Correspondence to Alma Mahler and Adolf Klarmann, 1940-1954.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Moenius, Georg, 1890-1953.

Contributor:

Basilius, Father.

Winter, Albert.

Winter, Ernst Karl, 1895-1959.

Language:

German

Physical Description:

55 items (71 leaves)

Contained In:

Mahler-Werfel Papers. Folders 825-828.

Place of Publication:

1940-1954.

Language Note:

German.

Biography/History:

Moenius, born in Germany, was a Catholic priest, as well as a journalist and writer; he fled to Switzerland after the rise of the Nazis in 1933. He had apparently become acquainted with Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel in Vienna sometime in the 1930s. Like them, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1940; after a period in Seattle, Wash., he settled in Los Angeles, where he continued a close friendship with Alma and Franz. He became an American citizen; after 1948 he resided at times in Europe and for the last year and a half of his life he settled in Munich. Father Basilius, a Catholic priest of the Order of St. Benedict, was an acquaintance of Moenius and was living in Neresheim, West Germany. Albert Winter, who was living in Munich, was a friend of Moenius, his heir and the executor of his will; and his wife had performed daily errands for Moenius. Ernst Karl Winter was also a friend of Moenius; he had known Moenius in Vienna before World War II and at the time of the correspondence with Alma Mahler was living in Tappan, New York.

Summary:

Moenius's letters reflect a warm friendship with Alma Mahler; mention his travels (including stays in Mexico and, after the war, in England, Italy and Germany), his writings and other activities; and sometimes include news or reflections pertaining to Franz Werfel and Werfel's work. Included is a typescript of the funeral oration that Moenius gave at Werfel's burial in 1945. In the 4 items addressed to Klarmann, Moenius reflects on Werfel's death and offers his responses to a reading of the manuscript of Werfel's last novel, Stern der Ungeborenen, as well as to an article by Klarmann about Werfel. Father Basilius's letter to Moenius concerns Werfel and his work, especially his novel Das Lied von Bernadette. The letters from Albert Winter and his wife convey details about the last months of Moenius's life, his work at that time, his illness and his death. The letters from Ernst Karl Winter concern his friendship with Moenius and the possiblity of his writing a memorial article about him; he also sought clarification from Alma about Moenius's role in Werfel's spiritual life, especially whether he performed an emergency baptism after Werfel's death, as was rumored in the German-language Catholic press in Europe.

Notes:

Includes 1 letter from Father Basilius to Moenius; 2 letters from Albert Winter and his wife to Alma Mahler; and 2 letters from Ernst Karl Winter to Alma.

OCLC:

155927307