel making Catholic faith. History and humankind were the themes of most of his books. His novel "Verdi" (1924) is about the famous Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi and deals with artist's crisis when his creative powers fail. In "Die vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh" (1933, tr. The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, 1934) Werfel recounts the struggle of the Armenians against the Turks in World War I.
Werfel’s most successful novel is "Das Lied der Bernadette" (1941, tr. The Song of Bernadette, 1942), which was adapted for screen in 1943. In 1938 Werfel fled from the Nazis and emigrated first to France, then to the USA. Werfel settled in Beverly Hills and became a naturalized American in 1941. In 1943 Werfel fell severely ill with angina; he died from a heart attack on 26 August 1945 in Beverly Hills. In 1975 his body was exhumed and returned to Vienna for reburial in the Zentralfriedhof.
Franz Werfel wrote 15 dramas, nine novels, two novel fragments, and numerous poems, novellas and essays.
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