Correspondence to Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, 1926-1942.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Zweig, Stefan, 1881-1942.

Language:

German

Physical Description:

7 items (14 leaves)

Contained In:

Mahler-Werfel Papers. Folder 1413.

Place of Publication:

1926-1942.

Language Note:

In German.

Biography/History:

A native of Vienna, Zweig lived in Salzburg following World War I. He married his first wife, Friderike Zweig (née Burger), in 1920, and they divorced in 1938. He married Charlotte ("Lotte") Elisabeth Altmann in 1939. Zweig emigrated to England some time before 1938 and became a British citizen in 1940. In that same year he traveled to the U.S. and then on to South America, settling in Brazil. In 1941 he visited the U.S. again. He and his second wife committed suicide in Brazil, in Feb. 1942. Zweig had known Franz Werfel since at least 1917, when they served together in the Military Press Bureau in Vienna during World War I. He was a good friend of both Franz and Alma Mahler.

Summary:

1 item, written 1926 (photocopy) from Salzburg, is a response to Werfel's play Paulus unter den Juden. 1 item to Alma Mahler, written 1940 from Bath, England, mainly responds to Alma's memoir on Gustav Mahler (Erinnerungen und Briefe), including some comments referring to Anna Bahr-Mildenburg. The remaining 5 items are all dated in 1941. 1 of these is a postcard, apparently sent as a New Year's greeting; it bears an excerpt (Canto I, the last stanza, 106), from the Portguese epic poem Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões, along with a German translation by Zweig. Of the remaining 4 items in 1941, 2 are letters written in the U.S. (New Haven, New York City) in the first half of the year; and 2 are letters dated Nov. and Dec., from Petropólis, Brazil. In the latter 4 letters, Zweig often gives expression to his general mood, mentions his plans and the state of his work, and ruminates on the difficult conditions of exile. Also included are clippings of 2 newspaper articles published just after Zweig's death. 1 of these is a news article from the Los Angeles Daily News; the other article, entitled "Stefan Zweig zum Gedächtnis," from the German-Jewish newspaper Aufbau (27. Feb.), contains pieces written in memory of Zweig from the following authors: Emil Ludwig, Paul Stefan, Bruno Frank, Hermann Kesten, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Walter Mehring, Alfred Polgar, Berthold Viertel, Lothar Wallerstein, and Franz Werfel.

Notes:

The item dated 1926 is a photocopy (2 sets); the original is in the Werfel archive at UCLA.